When a creator genuinely enjoys the process and infuses a project with playfulness, that energy is palpable to the user. A project completed under stress and tight deadlines often feels sterile and rushed. The creator's emotional state is an invisible but impactful design material.
Designing a personal portfolio is uniquely challenging because, unlike client work with defined brands, it forces a deep self-reflection on your professional identity. This internal struggle to define "who you are" is often harder than the design work itself.
The Shift Nudge website's signature interactive mosaic began as a simple, fun exploration of pixel icons. By following this thread of curiosity without a grand plan, the small detail evolved into a complex, interactive tool that became a central element of the final design.
When building his own site, MDS doesn't aim for pixel-perfect Figma files. He gets the design to 85% completion, establishing the core direction, and then moves to code to finalize details like hover states and animations where the interactive "feel" is paramount.
To avoid getting lost in endless options, establish a clear vision using descriptive adjectives like "techie," "classical," or "sharp and crisp." This high-level direction acts as a filter, helping you confidently accept or reject ideas and maintain consistency throughout the design process.
Designer MDS began his website redesign by exploring styles he described as "as far away from what it was as I could." This tactic of "going wide" into unfamiliar territory prevents defaulting to familiar patterns and can unearth novel concepts that would otherwise remain hidden.
When exploring an interactive effect, designer MDS built a custom tool to generate bitmap icons and test hover animations. This "tool-making" mindset—creating sliders and controls for variables—accelerates creative exploration far more effectively than manually tweaking code for each iteration.
Instead of asking AI to perfect one animation, MDS prompted it to "create five vastly different hover effects." This divergent approach uses AI as a creative partner to explore the possibility space, revealing unexpected directions you might not have conceived of on your own.