[W34-36] Your personal website as a creative medium
"Recruiters please hire me I'm not like other tech bros" đŠ
đ What I worked on
đ©âđ»Â mostly coding
I set out to build a personal website thatâs actually fun to look at.
At first, I thought of it as a flaunting exhibition of my ability to code, and the fact that âIâm not like other tech brosâ whose website is a mere repetition of their resume. With this, I hoped to woo recruiters so I wouldnât be jobless.
Ok, letâs get on designing.
Of course, the enthusiasm met the blank notebook without any visual idea.
But now Iâve learned that any creative block means a mental block, not a lack of ideas. I explored why I was having a hard time even coming up with a layout.
Noting down these blocks, it became clear that I didnât want to just make a website for recruiters who would spend less than 30 seconds there. It became clear I didnât want to make it a glorified resume of my tech work. Clear that I didnât want it to be a desperation for a job.
I want it to say âHey, if we vibe, you can connect with me.â
Hence, the order of priority for the audience of this page is:
(1) Potential randos whoâll vibe with me. I want this website to be a touch point, similar to how this Substack serves as my implicit, dynamic personal value statement.
(2) Me: A fun design and coding exercise
(3) Recruiters
With an emphasis on connection, I need to make this website especially welcoming. I noticed that the âContactâ page on most personal websites is impersonal - phone number, email, or a comment box. Iâd be hesitant to reach out âjust to say hiâ if all I wanted to say was âyour website is cool.â It leads nowhere. Instead, it should be personal, welcoming, and specific.
We can start with the hero image. Iâm envisioning a looping video with a friend I met because of her website, something like this:
For the text, Iâm very inspired by this French designerâs personal website. Iâd like to create a similar text animation effect for the phrase âYou can connect with me.â The text coming together emphasizes the meaning of the phrase.
I will also put in prompts or easy suggestions on what they can connect with me about. Such as âLetâs talk about how to use urban forestry to restore native habitat.â or âWanna collaborate on a creative project together?â or âWhat did you resonate with?â or âSay hi I wonât bite.â Here, Iâm open to suggestions from you, readers.
The /connect
page wonât be the only touch point for connection. The Navigation bar has two buttons, âMenuâ and âConnect with meâ, displayed throughout the website.
In the main /projects
page, where I showcase my projects, there will be a mysterious section. When you click on it, it will lead to /connect
page where I suggest that we can collaborate =).
Even the simple phrasing of âConnect with meâ instead of âContact meâ feels warmer. Iâd consider this a successful project if a rando reaches out to me from this website.
So far, I finished the layout of the Home and Project pages. Iâm quite proud of the home page. It says âWelcome to Trang Doanâs space,â and itâs actually an interactive space đȘ.
Waaa so much work. But this might be the most fun Iâve had with coding. I code while waiting for a dance class, while at Chase waiting to open a bank account, and first thing of the day sometimes.
I know, the design still needs fixing. This is why Iâm hosting a skills exchange with my designer friend today, where heâll teach me design and how to improve this page, while I teach him how to make mapo tofu. Iâm also learning lots and lots about visual design through âPrimer to Visual Literacyâ by Donis A. Dondis and âA Type Primerâ by John Kane. The force of curiosity propels me to read these boring academic books that I wouldâve flinched before. That makes me happy.
đïžÂ some writing.
Random break of coding with writing âWhat good therapy means,â a piece that weaves my experience in therapy and dance.
đ„Ą Takeaways
I failed at this project three years ago I couldnât use React Router, despite having spent a month working on it.
Three years later, I created the backbone of the website in 2 days đ€Ż. I was proud, for being more capable. But also Iâm so grateful for ChatGPT. It has made learning so much easier. I have an incentive to actually pop under the hood and understand the technology because the activation energy is low. You simply type âexplain __ in an easy-to-understand way.â
As a hired software engineer, AI was a looming threat to take over my job. As a creative person, AI has become an amazing tool that unlocks possibilities. The more I use those tools, the more convinced I am that soon the current form of software engineering will become obsolete. Making a website or a digital product would be more like building legos - pre-made blocks offered to you based on your description. The bar of entry for the skills level youâd get paid for would be much higher, similar to how no one pays for typists anymore because personal computers were invented. That means you will get to and have to rely more on creative and humanistic senses to actually create value. This excites me.
đ§ Question of the week
Too many career crises to explain in a question. Just send hugs, thoughts, and prayers đ.
This is the week #34-36 update of my daily creative challenge, as outlined in the Re-manifesto of this blog. Iâm inspired by Má» - MÆĄ vĂ Há»iâs course, Writing On The Net 2 (#wotn2), and all my friends who write and create consistently!
For ways to connect, I think youâre great at making skillshare happen
woah. thats massive progress 3y ago vs now. alsooo, love the piece about skill democratization with AI. it sorta lifts the gates letting more and more folks give a form to their ideas.
loooking forward to the "final" version:))