About

Diane West, M.A. — Designer

Diane has been designing websites since 1995. Her programming knowledge extends to HTML, CSS and a little JavaScript, but her design knowledge goes far beyond that, with more than twenty years of varied design experience, both in Web and graphic design. Two areas of special interest in design are — color and typography.

She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Art (Crafts) from San Jose State University (1978) and a Master’s Degree in Graphic Design (and a minor in Interior Design) from Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Texas (1993).

Diane has also completed Technical Training classes in Photoshop, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Flash, and Javascript.

As times and the Internet have changed, Diane now concentrates on developing “responsive” WordPress sites. Although less traditional web design knowledge is needed, her technical expertise enables her to create sites that keep up with the evolving requirements of the Web and search engines, and most importantly, the needs of her clientele.

Diane is a long-time Mac fanatic, first using the Apple Macintosh in 1988.

About This Site

This remodeled site was developed in 2020 using the WordPress platform and the theme GeneratePress Premium.

You’ll see lots of designers’ sites with all the bells and whistles that WordPress offers, depending on the theme they’ve employed—flashy, but generic. I’m different. I want a website that is personal; one that reflects a bit of who I am—my personal aesthetic.

The Galleon San Francisco by Dennis West

You might have wondered, why the subtle nautical theme? (In 2020, the allusion to pirates/seafaring on my site is considerably less obvious, but still remains an undercurrent.)

Well, I suppose there are a number of influences:
I grew up in a southern California beach town, I’m an Aquarius; my father was in the water treatment business for more than 30 years and a plumbing contractor; my late husband had a hobby of building model ships and, in his younger days, he liked to sail.

You are here!

Until a few years ago I had a treasure map on the home page, with an X marking the spot, an allusion to pirate ships sailing the seas centuries ago and buried treasure. I’ll put the map here, so you can see…

I think sometimes it’s worth exploring a little more deeply to find the treasure, which might be hidden just beneath the surface. 😉