OSwerk: Your Digital Handyman | Tech consultant in Plymouth, MN

Software Consulting

What are your technical pain points?

Software not quite matching your needs/budget
Website working/looking "almost" as you'd like

One size doesn't fit all.
Let's find or build you the just-right tech!

Integrations and Custom Development

Would life be better if ABC would work better with XYZ?

Want your shop or your blog integrated with your website?
Need a webcam and control server for your lakehouse pump?

Your digital handyman connects anything to anything.

Graphic Design

Could you use some help with logo and marketing design?

Reflect your unique methods and talents
Human-crafted imagery and layout

Your image should make you proud, and connect with your clients.
Let's develop the look you deserve!

Need a nerd? Email me for a free quote.

OSwerk

"Werk" is an old, some would say obsolete form of the word "work".

I'm an old-fashioned geek, in that I think simpler is often better.
We don't need AI slop. We don't need predatory practices.

We need to do what we love. We need to do good work. We need to mind our business.

It's not obsolete. It's werk. Let's werk together.

-Owen Swerkstrom, "OSwerk"

About OSwerk

OSwerk is a software handyman service here in Plymouth, Minnesota. I'm your (Midwestern) Swiss-Army Geek.

Background

I started programming in BASIC as a child. I grew up alongside personal computing. Using software to create tools and images and games was magical, and has remained so my entire life. I remember computers without the internet, the internet without the web, the web without the gold-rush cycles. Software is still amazing, and I've always loved working with small local businesses to leverage technology and computing in novel and helpful ways.

Consumerism and megacorporations have done their best to suck the life and the profit out of computing. Manuals and built-in programming languages have been replaced with "there's an app for that" and Software-as-a-Service. What you get is what you get. ...But it doesn't have to be that way.

I've written software for small, medium, and large businesses since 1994. The most exciting and engaging work always comes from the small local enterprises. If that's you, and if you've got technical pain points (who doesn't?) then we should chat.

Website Design and Management

Your site will flow seamlessly on any display size - desktops, smartphones, tablets, new browsers, old browsers, you name it. Wherever possible, I arrange for low-cost or even free hosting.

You might have an existing website in need of tweaking, a scribble on a napkin, or no idea at all how you'd like your site to look and feel. No matter how hands-on or hands-off you are, my work is only complete when you are happy with the results!

Blog integration, merch store embedding, booking links, interactive elements... You name it, I'll build it.

Unless requested, I don't bother with heavy libraries or toolkits. Modern web browsers are amazing platforms, and I've been writing vanilla HTML+JS+CSS since the days of Mosaic and Netscape. Simpler is often better, even with modern design and flourishes.

Logo Design: North Country brands

Logo Design: The Broken Rule

These designs are traditional and ambigram (same upside-down) logos for a local metal band, The Broken Rule.

Logo Design: local media

Graphics for the Hidden Oaks podcast and local filmmakers Flying Cat Entertainment