Redesigning My Website: A Modern, Maintainable Approach

After several years of running my portfolio website on GitHub Pages, I decided it was time for a complete redesign. What started as a functional but basic site has evolved into something I'm genuinely proud to share. The transformation wasn't just about making things look prettier. It was about creating a more maintainable, responsive, and professional online presence.

My original website served its purpose well. It showcased my projects, provided my resume, and gave visitors a sense of who I am. However, as my career progressed from student to worker, I realized the design was holding me back. The styling felt dated, the layout wasn't responsive, and the code structure made updates time-consuming.

The old design had several pain points: inconsistent styling across different pages, poor mobile responsiveness, scattered CSS that was difficult to maintain, and limited visual hierarchy.

Design Philosophy

For the redesign, I embraced a modern aesthetic while keeping functionality at the forefront. The new design centers around cohesive coloring that appears throughout the site, creating visual consistency without being overwhelming.

Key design principles I followed: Clean styling, Mobile responsive design, Improved visual hierarchy, and Consistent component styling across all pages.

Technical Improvements: Better Structure, Better Maintenance

The real benefit to this redesign was the structural improvements. I reorganized the CSS architecture to be much more maintainable by breaking the styling into logical modules. This modular approach makes it much easier to implement site-wide changes.

Enhanced HTML Organization

The HTML structure was cleaned up with better semantic elements and more logical class naming. Each page now follows a consistent pattern: proper use of <main>, <section>, and <article> elements, consistent container and grid structures, and better accessibility with proper alt text and semantic markup.

Responsive Grid Systems

One of the biggest improvements was implementing proper CSS Grid layouts that adapt to different screen sizes. The projects and certifications pages now use responsive grids that stack appropriately on mobile devices while maintaining visual appeal on desktop.

Visual Enhancements

The new design features several visual improvements that make the site more engaging through interactive elements like hover effects that provide visual feedback, smooth transitions and subtle animations, and cards that lift slightly when hovered, creating depth with gradient backgrounds that add visual interest without being distracting.

Improved Typography

I implemented better font hierarchy with clear sizing distinctions, improved line spacing and readability, and strategic use of font weights to guide attention throughout the site.

Performance and Maintainability

Beyond aesthetics, the redesign focused heavily on maintainability. Every project card, certification display, and content section follows established patterns, meaning adding new content is as simple as following the existing template structure.

Better Mobile Experience

The site now provides an excellent mobile experience with readable text sizes and layouts that work well on small screens. The navigation smoothly adapts from a horizontal layout to a mobile-friendly scrollable format.

Future-Proof Styling

By using CSS Grid and Flexbox extensively, the design is built on modern, stable web standards that will continue to work well as browsers evolve.

The Results

The redesigned site successfully balances professionalism with personality. The clean, modern aesthetic immediately communicates attention to detail and technical competence. The improved structure means I can easily add new projects, update certifications, or modify content without wrestling with complex stylesheet dependencies.

Most importantly, the site now accurately represents where I am in my career. The portfolio presents my experience in a way that's both accessible to non-technical visitors and detailed enough for technical reviewers.

This redesign positions my portfolio for continued growth. The modular architecture means adding new sections, updating content, or even implementing more advanced features will be straightforward. As I continue developing my skills and taking on new challenges, I have confidence that my portfolio can evolve alongside my career.

The project also reinforced something I've learned throughout my development journey: good code isn't just about functionality. It's about creating something maintainable and scalable. These same principles that guide my professional work proved just as valuable when applied to my personal portfolio.