Hey there! Happy to have you.

I'm Jake. I've been making websites in one form or another since I was around 12 years old. It started with Excel (which is basically how site's were made then), just recreating sites I knew. Later, I got a Mac and used Keynote to make websites, app mockups, and some graphic design. But finally, I started making sites for real.
I've always loved the medium of the web, and I'm happy to have a place here to call home.

Why Build a Site?

I've put a lot of care into this site and I hope it's evident and appreciated. Why put so much time and care into a site? Why not just post on the growing and constantly changing list of Platforms?

Having your own site lets you control how you present yourself and your content. While the majority of your online interactions will still happen through other platforms, you can link to your site for people to find more about you and link to content hosted on your site where you have more control. You can tell a story in a more impactful way with total control over the experience.
Platforms thrive on a never ending stream of content and interactions which corrupts the longevity of anything you put on the platform. Owning your content, and hosting it on your own site gives you a space for content that's more long-lasting.

There's something really exciting and fun about sharing something publicly. And there's something really fun and exciting about building something completely your own. A website is where those two awesome's combine!

Site Details

There's a homepage, posts, and there are boutique pages. It's a static site, built with 11ty and hosted on Netlify.

One feature I'm quite happy with is the auto-scrolling 'marquee' at the top of the home page. I didn't want a traditional news feed like a blog, but still wanted to highlight new stuff, so a marquee seemed fitting. There are many sites doing standard marquees that are simply animated to move horizontally. But I wanted an interruptible marquee. When you put your mouse over it, it should pause. Okay, just use a :hover pseudo and stop the animation? Well, no because I also want to be able to scroll with touch/trackpad through the list, then naturally restart the animation from where you stop. It does! I plan to write up and share how I did this to save you some time.

Another little detail is my footend section. I think it's quite pretty in dark and light modes. But it has a few little details I'd like to highlight.

Lastly, I made what I call a Splash Animation: something that plays the first time you visit a site and is like a little welcome animation; a little splash of personality. You may not have seen it if you haven't visited the homepage→. And if you missed it, you can check out My Goal which plays the animation every time.

On the technical side, the site is built with 11ty and statically hosted on Netlify. I've come to really love 11ty and will probably share some posts on it in the future.

In Summary: there're a lot of websites, but this one is mine.

What's Next?

I'll probably never stop tweaking stuff here and there, but I'm really happy with the design and structure of the site. I have a to-do list of stuff to improve, but now I'm excited to get to creating more content to share!

I want you to find my site helpful and inspiring. I'll share my thoughts and opinions as well as the research and resources that will be valuable to you.

As I grow, this site will change, but thanks for checking it out at its very beginnings!