My name is Chris Peak and I am a designer & web developer.

I love solving problems & building things. I specialize in front-end development, working in multiple frameworks and languages, most recently diving deep into React + Typescript. I am a Principal Designer at 8th Light. When not in front of my laptop I enjoy photography, working on vintage Apple computers, genealogy, and riding my recumbent bike.

Writing

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New SSD for the Pismo PowerBook

07 October 2023

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Repairing a Pismo PowerBook G3

16 September 2023

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Vintage Computer Festival Midwest

10 September 2023

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Genealogy 101

05 June 2023

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Tightening an Apple Watch Braided Loop

14 February 2023

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Apple Extended Keyboard II

08 April 2022

Reviving an Apple IIe

12 January 2022

Madison WI to Yorkville IL Bike Tour

29 October 2021

Linear LWB vs SWB

01 July 2021

Why Recumbents?

22 January 2021

LEGO ISS

25 August 2020

Terminal Tips

26 August 2019

console.log('is my hero')

20 August 2019

ngrok

15 August 2019

About

I fell in love with computers at an early age - fiddling with BASIC on my dad's Apple II, learning Pascal and C++ in High School, and then moving on to HTML which better suited my interests. As the web matured I kept up with the technologies, learning CSS (and SCSS), Javascript, JQuery, and eventually modern tools like React. I strive to design clean, accessible, and beautiful websites & applications.

I've been lucky enough to work on a diverse palette of projects - from independent record companies and tiny startups, to major insurance companies, law firms, globally recognized art museums, and Fortune 100s.

I pride myself on being able to step into legacy codebases without previous exposure and almost immediately start delivering work. Having both freelanced and consulted for over a decade I have seen, touched, written in, and worked on more systems than I can count. I am comfortable working from small marketing sites to full-on enterprise level applications. It's not often you find a designer who uses VIM on a daily basis.

Additionally I have experience in UX Design, UI Design, branding, illustration, and even conference organization and hosting. I am proficient in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Sketch, and Figma.

When I'm not working I enjoy photography, astronomy, hiking, riding my recumbent bike, playing my Gretsch, and spending time with my family.

Visual Design

Cycling

Strava Rides

Cycling Blog Posts

Madison WI to Yorkville IL Bike Tour

29 October 2021

Linear LWB vs SWB

01 July 2021

Why Recumbents?

22 January 2021