Opting for Simplicity

The reasoning behind redesign

Have you ever felt that your life is a mess and really chaotic? Gotten a sudden urge to “get it together”? I have been feeling that lately. Past year or so has felt like my grip on the order of life has been loosening. I have been feeling unproductive, uninspired, and unfulfilled. I had this deep desire to recalibrate myself and focus on simplicity and streamline my thoughts; turning my attention towards high quality work and mindfulness. So, I started with this website.

I could’ve have added tons of animations, transitions, and cool effects to showcase my skills. Personal websites are a reflection what you know and what you are. I was tempted to over-engineer mine like it is supposed to be.

However, I had a different goal in mind. I wanted mine to be simple and representative of stuff I have made, stuff I have achieved, and stuff I think; in the simplest way possible. I wanted my site to be simple and yet did not want it to be restrictive for potential creativity. I tinker, I create, I write blogs (occasionally) so I need this place to be a crisp showcase of all these things and yet not feel like my craft has to be limited.

It may sound a bit too simple when you read it, and that’s exactly the problem! Each click should be awe-inspiring, each interaction here should make the user go “Wow!”. How about a canvas? Swooping animations, fancy buttons you can’t resist clicking, and typography that makes you want to read.

But I wanted it to be simple in terms of maintenance as well. Previous site I had was a frankenstein of various impressive portfolios I had seen online and was thus ever-evolving. It almost felt fake and disingenuous to my ideas whereas everything here is designed by me and involves no upkeep or updates. It’s literally bunch of text on a background though I will keep working on simplifying it further.

Another conundrum that I faced while thinking about my website was—Am I designing this for myself or for everyone else? What perspective should be mainlined for the designing process? One of my goals was to make this place my home on the internet. A private space I curate, full of self-worth. If you said “Why not both?” To you I would say it’s not possible. I believe achieving a harmony between both the perspectives is not possible in a way impressive to both. If you keep your doors unlocked and walk out, your house isn’t a private space anymore, it’s an exhibition.

So, here it is. Hope you like it. I started on the redo when I turned 23 back in July this year. Feels good to achieve a goal.

Behind The Scenes

Set in Inter and Newsreader with a particular focus on typography that feels natural. Built with Next.js and Tailwind, the content is decoupled from external servers (unlike previous versions) by utilising Contentlayer. Deployed with Vercel.

Inspired by Paco Coursey. Design influenced by read.cv.

You can visit my old website here. Please note that it embarrasses me every time a new person takes a look at that abomination :P