Freshman telecommunications major Jack Shepler has been designing Web sites for the past six years. He manages several Web sites, including ayokay.com and freakcentral.com, which he owns. He is also the design and layout manager for journaling Web sites Plogs.net and MultiJournal.com, as well as the creator of the CRAM! Game Show Web site, www.bsucram.com.
"I started making Web sites out of jealousy, actually," Shepler said. He said a friend in middle school created a cartoon and published graphics interchange format animations of it on GeoCities.com. GIF is the file format graphic artists use to compress images and make them viewable online.
"So I started my Christian Rock Web site there. It's since moved to FreakCentral.com, where it gets hundreds of hits per day and has given itself a name with record labels," Shepler said.
He said record labels give him press passes for concerts where he takes pictures and his friend Katie Bennet writes reviews.
"I spend a small amount of money to host my Web site," he said, "and I get press passes. It's a win-win situation."
Shepler spends approximately two to three hours a day designing, perfecting, and maintaining his sites from his Hurst Hall room and several more hours on his computer surfing the Web and updating his "LiveJournal."
His site ayokay.com is the future home of his Web design company. He offers Web design, graphic design, hosting and photography skills for small organizations and local businesses. Ayokay.com currently hosts five Web sites, including his personal site, www.jack.ayokay.com.
Shepler's other site, freakcentral.com, offers a community for fans of punk rock, hardcore and modern rock to read reviews, post reviews and get the latest information for their favorite bands. Once a member joins, they have the ability to communicate with fans like themselves and participate in the concert and CD-review process.
After graduation, Shepler wants to work for a production company, a Web design company, or start his own Web design company.
Shepler offers this advice to those who are new to creating Web sites: "It'll take a while to get used to, but the best teacher is yourself."
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