I’m a dude in year ten at a high school in Warrington (UK). I like computers, socialising and music (I’m a bit of a Clubland fan). I’ve been doing programming and website design for around seven years. I can now code adeptly in over thirty different languages and frameworks which I have been collating for a while now.

I currently do quite a bit of freelance website design, as well as a few games and other projects which I develop. At the moment, I’m working on a corporate identity and website for a cosmetics company (which is how I ended up writing this, after saying thanks for you freelance contracts); I’ve got a small game in development and will soon start planning a massively multiplayer online game with my budding team of graphic designers, 3D modellers and story developers.

Just last month, I did my work experience, as did everyone in my year. I was given the opportunity of working at Code Computerlove in Manchester and I have to say that it was absolutely incredible, just such an amazing atmosphere to work in.

From a very early age, I was fascinated with making computers do stuff. One of my very first projects was a very simple program to monitor time spent on the computer in order to allow parents to limit their child’s computer usage.

I soon found myself drifting into web design (because I could show off to everyone else). This took the form of my first website, J-Cards, a service that would let you choose a design, write a message, etc… and then have it printed. It was strangely similar to the services offered by websites such as MoonPig.com, I’m sure they nicked my idea.

My Dad. He was a developer at a few companies before he started doing project management, so he knew all the ins and outs of how to do it all. Throughout my childhood, my Dad has tirelessly explained code to me, over and over again; for instance, I continually questioned why I can’t just click the dropdown and change a “<P>” to an “<A>”. But, finally, it seems to have stuck!

As is the case with a lot of geeks that grew up with Windows, I originally aspired to become Bill Gates. However, more recently, my opinion of Microsoft and the like has degraded quite a bit; I have started to become a Mac fanboy; and *shock horror* now code in PHP. I am now far more into the “open” sort of stuff, such as Linux, Apache, Java, etc… whereas before I was 100% Windows, IIS, ASP.Net, etc…

To begin with, my Dad was the driving force for the development of my skills with website design, programming, etc… More recently however, I have found myself seemingly absorbing many frameworks and languages (currently, my favourite is jQuery!) and instead of receiving help from my Dad, I now find that I am helping him and introducing him to new stuff; I still haven’t managed to get him onto C# though!

My current plan is to do computing and graphic design at college, hopefully work at Code for a year, and then perhaps do a degree. I’m not quite sure at the moment, so I’d welcome any advice/tips!

Personally, I love designs that are clean, simple and minimalistic; however, I am also a big fan of abstract patterns and colours, as well as a bit of grunge where appropriate. For my own websites, I like to keep things very simple and clear, whilst still being colourful, with some grungy textures.

Some of my favourite website designs:-

That is definitely the case. Many people that have expressed an interest in my services have been quite wary due to my age. I find that the best way to combat those issues is to try to be confident and as professional as possible, whilst still being yourself. Also, saying web stuff like “exposure”, “web 2.0” and “social media” seems to earn lots of brownie points!

With my latest client, I had a few tips and some help with how to communicate with her from some Steve and Ian at Code, which I have summarized here, plus a few top tips of my own. I’d recommend to any person around my age that they consider these:-

My portfolio can be found at www.jamiebillingham.co.uk. I’m thinking about starting a blog to go with it, so perhaps you’ll see that on there sometime soon.

If I may, I have a few shoutouts along with their web addresses for people that have helped me achieve all this stuff:-
My Dad, Nigel Billingham
Jono Brain
Code Computerlove