1995, a brand new Web Designer & Web Consultant sets up shop in Vancouver Washington

Wow, what a journey! Hi there. I'm James Barber. Hard to believe that I've been designing and building websites in Vancouver, Washington since 1995. But it's true. Lots has changed in Vancouver since then. Downtown Vancouver was very old school. Not much to see and do. Some might say that I was one of the first professional web developers in Vancouver, Washington. I am sure there were others but not many. And very few of them are still working in Vancouver today.

I can remember trudging through the rain trying to sell websites to people who had NO clue what I was talking about. None. Zilch. Nada. Most people thought I worked for AOL but I was able to convince a few early clients to make the web work. Internet was completely dial up or Frame Relay. And the web was Netscape on either a Mac or a PC.

Realty Exchangers, Inc, comes to mind. Back in 1995, they were really my first official client. Jim Maxwell, realized back then that there would be an enormous land rush to the web and his site was one of my first in Vancouver, Washington. Al Raines, then owner of Vancouver Business Journal, launched his first site in 1996 as did the Southwest Washington Private Industry Council. By 1999, I was working with Kevin Wann to develop his site for Pacific Lifestyle Homes, a relationship that I maintained for 15 years.

Changes and more changes. Who would have thought that Esther Short Park became the place to hang out on Thursday nights in the summer to enjoy some great music. It has also become home to some fantastic festivals and don't forget Saturday mornings for our Famous Farmer's market. Who would have thought even 10 years ago that there would be so many tap houses, breweries and cocktail bars throughout downtown. Simply amazing!

Watch this space for more posts as we discuss Vancouver, great web design, design trends, programming features and more!