About
I design the brand, write the words, build the site, and run the server.
That combination is unusual, and it is the whole point. Most of what goes wrong for a business online happens exactly on the lines between those four jobs — and those lines are where things normally get dropped.
Background
Dehradun, since 1998.
I started in 1998 in graphic design and branding — logos, stationery, brochures and the copy that went inside them, in the years when all of that still went to an offset press. That grounding is why I still think about a mark in terms of whether it will hold up at the size of a visiting card and the size of a hoarding.
The web work grew out of it, because clients who had just been given an identity naturally wanted a website that matched it. The server work grew out of that, because the hosting kept being the weak link and blaming someone else was never a satisfying answer.
Today I look after a cPanel and WHM estate carrying around eighteen client accounts — a mixture of WordPress and Joomla sites, along with the mail, DNS and backups that go with them — while still doing the design and writing that started it all.
I also run eDehradun, a web and print studio, for jobs where the printed half of an identity needs to be produced as well as designed.
Working at every layer changes how problems get solved. When a page is slow, I can look at the query and at the server's disk statistics in the same sitting. When mail does not arrive, I read the mail log rather than guess. When a brochure and a website disagree, there is only one person who has to fix it.
How I work
Six habits, most of them learned by being wrong first.
Backup before change
Every change that touches a live site starts with a backup and a written rollback path. Not because things usually go wrong, but because the one time they do is the time it matters.
Verify, do not assume
A configuration file saying a thing is enabled is not proof that it works. I test the actual behaviour — the real request, the real path, the real log line — before calling anything done.
Written records
What was changed, when, why, and how to undo it. If you ever hire someone else, they should be able to pick up from my notes without ringing me.
Plain language
You will get an explanation you can act on, without jargon used as a shield. If something is genuinely uncertain, I will say that too.
Nothing held hostage
Domains registered in your name. Hosting logins handed over. Editable source files and vector artwork yours to keep. Leaving should always be possible, even if I would rather you did not.
Honest scope
If a job is outside what I do well, I will say so rather than learn on your budget. If the cheaper option is good enough for you, I will tell you that as well.
Tools
What I actually use.
Not an exhaustive list — just what a client project is most likely to touch.
Design
- Vector illustration
- Page layout & prepress
- Photo retouching
- CMYK / Pantone
- Type systems
Platforms
- WordPress & WooCommerce
- Joomla 4, 5 and 6
- Custom PHP applications
Server
- cPanel / WHM
- AlmaLinux
- Apache, PHP-FPM
- MySQL / MariaDB
- Exim, DNS
Security
- Host firewall & log daemon
- Web application firewall
- Malware scanning
- File-level immutability
- Off-site backups
Say hello
Happy to talk before you commit to anything.
If you are in Dehradun you are welcome to come in. If not, a call works just as well.