I’ve decided to build myself a portfolio website. It was suggested by the career coach so I can share my resume, the web applications I’ve created, as well as my resume, and most importantly showcase my skills in creating a website.
Browse other websites
My first step was to browse other people’s websites. How are they structured? What are my likes and dislikes? I want to keep it simple, readable and clean.
I’ve noted a few things that I need to include:
- An about me section - education, past work experience, and some fun things about me
- Downloadable resume
- Contact information and a link that opens up an email
- Web applications
Purchase domain name
Next I needed to purchase a domain name. I was lucky enough that alisacookiemccormick.com was not taken. Be sure to check that website in the future. There is nothing to see currently. I may make a coming soon view.
Creating the website
I explored some options on how I should create my website. I started with GitHub pages and pivoted to using React. I really liked working with React with my last project and wanted to continue to play around with it. I like that it is component-based, so I’ll have a different component for each of the sections.
Layout
For this I browsed more websites, but also template websites to see what I thought looked clean such as Squarespace. What kind of cool effects do I want to have, without making it look too busy like a MySpace page. What is a good set of complimenting colors? Dark mode or light mode?
I am a person who leans more towards light mode. As for color palette, I find inspiration through Color Palette Cinema’s instagram page. They take a shot from a movie and select the colors from scene to make the palette. It’s beautiful!
Check it out later
The website is still pretty much in the works. You can check in on my progess here: https://github.com/cookiemccormick/portfolio