I Built My Developer Portfolio as a Pixel-Art World

Description and use

An interactive pixel‑art portfolio where islands represent experience, projects, and skills, balancing creativity and usability.

Problem

Traditional developer portfolios are static and fail to convey personality while remaining easily navigable.

Outcome

An interactive, pixel‑art portfolio that balances creativity with clear presentation of experience, projects, and skills.

Workflow

• 1. Designed concept of island map with distinct areas for education, work, projects.
• 2. Built initial side‑scrolling prototype and evaluated usability.
• 3. Scrapped prototype, re‑engineered layout to island map.
• 4. Implemented navigation, animations, audio, and content using Next.js, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, PixiJS, Framer Motion, Howler, and Zustand.
• 5. Tested usability and performance, iterated on mobile experience.
• 6. Deployed on Netlify and shared publicly.

Evidence

I wanted someone to be able to explore the world if they wanted to, but also quickly find my experience, projects, skills, and background.

Source

The first version didn’t work. I originally built a side‑scrolling coastal town, but after spending time with it, I realized it wasn’t communicating my experience clearly enough.

Source