07.01.26

You're reading this on a site that took far longer to build than it had any right to.

Not because it's technically complex—though we did build a custom CMS with email-based 2FA and a split-screen editor that mirrors the published view. Not because we needed exotic features—markdown support, dark mode, and a Supabase backend hardly qualify as pioneering.

No, it took time because we kept asking: what if a developer blog didn't look like a developer blog?

The Problem With Templates

Every portfolio site looks the same. Gradient backgrounds, sans-serif hero text, \"Let's build something amazing together.\" The tech industry has standardized its aesthetic to the point where personal sites have become interchangeable.

We didn't want futuristic. We didn't want minimal in that tech-startup way where \"minimal\" means \"we hired a designer who only uses Inter and linear gradients.\" We wanted something that felt considered. Editorial. Like someone actually thought about typography and rhythm and negative space.

So we started with constraints:

• No gradients unless absolutely necessary

• No more than 5 colors total

• Serif body text (EB Garamond) for that literary quality

• Asymmetric layouts that break the grid

• Pure black backgrounds in dark mode, not #1a1a1a

• No marketing copy—just honest, technical writing

The design brief explicitly mentioned avoiding \"typical SaaS patterns.\" We studied editorial layouts, book design, magazines. We wanted it to feel like you were reading something, not consuming content.\n\n## Iteration as Practice\n\nThe first version had too much structure. The second was too loose. The third worked but felt bland. We kept refining, adjusting spacing, rethinking hierarchy.\n\nThe blog editor became a design challenge in itself—how do you create a writing environment that shows you exactly what readers will see? We built a split-screen view where the left panel is your markdown and the right panel is the published view.