About this website
Yes, the very website you are looking at right now! My portfolio website.
I have re-made it about ~7 times now since 2017. It works out to once a year (ish). On every new version I try to:
- Outdo the previous version
- Showcase skills I've learned over the past year
- List the projects I worked on
These versions have almost become a staple of my personal brand. I've even been stopped on campus several times by people saying:
Hey, are you Tomas Maillo? The guy with the website?
Don't know if it's for better or worse, but it has become somewhat of a running joke.
Every version is a new challenge. I usually start from a squeaky-clean new branch and spend ~4 weeks creating it. Throughout the process I look for feedback from friends and family, constantly sending them links and screenshots to get their opinions.
To explore different versions, change the year in the URL: 2024.tomasmaillo.com
2024
The 2024 version is built with Next.js, TailwindCSS, and hosted on Vercel. I optimized for the smallest size and the fastest possible load time, something new to my portfolio series.
I stripped away loads of libraries that slowed the site down. I moved away from 2022's bulky 3D elements and some of 2023's distracting animations. While these were unique and new to me at the time, when I look at them now I think they are cringe. I imagine this is a sign of growth?
Features
A cool feature is the view counter and the location indicator at the top of the page. These are both made with an over-engineered solution involving servers, caching, shortcuts, timezone engineering... It was extremely fun to build. I'll explain how these work in more detail in an upcoming blog post.
Blog posts are written in .mdx format, which is a mix of Markdown and JSX. Kudos to Vercel for making this possible! This allows me to write blog posts with Markdown but also include custom React components inline.
Vibe
Previously, my portfolios were a project in itself. Right from 2017 till now. The websites would have their own personality and take attention from the projects listed.
For 2024, I wanted to focus on showcasing the projects rather than the website itself. Clean, professional, and sleek.
For inspiration, I dove into my bookmarks. I got inspired by websites like Christo Todorov and Gavin Nelson. I'll dive into detail on how I got inspiration from them and dozens of other websites in an upcoming blog post.
Drawbacks
An issue with going for a clean and minimalist design is it's hard to make it stand out. Both my dad and Russell Cook ↗ told me this. For non-technical users or people not focused on the details, the 2024 page could come across as a WordPress template.
They both pointed out that this website was missing that oomph factor. Something that makes it memorable. They referenced previous years that had intro animations, easter eggs, colors everywhere, animations, and more.
Of course, they are right. Stay posted for updates!
See you in the future,
Tomas