Hi! First of all, thanks for taking the time to read my job application. There must be a lot of talented individuals applying to join this amazing place, so I'll try to be concise. I hope you find my profile interesting or, at least, have some fun like I did when creating this page.
who
My name is Matias Gonzalez Fernandez. I am a developer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina (UTC-3). I live with my girlfriend and three adorable cats. I have a Graphic Design Degree and have been a developer for a couple of years. I'm always trying to find the sweet spot between the two worlds.
My journey into web development began back in 2015 while working in Human Resources at the National Congress. I remember learning PHP because I wanted to automate some repetitive tasks at work. It's been an incredible journey since then!
Back then, I also volunteered at Atomic Lab, which prints 3D prostheses for kids. They needed help with an ASP.NET project's front end, so I learned how to use Razor to make the UI. After that, I switched to working with React, Webpack, Styled Components, and eventually, tailwindcss. For many years, I was used to building with PHP as a backend that served a React app to the front end until NextJs arrived to make our lifes easier.
Volunteering was a crucial part of my career; I learned the most about teamwork at TEDx. I helped organize some TEDx events in Argentina. In 2017, I led TEDxHCDN, an event held at the National Congress. My role as organizer was to build an internal team with people from all across the organization. I coordinated budget, production, design, communications, selecting speakers, and helping them with their talks.
After several years as a developer, I took the lead on a team of five people, which included both designers and developers. Our main goal was to digitalize many internal processes previously handled on paper. We prototyped, tested, and conducted user interviews to ensure a smooth transition with the best UX possible. Additionally, I played a key role in interviewing and hiring these team members.
Nowadays, I'm working as a "creative developer" at Basement Studio, where we use WebGL, Gap, NextJs, and, of course, tailwind to create awesome web experiences.
why
I decided to apply for this job because my skill set perfectly balances being a graphic designer and having vast experience in engineering. Plus, who wouldn't want to help build one of the most influential tools for front-end development today?
Some key points about me
I love a good DX. That's why, whenever I create new components or APIs, I aim to make them easy for other developers (including my future self) to use. I also value when an API is "hackable" so people can extend it it their needs.
I like building tools. I recently published the plugin tailwindcss-text-scale. Its goal is to let users scale typography between screen breakpoints by adding classNames like text-scale-lg/4xl, making the font grow from lg to 4xl between the sm-screen and 2xl-screen breakpoints. You can also customize the position of the breakpoints by adding text-screen-xl/lg.
I can create POCs. I published a small experiment called carpincho that allows you to Build backend applications with zero configuration. Inspired by NextJs, you can use folders and filenames to define routes.
I love to experiment. I like researching and implementing weird experiments to learn new things. For example, I created an esoteric language called "EmoJS." It allows you to code with emojis (then it transpiles into JS to run in Node); in fact, it is used in the source code of this page. Don't believe me? Check out the source here! The origin of this experiment was to play around with tokenizers and learn how to create a custom Webpack loader and a transpiler CLI.
I am a designer. Every design tells a story, and that story is how the user feels after navigating a piece. This is why I think about the user journey and all the possible scenarios that a person might encounter, focusing on balance and accessibility.
I write. I usually post on my experiments page and write case studies. I encourage you to read "Growing plants with code", where I go through creating procedural plants (used on this site), and "Kidsuper World: bringing paints to life with r3f."
This section of the site was the hardest for me. I'm not an expert in every area required for the job; on the contrary, I probably need to keep improving in every area, but I am good at learning, knowing my limitations, and taking feedback.
what
Experimentation is key to learning, but I also understand the importance of shipping finished products. I want to show three projects that I value the most.
In these projects, I collaborated closely with engineers and designers. While I wasn't the leading designer, I developed them and played a crucial role in determining what effects and interactions we could add to make them more engaging and better communicate their concepts.
Vercel Ship
In my latest project, I helped implement the registration flow, payments, analytics, CMS integrations, and some cool using WebGL.
To keep loading times quick, The letters are first animated with SVG elements, then switched to the WebGL version as soon as the renderer is ready. With this effect, we won an Element of the Day Awwward!
And, of course, there is always some space for extra experimentation...
Kidsuper World
This project offers a 3D immersive journey, allowing you to explore the KidSuper shop through engaging interactions with paintings and portals. The experience starts with a painting that vividly portrays the outdoors of their Brooklyn-based store. This is followed by a photo-realistic representation of the store's interior.
The concept of "live paintings" is explored in multiple ways. The paints on the walls serve as portals to other dimensions, encouraging the user to explore the entirety of the store.
We had a lot of good feedback from this project, and also we won two sites of the day.
Basement chronicles
https://chronicles.basement.studio/
In my first project with Basement, I helped create Basement Chronicles, a point-and-click adventure for the web.
For this project, I helped implement the Boss Scene and the game's post-processing effects.
conclusion
I hope you enjoyed reading my application letter, and I wish you a great day! Here is my Twitter if you want to see more random stuff. Bye!