The creative process for a personal website or portfolio is deeply entangled with self-identity. The internal struggle to define "who am I?" makes it uniquely challenging, as the final design becomes a public reflection of the creator.
The energy invested during the creative process is palpable in the final product. If a designer genuinely has fun exploring ideas, that positive energy transfers to the user experience. A rushed, joyless process results in a sterile product.
Instead of being limited by off-the-shelf software, designers can dramatically accelerate their process by building bespoke tools. MDS used the AI tool V0 to create a custom bitmap icon builder, enabling rapid prototyping of a unique interactive element.
Leverage AI as an idea generator rather than a final execution tool. By prompting for multiple "vastly different" options鈥攍ike hover effects鈥攜ou can review a range of possibilities, select a promising direction, and then iterate, effectively using AI to explore your own taste.
Before starting a project, define its intended feel with key adjectives (e.g., "techie," "classical," "sharp"). This vision becomes a powerful filter, helping you make consistent decisions and resist the temptation to chase trends or get discouraged by other designers' work.
To achieve a creative breakthrough, intentionally explore concepts that are radically different from your established style. Designer MDS created versions that looked nothing like his brand to push boundaries and avoid predictable outcomes before refining his final vision.
To rapidly iterate on interactive ideas in code, create your own version of "Command D." Instead of hard-coding values, build a simple control panel with variables for parameters like speed or distance, allowing for easy adjustment and testing of multiple variations.
A project's most defining element can grow from a seemingly small, playful exploration. The complex mosaic interaction on the Shift Nudge site began with MDS simply designing pixel icons for fun, demonstrating how following small sparks of curiosity can lead to major innovations.