From Simple to Styled: Rebuilding My Portfolio
I recently decided that my portfolio site looked below my own standards. There was nothing wrong with the functionality or the code structure, it just… felt too simple. It had my experience, skills, contact info and everything it needed but it was very minimal. And I decided it was time to upgrade it.
Two days ago while browsing Facebook, I saw a post asking people to share their portfolio sites. Many did. Out of curiosity (and maybe a little jealousy), I opened about eight of them. Most had their own strong visual identity and style. I caught myself thinking, “Why didn’t I build something like this before?” And decided to redesign mine properly.
So I did what anyone in this generation would do. I asked AI for help. I used ChatGPT to generate multiple UI/UX prompt ideas for portfolio designs: minimal, playful, story-based, 3D-inspired, and more. Then I used Figma AI to generate layouts from those prompts and reviewed them one by one.
Some designs were too flashy. Some didn’t feel professional enough. Eventually, I picked the one that felt most aligned with how I want to present my work and started rebuilding.
I reused what still made sense from my old codebase, removed what didn’t, and rewrote large parts of the site. After about a day of focused work, I deployed the new version. The biggest upgrades were the visual theme, interaction design, and a working contact form. Honestly, I prefer this version over the previous one.
When I showed the updated site to friends and colleagues, feedback was mixed. One designer friend said the design doesn’t fully match traditional portfolio expectations. That made me pause, because design judgment is something I’m still developing.
At the same time, I genuinely like how the site feels and how it represents me right now.
So I’m treating this version as an iteration, not a final form. I’ll continue refining it but I won’t roll it back based on a single opinion. Feedback matters, but so does creative ownership.
What do you guys think of this?