Simple Beginnings
I have a tendency to over-work things. In this case, I’ve taken the concept of a “text only” website, and turned that into the colorful and pattern filled website that is shown today. Of course there have been so many different designs and versions of this site—some with only text, some that are images first, glass design, etc.—and the design that I ended up with was my take on neubrutalism.
This design was the only one I’ve made to fully pass the accessibility tests when developing. I was able to design something I was happy with and make it as practical as it needed to be. And of course, making a design that was practical also brought in a set of rules and guidelines that determined which colors I could use, font sizes, images, icons, etc. Oh, and this also added a ton more code since I was using Eleventy (11ty) at the time.
Eventually I realized that it was time to switch frameworks that would allow me to create my own shadcn/ui-like, reusable elements. The dominoes kept falling until I’ve ended up with a project that has quickly escaped the scope of a small, text-based, NeoCities blog.
Managing Scope
In the beginning, the objective of building this website was to create a hub for everything Rollygon; 3D models, tools, articles/guides, videos, or anything else I could come up with. And with that, I would also like the option to customize this space as much as I’d like. The objective hasn’t changed yet—which is a relief—but the scope of the work and effort put into this site has definitely boiled over.
So, that brings me to creating site logs to be able to document the process. Being able to see the progress is much better than just using my memory to determine where I’m coming from. Logging progress also makes it much easier to steer the ship so to speak.
Ongoing Progress
At the time of posting this, I’ve solidified some guidelines for how to execute my UI elements. It’s now time to focus on the creation of the content and tools. But, that doesn’t mean that all work for the site is finished. Not by a long shot!
I’d love to continue creating site logs to document some of the less obvious progress that continues happening beyond the scope of my coaster models and tools!
-Rolly
