Hi! My name is Aaron Grando, and I'm an interactive developer.
I'm from Philadelphia, where I live and work. I love the city.
I enjoy designing and developing things that you use every day. Cool things like web sites, computer applications, Blu-ray discs and DVD's. Each medium offers a different set of challenges for the designer and developer, but that's OK. I like having new problems to solve.
I graduated Drexel University in 2009, earning my Bachelor of Science in Digital Media.
I'm currently a developer at Cubist Media Group. Check out my portfolio and work pages to learn more about what I've done.
I hope you enjoy what you see!
Contact Me!
ag at aarongrando.com
610.955.9038
@zebaron
Linkedin
These are some things that I've done.
Select a project to view more information.
The United States of Calamity Magazine is a quarterly literary magazine by editor Shelly Robinson - but one without a website.
Currently in development is a Wordpress installation with a custom template and home page, managed by a CMS that helps it accomodate its more periodical nature than your run-of-the-mill blog. It's coming in January, 2010.
Tools: HTML, CSS, Photoshop, Wordpress, PHP, mySQL, jQuery
GSK Global Leadership Forum 2009
A "virtual" conference, complete with event registration, workshops, and exhibits, and even some social networking. I developed the conference website to deliver over 14 hours of Live and On Demand video content and interactive (Flash) "exhibits". Over 5,000 of GSK's leaders from from all over the world came together for the company's first Virtual Global Leadership Forum.
Bonus coolness: The conference saved GSK from having to transport its leaders from all over the world to the conference location, cutting carbon emissions from travel and saving the company a few pretty pennies.
Tools: HTML, CSS, Photoshop, ASP.net 2.0, C#, ORACLE, Windows IIS 7.5, jQuery, Flash, AS3
Derivativ.net - my senior project in Drexel University's Digital Media bachelor's program. I led a team of 6 classmates to develop the website - a collaborative storytelling engine and social network. Think of it as a choose-your-own adventure book that you, your friends, and the rest of the world can contribute to. Heavy splashes of AJAX and Javascript effects made this project stressful but fun. I got an "A" (and a diploma).
Tools: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Photoshop, PHP, mySQL, AJAX, jQuery
Westphal Student Collaboration, a database-driven "classifieds" site for students of Drexel University's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design to find creative collaborators for projects like films, fashion design exercises, websites, and more. (Note: Only Drexel students in AWCoMAD can access the site)
Tools: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Photoshop, PHP, mySQL
Oh, undeserv'ed victory, how it earns you Blu-ray discs. I kid. This project for NFL Films had a blistering fast turnaround time: the content needed to be encoded, authored, and replicated to be in stores for sale by March 3rd, just 30 days after the Super Bowl.
The Blu-ray looks awesome, and is a visible difference over the standard definition version. - Jason Kleeberg, Amazon.com Review
Tools: Sonic Cinevison, Sonic BD (HDMV), Photoshop, Sonic Designer
This 2-disc set had the full broadcasts of 4 pivotal games in the Steeler's 2008-2009 season, including Super Bowl XLIII. The hardest part was getting quality encodes - the broadcast source and fast motion tended to confuse the encoder, but after some hard manual work, it turned out nicely.
Watching the playoff run in high definition is a wonderful thing. - Troy A. Abshire, Amazon.com Review
Tools: Sonic Cinevison, Sonic BD (HDMV), Photoshop, Sonic Designer
This was a fun project. I was an author on this Blu-ray bonus disc that was released with the Fallout 3 Collector's Edition game for the Playstation 3 from Bethesda Softworks.
And what's the icing on the cake? When you use the Pop-Up Menu option on your Blu-ray player, it opens in a Pip-Boy window! - The Matrix Fan, Amazon.com Review
Tools: Sonic Cinevison, Sonic BD (HDMV), Photoshop, Sonic Designer
I really like what I do.
Currently, I'm employed at Cubist Media Group
as a media programmer. I get to work with lots of cutting-edge technology for
clients like Warner Brothers, Bethesda Softworks, NFL Films, Glaxo-Smithkline, and many
more. I split my development time between general web development,
ASP.net/ORACLE, C#, PHP/mySQL, Blu-ray and DVD authoring,
BD-J, and AS3.
I've been with Cubist since September, 2007.
Previously, I'd been employed at Drexel University, working on two major jobs: the development of the Antoinette Westphal Student Collaboration site (see it in my portfolio) , and working for Drexel's College of Arts and Sciences, where I developed a touch-panel student registration and survey application for the CoAS office.
Before college, I was your run-of-the-mill high school geek, working local retail until I scored a work study position at nGravis in King of Prussia, PA - my first experience in professional web development. It's been all uphill (and late nights) since then.
I've been known to do some freelance - especially if it's something new and challenging that I can strech my brain with. Let me know if you need some help with your development or design.
This is what I think about work and life.
Dynamism is what makes life so awesome. Dynamic information is what makes computers so interesting. One of my favorite problems to solve is "How do I make this information flow?".
Hard work pays off no matter what way you look at it. In the end, there's always a positive outcome, whether it is exactly what you envisioned to be or not. Experiences, even failures, collect to make you a better person, and hard, honest work gets a lot more experience than slacking off does. It always pays to work your hardest.
Enjoying what you do is one of the most important aspects to anybody's working life. When it comes down to it: the more passionate you are at whatever you're doing, the better the final product will be. It's win-win. Pick a job you love!
Keep a positive attitude. Always. Especially when you feel like you should be damn miserable. Look at things on the bright side, because there always is one, no matter how impossible it may seem. When you're happy, it's a lot easier to make other people happy. Smiling and laughter are contagious.
These are some things (and people) I like.
- Diego Garcia is a radass dude.
- Dave Lally works hard, and his results show it.
- Chau Nguyen is digital media's embassador to hip-hop.
- Adam Teterus is a funny man.
- Carl Sagan - 'A Glorious Dawn' ft Stephen Hawking (Cosmos Remixed) is perhaps the best Youtube video ever.
- Last.fm is cool because it suggests new tunes.
- Nic Cage is everyone.
- Google Chrome, especially now that it's got extensions
- jQuery for making things fast and pretty
- Developing with standards for making things easy