What sparked it all

Baxter

Oh man, I’ve just seen another site built by a big tech company and the experience was awful. They didn’t think about the user.

Maxim

Maybe they’ve lost their inspiration and now just do everything like a conveyor belt.

It feels like their products have no soul at all.

Yeah, they are all the same. We could combine our experience and create clean, fresh looking websites.

What do you think?

It’s a great idea. We’ll make the sites really fast and smooth, so the design can breathe. Unlike those websites, ours will have no bugs and it’ll be easy to maintain.

Let’s do it! Now’s the right time to make the web and the world a better place.

People behind the screen

Maxim Akimov

I finished my formal education in 2016 after two and a half years of study. The courses were for multiple disciplines including desktop and mobile development. The web is what really got my attention and I dove right in, and ever since I have been working as a Full Stack Web Developer.

I really admire creating systems from scratch. The system’s architecture, administration and the general planning of the whole project is always a pleasure, it allows me to see the project grow with my own eyes and often makes me feel like I am the head gardener and not just a participant.

When I work, my cat is usually close by and more often than not on my lap, I’m guessing by now she has more knowledge about programming than me. Fortunately she’s easy going and quiet, so silly me doesn’t get too distracted from my work.

In the evening and on weekends I prefer an active lifestyle, visiting the gym or playing some table tennis with friends.

Baxter Jones

I’ve worked at a few different companies from the Newspaper and Radio industry to Marketing in the Retail Banking sector, filling all the roles from Senior Designer for web to Creative Director and Department Head. I have a wide range of experience in the technical and creative design aspect, and appreciate an intuitive design from others, which is something I always strive for too.

I enjoy being outside, early morning walks with my girlfriend and our boxer doggo, mountain hikes on weekends and of course the all important gardening in between. I especially like growing succulents and different varieties of pepper plants, as they are often more forgiving in the very hot South African sun.

Give me a challenge and leave me to get on with it for best results.

Story of WPLake

WPLake came into existence in 2020 when two friends from opposite sides of the world joined forces. They both have a passion for the web and a similar outlook on life and work. They’ve set their own goals for WPLake, which is to make the web and the World a better place. It’s kind of naive but in fact an attainable goal.

The two have complementary skills, Maxim being the programmer and all round developer and systems expert, with Baxter on the design and applications side with a head for processes and problem solving.

WPLake stands for WordPress Lake. What’s with the Lake you may ask?
Well, both Maxim and Baxter have fond memories of open bodies of water growing up, fishing and swimming with family and friends. A Lake also symbolizes a calm fresh feeling, with a large depth that leans towards deep and meaningful thoughts.

They wondered why big tech companies often forget the end user, and why they make things clunky and slow, with a general lack of “heart” in their projects. This led the two to think, perhaps, just maybe they can do it differently, maybe they should start their own agency.
This would give them the opportunity to create a recipe that embodies a warm, friendly approach, looking closely at the clients’ needs and solving real problems for the users.

By the length of the beards you can easily see who is the most experienced member of the team.