Fabio Bindels

What did you do before?

Just a year ago I was making music at the HKU (School for the Arts in Utrecht) where I was educated in Music & Technology. To my surprise one of the courses was about the programming language JavaScript. At first glance I thought it was quite devilish. 😈  I would’ve never thought that this was going to be my profession one day.
After a year of studying I had the feeling that a career in music wasn’t going to cut it for me. I thought: maybe I should invest some of my time in this weird programming stuff that I got acquainted with at school. An online course followed, and after that another… eventually I spent every workday as a computer nerd. A new passion of mine arose. When I finally had the feeling that I could truly make a cool website, I came in contact with Level Level…

What are you doing at Level Level?

Back when I still made music, my girlfriend lived in Coolhaven. From her window I could see the office building of Level Level. I never knew what kind of company Level Level was, until the moment that I was looking for an internship as a Front-end developer, and came across the website of Level Level. The vibe that Level Level had, immediately sparked my interest. When I learned that Level Level was “that one office”,  I had the feeling that it was meant to be. An informative and fun internship followed, and after a few months I was offered a job at Level Level, which of course I accepted immediately. I still think it’s really cool that an individual, without work experience or a diploma, gets a chance to prove himself.

Why front-end development?

It was a typical fall day… On your way to the office you see dark clouds forming and moving in your direction. Just when the first raindrops hit the ground you enter the office, which feels warm and cozy. You’re relieved. As you’re brewing your cup of liquorice tea, you open up your laptop. The raindrops outside have transformed into an enormous rainstorm. The office that normally gets lots of sunlight is now dark. A few lamps illuminate the room, radiating a warm and cozy vibe. Large raindrops are running off the window. Luckily you are inside with a warm cup of tea. On your laptop you see a notification from your favorite web designer. It’s about a new design for a nice local business, one that you bike past every morning. When you look inside it always looks fun and cozy. The people know each other very well and start the day with a cup of coffee and a nice talk. When viewing the design it immediately makes you think of the vibe you get when biking past that window. After analyzing the design for a bit, it is time to write some code. The only thing you hear is the sound of  raindrops running from the window and the rattling of the keys on your keyboard. Every now and then you hear thunder strike and the sight of a lightning bolt illuminates the room. When you take a break and look outside, you see some lightning and people walking by with umbrellas. After a while you see something come alive on your screen. The design that first was a static and still image, is now suddenly interactive. The fact that you made this all by yourself gives you a pleasant feeling. You can’t wait to show the client! In the corner of your eye you see the time that has passed since you started working this morning. You can’t believe that time has flown by so quickly! It’s time to go home. Tomorrow is another day.

(P.S. Fabio also has a real touch for storytelling, as you can tell 😉)