This Site

The design system, architecture, and technical decisions behind Digital Disk.

Development Process

This site demonstrates intentional use of AI-assisted development. The process began with comprehensive research using AI-based search and design tools to understand best practices in modern web architecture, motion design systems, and accessibility patterns.

Rather than jumping to implementation, I invested time in learning the underlying components—studying how Astro's partial hydration works, how CSS custom properties enable design systems at scale, and how intersection observers enable performant scroll-based animations without JavaScript bloat.

With this foundation, AI assistance accelerated implementation while maintaining full control over architecture, design decisions, and code quality. Every component, utility, and style reflects intentional choices about how systems should work together.

This approach—research, understand, implement with support—is how modern development works. The portfolio itself demonstrates technical judgment: knowing when to use which tools, how to structure systems for clarity, and when to add complexity (rarely).

Architecture

Built with Astro 5, a modern static site generator optimized for content-driven sites with interactive islands. The site prioritizes performance, semantic HTML, and accessibility from the foundation.

Design System

CSS variables define the entire visual system—colors, spacing, typography, and motion timing. This constraint-based approach ensures consistency and makes global changes trivial.

  • Colors: Dark neutral base with crimson signal accent
  • Spacing: 8px base unit for consistent rhythm
  • Typography: Modern sans-serif for body, monospace for labels
  • Motion: Respects prefers-reduced-motion always

Motion & Animation

Motion communicates state and guides attention. Entrance animations use intersection observers, hover effects provide micro-feedback, and all animations degrade gracefully for users with motion preferences.

Key patterns: glitch effects, scroll reveals, card lifts, underline reveals, and pulse animations—all reusable and intentional.

Components

The site uses minimal, composable Astro components:

  • Navigation – Sticky header with responsive menu
  • Hero – Glitch-intro with signal accent and CTAs
  • Reveal – Scroll-triggered entrance animations
  • Footer – Semantic footer with links and metadata

Performance

Zero JavaScript for core functionality. CSS handles all motion. Astro's partial hydration means interactive components only exist where needed. Images are optimized, and critical CSS is inline.

Accessibility

WCAG AA contrast ratios, semantic HTML, keyboard navigation, and focus states. Motion respects user preferences. The site works without JavaScript and supports assistive technologies.