Agencyport Software
2011-2018 (acquired by Duck Creek Technologies in 2017) Developed and styled dynamic web apps. I was primarily a front-end product developer for the flagship product AgencyPortal, adapting it for pre-sales demos and paying customers, then later for a multi-tenant cloud environment. Key projects include Styles Framework website and formatting AgencyPortal with Duck Creek branding for pre-sales team. Collaborative process evolved from waterfall, Squish and SVN, to the modern era with Agile, Jira and Git. As Agengyport's one-man art department, I also designed minisites, product graphics, illustrations, infographics, marketing material, and various internal art projects. Clients include AAA, Arbella, Electric Self Service, Hanover, Kemper, Lancer, Nationwide, Pacific Specialty, State Auto, and West Bend.
Code Soup: HTML5, CSS3, SCSS/LESS, JavaScript, TypeScript, SVN, Git, Bootstrap, Zurb Foundation, Node JS, Angular JS, Angular Materials, Apache (HTTP Server, Tomcat, Ant and Maven), Eclipse, Grunt, Gulp, MySQL, AWS, PHP, WordPress, OpenAir, Workday, Squish, JIRA, Agile
Milestones
- Expertise grew from markup and styles to more technical aspects
- Became an authority for responsive design and web accessibility
- Developed awareness of client and user needs
- Posted instructional blogs
- Communicated goals and limitations between engineering, UX, technical writing, and project owners
AgencyPortal
Java based insurance portal that allowed agents, brokers, MGAs and policy holders to digitize paper claims to P&C insurance carriers at once through the ACORD standard of XML. AgencyPortal on desktop and mobile processed hours of work in minutes.
AgencyPortal 5
Helped develop a responsive front-end overhaul in 2014, after the 15-year-old back-end was completely rebuilt. The cleaner UX and visual design is based on Bootstrap, styles preprocessed with LESS (best sounding option for us at the time). Tasks included styling classic functionality for the modern shell, fixing web accessibility issues as they came up, and encouraging a best practices culture.
Pre-Sales
Brand themeing a demo version of Agencyportal for prospective customers, introducing semi-functional new features. Some themes were just adding logo and colors, others were far more elaborate. Created a process where most of the client specific styles were made by changing LESS variables. Unique challenges included working with occasionally poorly documented client branding, stylizing for multiple lines of business, and instructing sales team on how to make visual design changes on the fly.
Client Services
Customizing the app for paying customers, creating look and feel as close as possible to the their websites. Styling functionality not addressed in the base app meant creating new markup in JSP files, tweaking Maven settings and SQL databases, speaking directly to clients about functionality, working on remote platforms like AWS, and occasionally instructing client IT developers how to make changes when we weren't allowed to touch the code directly.
The Mighty Art Department
I was the only one who could code, understood visual design and branding, design pages, create graphics and illustrations, and knew print production. This creative versatility was used on minisites, marketing material, trade shows, and various internal art projects.
Minisites
Short-life sites I designed and developed for one-time events, email marketing campaigns, and various bonus features.
Product Graphics
AgencyConnect
Open Xposure
Turnstile
Worktop
AP Logo Exploration
Hackathon 4
Infographics
Icons
Project Cinco
Faux magazine covers to support internal celebration of employee and manager fifth year anniversary with the company. Printed covers were framed and presented as gifts. In addition to design and production, I also submitted jokes and handled print production.
Mobile Explainer Video
Art for an Adobe Flash video. Project developed by working closely with marketing and product development teams. "Processing insurance forms on paper sure is blah. If only there was someway to do this on an iPad. But wait!"
Color print piece
Color print pieces and selected video art
How 'Bout Them Gelks!
The Gelks were Agencyport's softball team. The logo is inspired by former Agencyport CEO Gary Brach, who once based a user conference speech on an unrelated anecdote about elks, confusing his audience with a "punchline that never arrived."
'Bout This Art
The Gelks were coached and managed by product manager Ken O'Sullivan. This image shows senior vice president Curt Stevenson and senior training manager Lisa Gilgan in terror from Ken O's passion for the game. Note the ACORD logo and adapted Comics Code Authority stamp. Cover design is a combination of early 1970s Marvel and Archie comics. This was the start of an unproduced series of team-building biographies. The almost life-size framed poster hung in our lobby from 2011-2017 when we got acquired by Duck Creek.
Looking at this critically for the first time in a decade, I'm tempted to remaster it with the Silver Age emulation technique (hand lettering, aged paper, faded color in Ben Day dots, misregistered color plates) I perfected a few years later in my other life.
Gelks 2011 Trailer
One minute video produced by Swamy R for Agencyport Studios
