CSS Reel Nominee Award CSS Awards Nominee Award
IN TAO
ARE MY CODES AND SKETCHES
Github Douban (in Chinese) Email me
Wenli Zhang

Hello, world!

I'm desired to be a general designer, from UI, web pages to sketchings, icons and etc.

I'm a responsible, inventive and enthusiastic person. So, please feel free to email me if you have any question! :D

Skills

I'm experienced in web developing, especially the front end, with the knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery and so on. Not a professional designer yet, but I'm on my way...

Also have some knowledge of PHP, JSP, ASP and MySQL, in which little extra enthusiasm is found. And, of course, I did much C++ and Java projects, which only convinced me more of my love for web front end developing.

I used PhotoShop for years but recently found more interest in making vector images with InkScape.

These skills listed here are just a hint for you to know about me. They are priceless by themselves, without the guidance of Tao.

Education

Currently being a Senior undergraduate of School of Software, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Candidate graduate of Digital Art Lab, School of Software, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

TAO
Tao image

Being one of the most famous Chinese philosophers, Laozi inspired and enlightened people for thousands of years with Tao, the universal way the world runs in. His masterpiece, Tao Te Ching, was written unwillingly in around 6th century BC. Because he didn't want to talk too much about Tao himself. He who knows won't talk, he who talks don't know, as he put it.

In Taoism philosophy, everything is about relativity. It is ugliness that defines beauty as it is black that defines white. This does not only inspire me a lot when I learn sketching, but also direct me in everyday life.

I learned to take things easily as they come along and not to contrive too much, which doesn't necessarily mean being optimistic. On the contrary, I would do my best to see what can be achieved and accept it when it's time to let go.

Of course, Tao is a lot more than that. You have to make it out by yourself, as Laozi said, Tao that can be explained is not the unchanging Tao.

CODES

I'm glad that as a creative programmer, my enthusiasm lies in creating useful applications to make life easier.

Randocy is a project to find online movies with high score on Douban. I made this because one day in my summer vocation in 2012, I was boring finding movies on web sites like Youku and Tudou. The problem is that scores are not so accurate on those sites (a guess is that there are some business related reasons). So I made Randocy to sort using Douban scores.

As I said before, without the guidance of Tao, the programming skills are meaningless by themselves. It's much more important to dig out potential needs and present with user-friendly interfaces.

SKETCHES

Started as a hobby, I have been teaching myself sketching since the beginning of 2013. I would not regard myself as gifted, but with the knowledge of Tao, I learned quickly and felt more confident about it.

I observed sketches of artists and found out that sketches are all about contrast. And once grasped the essence of it, composition, light and everything become easier.

I'm also making some vector avatars and will put them here when more matured. But you can always get the latest works of mine here.

Just like programming, sketching skill is also only a tool, called Qi in Chinese.