let me introduce myself

When you hire cjgraphix, you are hiring me, Collin Robinson. When you send an email, it goes to me. When you call the office, I answer the phone. I'm a freelance web designer and developer, and have been since the turn of the century. If you asked me ten years ago if I would be writing code all day I would have probably laughed really hard. As it turned out, I do write code every day, and much like green eggs and ham, I like them Sam I am.

background

Before getting into web design and development, I found myself working in retail management for nationwide retail stores including Mr. Rags and Pacific Sunwear. I was with Mr. Rags for almost 6 years and was a manager / assistant manager at several stores when they broke the million dollar mark. I was with Pacific Sunwear for a short while as I was transitioning to a full time freelancer.

Both places stressed customer service, which is something I have carried into my freelance career. While some freelancers say they have 'customer service', I have a proven background in it.

hobbies

While I could happily sit and work on my personal websites all the time, it's good for me to be able to step away. However some of my hobbies have found themselves spilling over to my online world. Some of my hobbies include:

• Aquarium Fish
• Soccer - playing and coaching
• Spinning Records
• Lego

everything you ever wanted to know about CJGraphix

CJGraphix started in a small apartment, sitting at a small desk, in front of a small computer. Since then we have grown a bit. We are now in a nice house, sitting at a bigger desk, in front of a bigger computer with a few monitors.

how it all started

I had worked for the high school newspaper and yearbook doing page layouts for my entire 4 year high school career without knowing the work I was doing could be considered 'Graphic Design'. Once I graduated from high school, I decided to take a year off to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, much to the dismay of my mother who thought I would never go back to school.

One afternoon I got a call from a small art school in Long Beach, CA by the name of Brooks College. Don't bother looking it up as it's been closed down for some time now. Anyway, I enrolled in the Graphic Design / Visual Communication program where I spent two years and countless hours getting my two year AA degree. Brooks was one of those schools where you got out what you put in, and I put in everything.

Upon graduation, I spent some time taking my portfolio around to places and quickly realized I didn't want to be stuck in a box making money for someone else. I decided it would be just as easy to find 'clients' as it would be to find a 'job' so I started CJGraphix, with my wife Jennifer, way back in May of 2000. I didn't make it my full time commitment, however, until almost 2 years later.

anything and everything

I remember when I would take any project, for any amount of money no matter what it was. If a client asked if I could do something, my only answer was 'Yes'. Jennifer actually started making the first websites we created. With a Dreamweaver book in hand, she taught herself the basics of web design using tables for layout and inline font tags. When a client asked me to make them a website I took direction from Jen and learned basic HTML, and then got into the very basics of CSS.

Taking any project led us to build a dynamic website where I was forced to learn the basics of PHP and MySQL. While the project was a massive failure for so many reasons, it was the project that helped shape what CJGraphix would become know for: Customized Solutions that fit our clients, not cookie cutter solutions that our clients need to fit into.

I took my new found love of code and ran with it. I learned something new every day, and offered my knowledge to a mass of new clients as well as to all of the existing clients. Times were good, and I was becoming much more confident in my skill set.

fast forward

Years pass, kids are born, a major move from Long Beach (CA) to Bend (OR) occurs, and the thing that remains constant is CJGraphix. Projects are getting bigger and I am working on some amazing projects. Now it's time to show the world what I am made of by completing some long overdue personal projects.

First up, Beautiful Society, the social network that's all about your favorite things. While it took a lot longer than expected to build, I eventually launch Beautiful Society and after a few short months it's named on Mashables 'Top Ten Most Beautiful Social Networks'. Success!

Next I go after SEO, on the topic of Goldfish. I work tirelessly to create the content for Desktop Goldfish.  Immediately upon its release into the wild, I start to grab some top spots in Google, for some incredible goldfish-related search terms. Again, Success!

present day

Now I am living comfortably in Central Oregon with my lovely wife and business partner Jennifer. I have two great kids in Coral (7yr old daughter) and Asher (3yr old son). I volunteer my time as a soccer coach during the Fall and Spring seasons. I also spend some of my free time as the PTA President at Coral's school, trying to bring Art, Sports, and Technology into the lives of all the kids at Ensworth Elementary.

I am also making some great relationships, both business and personal, here in Central Oregon. Who knew that Central Oregon was such a hotbed for good design, and technology?