v2 Website Colophon

A colophon is a fancy designer word for "how this site was made."

I designed and built this site myself and it is still very much a work in progress. It's frankly overengineered for a personal website, but playing with web technologies is an indulgent hobby of mine that I enjoy and that keeps me engaged. I've spent years working with these tools professionally, and when it came time to build my own digital garden on the web, I chose familiarity and comfort over minimalism.

There's something to be said for using tools you know deeply — tools where you understand the quirks, the gotchas, and the workflows. While I could have built this with something simpler, these choices let me move quickly, iterate confidently, and focus on the content and design rather than wrestling with unfamiliar tooling. When I get more time, I'll probably simplify the stack and use the opportunity to learn some new technologies that align more with the purpose of this site.

Technologies & Techniques

Next.js does most of the heavy lifting. I've built countless production applications with it, and its developer experience makes it a natural choice even if a static site generator would have sufficed. The App Router's file-based routing and React Server Components keep things organized and performant.

React is my go-to for building interfaces. I've used it extensively across projects, and its component model and ecosystem make it the most comfortable choice for me. The functional component patterns and hooks feel like second nature at this point.

Earlier versions of this site were built with Webflow, which I began using way back in 2016 and still use and recommend to others occasionally. Times have changed and I've grown more comfortable with React and the modern web stack.

Tailwind CSS v4 handles the styling with its utility-first approach. Tailwind's utility classes let me style quickly without context switching between files. I've used it on many projects, and its design system approach keeps things consistent when styling is kept inside of reusable components.

Animations are a mix of CSS and Motion

Vercel takes care of hosting. It provides a clear CI/CD pipeline and automatic deployments. The last thing I want to worry about is deploying my site.

Writing and Editing Content

My CMS is Sanity, a flexible, developer-friendly headless content platform that I've integrated into many client projects. Its real-time collaboration, structured content, and powerful query language (GROQ) make content management a joy. For a personal site, a simple MDX file would have been sufficient, but Sanity's Studio gives me a nice interface to manage content without touching code and lets me experiment with new content types and features.

Typography

Body copy is set in Forma DJR. I love its clean, modern sans-serif feel and excellent readability. The type scale uses a custom system built with Tailwind CSS utilities, keeping things consistent across the site.

So yes, this is currently overkill. But building with familiar tools means I can focus on what matters: the content, the design, and the experience. Sometimes the best tool for the job is the one you know best, even if it's more than you technically need.