Zetland Design Ltd is the profile and portfolio of Alan Hill, contract web developer providing freelance and contract front end and CMS development services. With 20 years' IT experience, working for some of the highest profile brands including multiple digital agencies, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, the Co-operative and HMRC I can offer a wealth of experience and expertise whatever your requirements.
I specialise in the development of intuitive and responsive web site experiences and easy to use content management solutions, allowing non-technical business owners to create and maintain their own content.
My technical skills include: HTML5, CSS3, SASS, Node, Javascript, JQuery, Typescript, React, Vue, .Net/C#, SiteCore, Umbraco .Net CMS, Wordpress, Adobe Creative Suite.
I've been in IT for over 20 years, the first half as a perm for a major bank, the rest as a front end/CMS contractor for a multitude of clients, industries and projects. I think (hope) what sets me apart from other contractors is that it's never really been purely about the code for me - which is why I find front end dev so attractive, it's more about the process you go through to get to the final solution - right from stakeholder meetings, gathering requirements, feeding back on designs, the to and fro with stakeholders, technical peers and users.
Don't get me wrong, when it comes time to convert it into code I think I'm as good as any contractor when it comes to using best practices, adherence to standards, taking on new techniques and learning from others, but the code and testing is to me the one part of the jigsaw from ideas, through design, delivery and then review and analysis (are people using it the way we think they are going to use it).
I've been in IT for over 20 years, the first half as a perm for a major bank, the rest as a front end/CMS contractor for a multitude of clients, industries and projects. I think (hope) what sets me apart from other contractors is that it's never really been purely about the code for me - which is why I find front end dev so attractive, it's more about the process you go through to get to the final solution - right from stakeholder meetings, gathering requirements, feeding back on designs, the to and fro with stakeholders, technical peers and users.
CMS systems like Umbraco and SiteCore again are a great arena to have those conversations about not just the design and UI of the finished web page/site, but what it's like to create and crucially maintain that website - that's why my best memories I feel are those where I've been able to really solve a problem that saves a content editor from a monotonous, repeat process, or saves the company actual cash in reducing the time to make a series or batch of time critical changes.
All in all it's about problem solving for me - UX/UI problems, content editing problems, device/browser problems (looking at you Safari and IE4!). I love problem solving - tell me the problem, what you think "success" looks like, tell me who I can discuss it with and I love coming up with the solution, either as part of a team, or by myself.
All in all it's about problem solving for me - UX/UI problems, content editing problems, device/browser problems (looking at you Safari and IE4!). I love problem solving - tell me the problem, what you think "success" looks like, tell me who I can discuss it with and I love coming up with the solution, either as part of a team, or by myself.
I am a keen digital artist, I run my own Etsy store and my own website selling canvas prints and other products based on my artwork.
Alan Hill Art on Etsy
Part of a large client team developing a web-based internal system for one of their major clients, Specsavers.
Front end development. Vue, HTML, CSS3, Javascript, Typescript
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Front end development and SiteCore CMS for a wide variety of clients including Parkdean Holiday Resorts, Welsh Water, a number of legal firms.
HTML, CSS3, Javascript, Vue.js, Azure, C#, .net, SiteCore. Implemented re-usable Vue/Vuex components including complex mapping and location functionality using third party APIs. Part of a large scrum team using the latest industry management tools such as DevOps, Abstract, Unicorn. Developed SiteCore and front end solutions for clients such as overseas legal firms, regional utility companies. Involved in designing and implementing processes to re-use front end components to cut down delivery timescales and effort.
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Front end React development, taking internap sales portal improvements from concept to live implementation.
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Front end development in several teams doing rapid prototyping for new features and services on the gov.uk website.
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A great software house in West Yorkshire, we worked on a wide variety of their client websites, building and improving Umbraco CMS solutions and React web applications.
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Front end and Umbraco CMS development, on several major projects including complete site rebuilds, and major functional and marketing enhancements.
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CMS Consultancy at the Co-operative, working with their Digital IT team and external suppliers to relaunch a number of their main brand websites into the EPiServer CMS platform.
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A really interesting contract working closely with backend and API developers to build B2B and B2C web solutions using and manipulating their automotive data and analytics.
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