The evolution of my website

20 April 2020

Early-2019: Squarespace

I made the first website to showcase my work to friends and families. Back then, Squarespace seemed to have a smoother and snappier editor than Wix, so I gave it a try.

The result was just a showcase of beautiful renders presented in slideshows, each attached with short paragraphs of the project description. The menu bar takes up just a bit of the page, and there were lots of white space.

  • Image long gone…
  • Profile 1.0

The slideshow gallery on the right that present portrait images better than horizontal orientation. The website ended up looking like a 3D model artists’ portfolio built on a photographer’s website template.

Apart from the website, I had a deck of cards I printed years ago with my name and email on one side and empty on the other. The idea was to make the card useful for the recipients and put the back of the card to good use. Writing their groceries list. I wrote my website URL by hand and started handing them out to my friends and classmates.

Mid-2019: Readymag

Before graduation, I needed an online portfolio that shows more than a slideshow. I came across a well-designed online portfolio built on Readymag. I liked the look of it, so I jumped right into replicating it from scratch in Readymag.

Based on my proudest projects, faucet and scooter, I started to see two paths that I can go towards: industrial or digital product design. Both projects featured a tangible design and an app along with it. So I thought I could set my aim towards industrial design or digital product design, or even both.

Apart from that, I was really into fin-tech, primarily challenger banks (Big fan, have signed up to way too many of them). That interest got me into an online course on Interface Design Foundation to speed learn the basics.

I also looked at design consultancies. Examine how they present their case studies and attempt to present my projects in a similarly elaborative and organised way: problem, challenge, insight and solution.

In addition to the website, I printed two decks of name cards with the same branding and started handing out at interviews and networking events.

Along with my Behance projects, CV and individually crafted cover letters, I sent them all out as 60+ applications worldwide throughout 3 months. In return, I got a few interviews at two consultancies, two challenger banks and two start-ups. Which eventually landed me at a design consultancy that I’m very grateful to join.”

  • ”Where did you come from, where did you go?”

2020: WordPress + Etc.

Now, I’m almost 6 months into my first job after graduation. With an ongoing internship and a long-term collaboration with another company, I have some free time (without stress) to reflect and recalibrate my career trajectory and personal growth goals. I needed an online space that reflects me and what I am working towards.

Several personal goals I have set for myself are “to master the design process”, “to communicate articulately”, and “to leverage on the advantage of growing up international”.

Firstly, I want to emphasise my interests through my work. My interests in approaching problems with an adaptable mix of solution from a range of disciplines, whether it’d be industrial, product, business or strategical thinking. The transformative technology that excite me, such as mobility and financial technology.

  • 80% planning, 20% execution

The result is a guided viewing layout, where the viewer will see text only when written content is necessary. Some projects are not meant to over-elaborated. Take the lamps as an example, over-explanation risk sounding like artist blabbering, whereas some works are better with a further explanation, like the app projects where the thought process behind is more eventful than the final visual deliverables.

I hope you enjoy your time on my website, if you have anything to share with me, send me an email, I’d be happy to read it!