Mike Ilsley ~ Beantown Design
Beantown Design is a website design and development company located in Somerville Massachusetts, right outside of Boston; started by me, Mike Ilsley.
A walk down memory lane
Ever since I was young I enjoyed art. As a teenager I was fascinated by graffiti art. Something about people breaking the law to paint artwork so beautiful that it could be in a museum really intrigued me. In high school we had a graphic design class on tiny Apple computers; this was my first taste of the design world. I liked it so much that after high school I went on to Endicott College of Beverly Mass, to study graphic design.
During my schooling here, I worked at a variety of design firms. Business Image, Alphagraphics, and CreativeInk. At the same time my freelance career was picking up on the side. I've always enjoyed direct interaction with clients; working with them from start to finish on a variety of projects is a satisfying experience.
The web!
So a few years after I graduated College the internet really started to come to life. I decided this was the future; not only of technology, but of art also. To brush up on the latest web design / development technologies, I completed the web design program at Umass Lowell. This was a great program, the school has some great professors, who not only teach, but also work in the industry; so they had some great real world examples.
Today
So there you have it! That was a few years ago, and I've been designing websites ever since. One of the reasons my websites are so great *pat myself on the back*, is because of all my experience in the graphic design and web design industries. If you only go to school for web design, you'll miss out on a lot of the main foundations of design that graphic design school has to offer.
I've been designing websites for all types of local small business owners for years, and will be for years to come.
Hopefully you enjoyed this little insight into my past, I hope to add you as a client!
~Mike (or ilz as my friends call me)
