Six Eight Media

The Web Studio of Justin Garcia

Greetings loved ones.

I make websites and things that make websites work better.

Well, that's not all I do. But that's why you're here, right? To learn about my ability to make your computer do cool and useful things (in the context of a web browser, of course).

But maybe not. Maybe you're not actually interested in my web development skills. I mean, who really cares about all that stuff anyways?

Contrary to popular belief and expectation, I don't actually enjoy sitting at the computer for extended periods of time. I have all these ideas of web apps I could create or projects I could work on (I do enjoy being productive), but I sit on the computer all day at work, so the last thing I want to do at home is stare at a screen for the rest of my waking hours.

So, when you or someone else is not paying me to sling HTML, I try to keep my laptop closed. I like to play guitar, though I feel like I should be better than I am considering how long I've played. I enjoy a good latte (preferably homemade) and I like to ride my bike, but I wouldn't consider myself a "cyclist" (that's the people who ride like 100 miles a week and average 20+ MPH).

My favorite thing to do is to hang out with my both hot and hilarious wife Sally. Whether we're going on a road trip, trying out a new restaurant in Jackson, or racing straws in the gutters when it's raining (Yes, we've actually done that, and it was a lot of fun. You should try it. First straw that makes it into the sewer wins.), she is the main reason I only want to sit in front a screen when someone's paying me to do so.

Anyways...I suppose if you want to know more about non-web-related things I could do, you should just say hey to me on Twitter. I'll try to keep nerd tweets to a minimum.

The Work.

My name is Justin and I do cool things on the internet using secret computer code and fancy-schmancy graphics software.

Honestly, the code is not that secret and the fancy software is really just Photoshop. And in reality there's more to the web than doing "cool things."

If you run a business, you want to market or sell your product. If you're an artist you want to showcase your work. If you're a musician…well, you should just get a MySpace site.

Seriously though, the web is a communication medium like no other, and it requires certain levels of expertise to know what works and what doesn't. I don't do print design. I don't do video. I don't do photography. I do web. I know the web.

The Person.

I live in Clinton, Mississippi with my wonderful wife Sally and crazy dog Jack. During the day I work at Mississippi College. During the night, I prefer not to work at all. That is, unless you're in the mood to shell out a few bucks, in which case I'll gladly reconsider.

Oh, and you should follow me on Twitter.

The Name.

While it would seem perfectly plausible that i just rolled a pair of dice to decide on the name of my "company," (outside of the fact that you couldn’t actually roll an eight), there is actually more to it than that.

"Six Eight" comes from a verse of scripture in the Old Testament - Micah 6:8. It's a verse that's gotten a lot more press lately, but I think for good reason. Our lives tend to get pretty complicated. This helps simplify things quite a bit, and makes it clear what really matters.

"But He's already made it plain to you how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don't take yourself too seriously — take God seriously." — Micah 6:8, The Message

Work. Play.

"Find something you enjoy doing and you'll never have to work a day again in your life."

Well, you'd be super-lucky to do something that never feels like work at all, but it is true that work can be a little more like play if you enjoy it. And unlike many people, I (usually) enjoy sitting in front of the computer for hours at a time making things for use on the www. Here is some of the work I do:

Concrete5 Add-Ons

I've got a couple of add-on's available on the Concrete5 Marketplace — Advanced Forms and Data Display.

Advanced Forms

View Full Documentation

Advanced Forms lets you create forms from the backend of your site and then use them on your site to collect data from your users.

What People Are Saying About Advanced Forms

"This addon exceded all of my expectations, it is in my opinion the best addon in the marketplace!"

"Advanced Forms and Data Display are hands down the most useful add-ons I've purchased from the marketplace."

It is one of the best plug-ins I bought so far and it has enormous potential. I didn't find a similar idea in other CMS systems.

Data Display

The Data Display package for Concrete5 lets you easily manage and display gathered from the Advanced Forms add-on.

What People Are Saying About Data Display

"There is simply no better (and, practically speaking, no other) way to rapidly create even slightly complex directories on a C5 website."

"I can't believe the raw power of this add-on along with the advanced forms add-on."

"If you or your audience needs to enter/display/filter/search for data, this is the add-on to have."

"Advanced Forms and Data Display are hands down the most useful add-ons I've purchased from the marketplace."

Web Design.

At it’s most basic, web design is about creating the “look” of a site. However, there's more to that "look" than meets the eye. Sure, having a site that looks nice is important and valuable, but other aspects like the user interface and information architecture are just as important, though often perhaps less thought about.

First and foremost, design is about communication. I recognize that and design sites accordingly.

Web Development.

Web development involves making websites work properly and do cool (and useful) things. Most of my development work is done in one of two arenas: Concrete5 development or site implementation (Photoshop to HTML).

For the nerds out there, this is where I drop terms like HTML5, CSS3, Javascript/jQuery, MySQL, and PHP to impress you.