Live portfolio
Portfolio Website
Why it's useful
This portfolio gives my AI-assisted software projects, teaching tools, technical writing, and experiments a clear public home. It organizes work that would otherwise be scattered across repos, deployments, and half-explained demos into pages visitors can understand quickly: what each project is, why it matters, how it was built, and where to try it.
What it does
- Presents a compact homepage gallery of current projects.
- Gives substantial projects their own detail pages.
- Links to live demos when public versions exist.
- Separates polished public work from in-progress experiments.
- Adds enough context for visitors to understand the work quickly.
- Acts as the hub for demos, technical writing, and future project updates.
Current status / Next steps
Current status
- Site is live.
- Homepage structure is in place.
- Project detail pages are being revised for consistency, clarity, and usefulness.
Next steps
- Add real screenshots where they clarify the work.
- Tighten the remaining project detail pages.
- Standardize the structure once this page feels right.
- Add diagrams where they explain better than text.
- Link more demos as projects become public-ready.
Build / Deployment
Next.js · React · TypeScript · Vercel
The portfolio is a standalone web project. Local changes move through Git/GitHub, then Vercel builds and publishes the public site.
Source
Project content, page structure, and styling start in the local portfolio repo.
Build
Next.js turns the React/TypeScript project into the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and assets served by the site.
Deploy
Changes pushed to GitHub are picked up by Vercel and published to gavinnesom.com.
Architecture / How it works
Project cards
The homepage introduces each project and points to the right next step.
Project data
Structured metadata and copy keep the site easier to update.
Detail routes
Internal project pages add context without crowding the homepage.
External links
Standalone apps and repos stay separate from the portfolio codebase.
Shared styling
Cards, visuals, and pages use the same restrained portfolio system.
Design Principles
Visual language →
- Repeated page sections train the eye where to look.
- Project cards, detail pages, and visuals should feel like one system.
- Reusable templates make the site easier to extend without making every page feel random.
Show, don't tell →
- Links to working apps matter more than long claims.
- Public source code shows that the work is real and inspectable.
- Screenshots and diagrams should explain the work faster than paragraphs where possible.
Honest framing →
- Unfinished projects should be clearly labeled.
- Experiments can still be worth showing if the page explains what they are.
- A portfolio should organize the work, not pretend everything is equally polished.