Personal web design in my perspective

[NinAcTi0N]

I've been pondering a lot of things lately, mainly ones regarding the state of my site, and how it is now 

To be honest, I could barely see my site grow the way it did. All I mainly had in mind was a custom portfolio for my artworks and characters, but it evolved to be a whole lot more...

Heck, now it almost feels like a living creation, full of its own nooks and crannies to be explored. The controlled chaos, the bright colors, and little bits and bobs you can click on, that serve a purpose other than just cosmetic appeal. I remember I would stay daydreaming of a whole lot of things I could add to it. I still do... specially since a website is never done. There's always a little thing you can add or change to make it better ^^

I think, what makes web design so appealing to me is the whole potential of artistic expression. You've got a whole clickable canvas just for you to paint on, and show others your perspective on what it means to be on the web. And gosh- the whole thing that is nostalgia really drives many sites to shine. I'm very nostalgic myself, for times I didn't live. Those wacky 90s that were a glimpse during my mid to late-2000s childhood, but never in its full extent.

A bunch of faint memories I had of weirdly formatted websites and shiny gifs still remained for many years tho. I still recalled the whimsy, and tried my best to grasp a fraction of it, but under my messy mix of aesthetics x] It's a long way, but hey! I'm having fun, and that's what matters 

And lastly... how about you guys? What gives you joy in the land of web design, and what keeps you coming back for more of it? ^^

[TheFrugalGamer]

Really agree with your point about it being a living creation. I think what appeals to me most is having a body of work that has grown over time and represents a lot of work throughout my life. I was watching a youtube video the other day about an old website called DeathAndHell.com (here's the link, but it goes over some disturbing stuff, so discretion is advised), and the author of the website talked about creating it as a "sarcophagus" of everything that was in his mind at that specific point in time, and I keep thinking back to that sentence over and over again. It really appeals to me, the idea that exploring my site is somewhat similar to exploring my mind and personality, and it will hopefully exist for a little after I'm gone as a record of the things I've created.

I guess that's what keeps me coming back, to answer your question. Even if my goal for my website changes over time, that's ok, because it is flexible enough to hold everything I want to add to it, and it will all become another facet of the work.

[WK_0]

Yanno, Nin, your initial thought reminded me of something a favourite musician of mine once said. Paraphrasing as best I can, they basically stated how when you set out to make things you always want to let it take its shape as you go along. Trying to get into a project with a very specific outcome in mind is actually opening the doors to a lot of frustration in the process, especially when you're in the middle of learning how to even do it. Granted, that advice was given from someone who worked better with experimenting and getting things wrong in order to find what's right. I always found it interesting to take into consideration, with how I work.

But yeah, long-winded way to say I'm with ya'll there on how one thinks about a site they make. It really is kinda just this dynamic snapshot of what's going through your mind, ain't it? From a collage of neat little things you find yourself drawn to, to a grand amalgamation of deep-rooted thoughts and feelings stemming from life and experience, or in my case a means to simply capture that which is. For the likes of me websites are great for encompassing that which is a living amalgamate itself. In short, I am a being. I am complex. I feel many things. One medium, one style, sometimes ain't enough, and so the nature of a website comes into play in a world where you're kinda expected to be a one dimensional thing.

Stepping away from waxing poetic for a moment, there definitely ain't no shortage of being driven by aesthetics and tastes— especially as an artist. I'm the type of guy whose eye more often gets drawn to anything colorful, flavourful, and most importantly, weird, cartoony and fun. I am also the type of guy who likes to keep things organised. I guess, in a sense, a lot of my current web design sensibilities basically boils down to being able to mix a sense of chaotic organisation, if you will. I like order, but I want just a smidgen of chaos in it. This is why I've always been so enamoured with sites, since I first even got internet access as a young teen. Websites don't always have to be just one thing, or just one style. People can make them one uniform way, or they can go bonkers banana beserk on each page, so it feels like every section you go to feels like its own space. A website within a website, eh? Eh? 

To loop it back, that same musician I mentioned has a website of their own that used to be like that. For a long while each section that covered a different aspect of their tastes and interests ended up being styled differently. I got super inspired by it so much so that it pretty much revitalised my want to make a site again, after my first attempt at one in the turn of the decade around 2010. Granted, as of recently they did end up revamping their site to make it more minimalistic and resource-savvy. Honestly, I gotta respect such a move since it really shows how they've changed as a person, plus the site still looks neat on its own merits. It just reminds me how much the style of a website can tell a lot about its maker, much like any other medium for the matter.

[ManicRaccoon]

The things keeping me coming back are the tools. Like you can do something in a million ways and you will always find a fun way to do it. Even if it's not the most optimized way to do stuff, as long as it's fun you should do it.
For example I learned about a tech stack called AHA which is very small but powerful. I find it so cool to be able to do complex things without a complex, enormous framework