Introduction
This website was entirely coded by me, without the help of artifical intelligence. It may seem weird as to why I would mention this. Is it not a given that websites are developed by the indiviudal? As I am sure you have become acustomed to, ChatGPT, LLMs etc have become extremely big parts of our lives. They have become so embedded in our workflows, our writings, our design, that the line between human and machine authorship has blurred. What used to be a given, that a website reflects the skill and vision of its creator, is now a question. Did you write this - or did you prompt it?
I mention this not to boast, but to merely clarify. This site is hand-coded. Every line, every layout, every decision. It is all mine. Not because I neccessarily reject AI, but because I believe it is important to understand the tools before outsourcing the craft. In a world of infinite shortcuts, I chose the long way, and for that I am incredibly proud.
I am now happy to explain how this website was created, as I am incredibly proud of it.
The Stack
A couple years earlier, had you asked me to build a site, I would have told you that I will be building it with Nextjs. While there is nothing inherently bad about building with Nextjs, I have come to realise it is extremely bloated for what it does.
I therefore decided to choose a framework that best represented what I wanted to create. In this instance, it was a simple, blog system, where articles could be uploaded with markdown, and rendered cleanly with minimal overhead. I didn’t want a bloated CMS or a drag-and-drop builder. I wanted clarity, contro and a system that respected the beauty of simply writing.
That is why I chose Astro as the framework to power my site. Unlike React or Next.js, Astro only ships the JavaScript you actually need. For styling, I used *Tailwind CSS, partially because I have been using it for years, but also because it allows me to keep the final build lightweight.
Core technologies used:
- Astro (static site generation)
- Tailwind CSS (styling)
- TypeScript (type safety)
- Markdown (content)
- Cloudflare Workers (deployment)
Design Philosophy
I would love to tell you I thought long and hard about every little design choice. But that would be a lie. I did not. I wanted the design to feel intentional but unobtrusive. I drew inspiration from Apple, and just general minimalist sites.
I wanted my writing to be the focal point of the site, not distracting graphics, colours or images in the background. I wanted the site to be clean, but also me. Every design choice was made to compliment my writing, not distract from it. And I hope in visiting this site you can see the conscious effort which was made.
Privacy
In a world where your data is sold, your clicks are tracked and your attention is monetised - I became acutely aware of needing a little space on the internet where its just me. This site has no cookies, no trackers, no analytics.
I only have words, code, and intention. This site doesn’t care who you are, it wants to show you what I’ve made.
The only metrics I will recieve are those through Cloudflare, basic, anonyomus and infrastructure level. I don’t know who you are, where you came from, or what you clicked.
I just wanted to make a lightweight site that respects your time, and privacy.
Conclusion
This site is more than just a blog, its a statement. A rejection of bloat, surveillance and creative outsourcing. Every decision, from choosing Astro over Nextjs, to deploying with Cloudflare Workers, reflects a commitmen to speed, sovereignty and simplicity. I built this site not because it was easy, but because it was mine.
In a world where AI can generate code, content and even identity; I wanted to create something that was unmistakeably human. Something that says: I was here. I built this. I meant it.
Thank you for reading my first blog post.