Hello, I’m Dave Rau
Since 1999, I’ve been handcrafting web sites — striving to make them unique, simple and useful.
Artful design
My web design styles range from clean and elegant to rich and textured. All of my work is inspired by techniques, ideas and styles from analogue printmaking, photo collage, street art, typography and the Dada art movement.
An editor, too
Great design starts with well-written content. I read every word before I start designing, then I edit content to be clear, simple, friendly and focused. My knack for refining text evolved from years of turning bureaucratic and scientific content into clear and simple web pages. Collaborators usually find my writing to be direct and easy to read.
Looking for a designer? Email me.
- I can design or re-design your unique web project
- I can simplify and clarify your web content
- I can make you a commissioned art piece
The long version
Before becoming independent I was the web designer for WaterMatters.org, an environmental protection agency of West Florida. Over 10 years I served hundreds of people from directors and engineers to environmental scientists and communications experts. My core tasks were designing, editing, organizing and publishing thousands of web pages and pieces of content.
Web projects were both large and small: I redesigned the whole site twice, hand-coded thousands of pages from antiquated table-based layouts to efficient XHTML/CSS. I created dozens of custom web apps and databases from scratch: a shopping cart & order tracking system, online grant applications, event calendars, photo sharing tools, web publishing systems and several web apps for job/task tracking.
Editing text was an important task too — I strived for beautiful and friendly design that read as good as it looked. Working here nurtured my passion for the environment and education — I hope to continue working on similar projects.