Melinda Viccica, the Sicilian traveller who took art from surrealism to web design
This tribe series is an opportunity for me (and you, I hope!) to discover, layer by layer, the intricate world of the web. I’m right at the point where I know technology and tech jobs exist, I know what they are for (life, basically. Imagine removing completely all the web technology from our planet), but I don’t really have a clear map of who does what and how. Thankfully, I can at least figure that out with StreetLib, as I get in touch with all our BTT* members one by one. Today, we’ll learn a bit more about Front-end development, what and who turns the gears and code parts into a usable and, beautiful and comfortable tool. One of the persons in charge of that in our tribe is Melinda Viccica.
* If you haven’t read my latest posts, BTT stands for Brilliant Tech Team.
Melinda is also an Art lover. So much so that she graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts of Catania. She then studied HTML and CSS. You may think that there is a huge jump to go from one to the other, but there is actually a direct bridge called web design. Web design is about craftsmanship and art, both applied to technology. Going from Art to web design isn’t such a crazy idea. As said above, web design makes internet tools usable and beautiful.
Melinda started doing just that at StreetLib four years ago with the User Interface of StreetLib Write, our online free book editor.
“I became soon passionated with the project and also with the optimal coordination we found within the small team working on Write, consisting of Fabio Nicotra, StreetLib Write Main Developer, Giacomo D’Angelo, who currently is the CEO at StreetLib USA, and me.”
Since then, Melinda has been involved in a lot of our projects, tools, websites, continuing in the meantime her formation. This is one other point I admire about workers of the web. They are the ones most eager to continue their formation while they are working. They’ll probably tell you they don’t have much of a choice because the web constantly evolves and they need to adapt. It’s partly true, but it’s more than that. I know a bunch of garage mechanics, lawyers, or even doctors, who will do the strict minimum to adapt to the evolutions of their fields. Melinda, on the other hand, felt she also should tackle Javascript, on top of improving and learning new things in CSS and HTML.
“I’m currently working on the User Interface for new features in StreetLib Write and I’m also involved with the UI of StreetLib Read, the next digital book reader, by StreetLib.
I’ve also been working on the release of the new Antonio Tombolini Editore website.”
Art — Travels — Food. That’s how our team should be called. Every month, I read a new portrait and find the same three passions (almost without fail). With Melinda, art is best shown in her passion with surrealism, with the likes of Salvador Dalì, Frida Kahlo and the performance art of Marina Abramović.
Travels and food are often mixed with one another as it allows her to discover culinary cultures and specialties. Getting to know a new part of the world should always involve our five senses; apparently, the whole tribe at least agrees to involve tastebuds!
“Last summer we’ve been in Crete (fifth time in Greece), an island that I really loved for its wilderness and rural fashion and its wonderful cuisine.
In the very near future I’d like to see South America or India.”
Who’s we? You may be wondering; well, Melinda’s life-partner and travel companion happens to be Fabio Nicotra, another member of our BTT. Maybe when I write his portrait, we’ll find out if it’s StreetLib who brought them together or if one introduced StreetLib to the other :)
