Background
(Self Portraits)
Smack Happy Design was founded by me, Nicole Hanusek. I have been designing web sites since 1998 and working with WordPress for about five years. My passion for good design and knowledge of HTML and CSS have helped me garner a plethora of great design examples for my portfolio as well as wonderful colleagues who enjoy working with me.
My design career began in Cleveland, Ohio, where I worked for several consulting firms as lead web designer. These firms include OhioOnline, Avantia, and Xteric Technology (now Rosetta). I also used to own a company called Danikk Design. In 2004 I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and started working for E-Loan as Web Designer and Developer. Then I moved on to Alexa Internet as the Webmaster and User Interface guru.
Throughout my career I have always done freelance web design and illustration on the side. In 2009 I finally quit the day job to do freelance work full time, and couldn’t be happier. On several occasions I have been referred to as a “web design goddess” or “css master”.
The Name
I was still working at a full time job and preparing for my switch to freelancing. As you may know, coming up with a name these days is very difficult. The domain needs to be available, and it needs to be memorable and easy to spell. One day I was at work and my coworker did something to aggravate me (hes just one of the many reasons I wanted to switch to freelancing) and I said to myself, “I’m going to get smack happy on him!” Bam, there is was, what a great name! Luckily it was available so I snatched it up and here we are.
Volunteering
I basically live across the street from the San Francisco SPCA and one day I was walking by with my dog. We passed a woman who commented, “he’s so mellow, he’d make a great therapy dog!” I had thought about doing this many times and guess what? She was in charge of the program! She gave me her card and I had no excuse anymore. My dog, Joe, and I went through the Animal Assisted Therapy training and now we visit one of over 90 facilities throughout San Francisco two to three times a month.
I’ve also participated in the Spark program, who provide life-changing apprenticeships to youth in underserved communities across the United States. In the Spring 2011 I took on two web design apprentices: Matthew (8th grade) and Coy (7th grade). Together they formed their own design firm and created design concepts for me, their client. They learned a lot about the web and will hopefully go on to pursue some classes in Photoshop or HTML.
Résumé
Nicole Hanusek (65 kb PDF)
Memberships and Affiliations