I’m Jess, an award-winning designer, developer & artist from the heartland of the US (a.k.a. Kansas City.) I live & breathe design. My areas of expertise include user experience design, website design, WordPress development, front-end development, and anything Adobe Photoshop related (be still my heart.) I guess you could say I’m the “creative type.”

At the (ridiculously nerdy) tender age of 12, I began tinkering around with HTML & teaching myself the basics of coding websites. Over my teenage years, I grew stronger in my coding abilities and also learned the foundations of design. I was hooked. Now roughly 20 years later, I’ve got a heck of a lot of experience under my belt. I graduated with my degree in Graphic Design in 2009. I got my feet wet in the professional world working in radio, maintaining and managing websites for over five radio stations here in Kansas City, including 96.5 The Buzz. After a few years in radio, I found my way into working at smaller companies focusing on digital development and design, providing me with experience in a more agency-oriented workplace. Currently, I work full time at a lovely place by the name of MBB, my official title being ‘Creative Technologist,’ specializing in all things User Experience, WordPress development & Website Design. I’ve done a little bit of just about anything creative.

Love what you do and do what you love. Don’t listen to anyone else who tells you not to do it. You do what you want, what you love. Imagination should be the center of your life.
Ray Bradbury

I pride myself on my work and my art. I’ve been working with WordPress for longer than I’d like to admit. If Photoshop were a person, I would likely marry it. If I’m not coding or designing or painting, you can probably find me gardening, reading, or walking my basset hounds, Flash & Louise. My dogs are my furry children and the center of my world. I care deeply about animal welfare and do occasional pro-bono work for animal rescue organizations, including Hounds Haven Basset Rescue and PetEx Transport. Would you call me introverted? Maybe a bit, yeah, although don’t let that fool you: I work great with personalities of all types. Artsy-fartsy? Sure, you could say that- but trust me, I’m no art snob. I’m just a chick who loves to create. I love the psychology behind design work- really getting into the heart and soul of a project to achieve the best solution possible. And I love helping people succeed in their endeavors. Plain and simple. View more of details of my employment history on LinkedIn.

Interested in hiring me? Reach out to my company, MBB. Tell them Jess J. sent you!

FAVORITE TOOLS:  Adobe Photoshop / Adobe Illustrator / Adobe InDesign / Adobe Premiere / CSS / InVision / Axure / Coda / Atom / GitKraken / Browserstack / SourceTree / Jira

11
years professional experience
Jessica J. Johnston First Website Design Award

SOME THINGS I LIKE: Analyzing restaurant menus on the off-chance I get out of the house for a meal. Plugins that don’t break my websites. Dogs wearing clothes and/or hats. Old school unfashionable idioms are the bee’s knees.

SOME THINGS I DON’T LIKE: Waiting for Internet Explorer to disappear from the face of the planet. Coloring inside the lines. Pixelation in print media. Malware – my ultimate nemesis. The paradox of choice.

AWARDS 

  • Best in Show (Visual Arts Category) – Inspire KC Corporate Arts Challenge – 2017 (link)
  • AIGA Student Award – American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) – 2007 (link)

My Superhero Skills.

WordPress Fanatic
99%
Custom Coder
94%
SEO Junkie
88%
Painting Fanatic
93%
Photoshop Guru
99%
UX Designer
93%
Photographer
84%
Singing in the Rain
100%