About & Credits
My name is Wei, I'm a web developer based in Singapore. I have a personal profile site that you may visit here.
About me playing the viola
I played the violin as a child but not so well. I've been hoping to pick it back up for a few years and finally the pandemic has given me the time and isolation to do that. I've fallen in love with the viola the moment I played it for a first time, and I've grown to love it even more.
My teacher
My teacher is Jonathan Lee. He is a great teacher and violist. He is extremely bright with high standard and noteworthy commitment in teaching. He helps me solve problems that I didn't think I could solve.
Lots of thoughts were inspired from our lessons and conversations. Although if I have made any mistakes, it is me remember wrongly.
My friend Huijing and the Fluffy Phil
Introducing my most amazing web developer friend Huijing, who is also the artist behind all the Fluffy Phil artworks. Even though she doesn't play a string instrument, and whether she really plays the piano 40 hours a day is quite dubious, she has been with me throughout my journey picking up the viola.
Alongside playing the viola, me and Huijing collaborate on the wonderful world of Fluffy Philharmonic and RedViolaPanda sticker shop (because stickers are big in our industry). The musical exploration and the development of the Fluffy Phil storylines fuel each other. This is the most amazing side project and collaboration I've been part of so far.
About this site
Aside from growing up playing the violin, I also grew up making websites for every organization I was associated with, my class, my school, my teacher's orchestra, etc. Anything that doesn't end up on a website doesn't count. When I have an active hobby, I make a website for it. It's now my way of exploring website-making in different contexts.
That said, the site isn't really aiming at providing any useful content nor appealing to anybody, other than myself. It contains some discoveries in music, some notes on books relevant to music, and some other random gadgets I built when I felt inspired. Occasionally, I do receive emails saying positive things about the site, they really made my day.
This site also receives disproportionally more updates during holiday seasons, indicating the obvious reason that I am much freer at such times.
Design and implementation of the site
The design of the site takes inspirations from Violins and Violinists, an occasional magazine by a British violin dealer, Benjamin Hebbert. I thought it is very interesting to consider website a magazine and actually go about implementing it. A careful study by trying to replicate parts of the site sparks a lot of ideas of what web developers can do and should explore in the making of a website for an artist.
I have fairly faithfully replicated many of the design elements and implementation of the Violins and Violinists site. In particular the card animation and the magazine layout. I have taken my own approach in implementation, though. If you are interested, you may read about this story in my development blog here.