Celebrating the Launch of My Personal Website: A Two-Year Open Source Journey

After numerous attempts to start and abandon personal projects—sound familiar?—I am thrilled to share that I have finally launched my own portfolio website. This has been a two-year process filled with learning, experimentation, and development, culminating in a platform that I am genuinely proud of.

A Unique Digital Experience

More than just an online resume, my site serves as an interactive showcase of my development process. It incorporates several innovative features that reflect my passion for procedural generation, creative coding, and accessible design.

Explore the live site here:
🌐 https://ujjwalvivek.com

For a comprehensive technical overview—including mathematical concepts, ASCII diagrams, and detailed code explanations—visit my blog post:
📖 https://ujjwalvivek.com/blog/log_0003_going_open_source.md

Interested in the source code? It’s available as an open-source project on GitHub:
💾 https://github.com/ujjwalvivek/portfolio

Highlights of the Project

• Procedural Background Generators: I developed four distinct visual systems using only the Canvas API, avoiding external libraries. These include hologram cubes, recursive circuit patterns, psychedelic mandalas, and quantum node networks. Optimizing their performance was a major challenge that I’m continually refining.

• Interactive Terminal Footer: Beyond a decorative element, this footer functions as a command-line interface complete with hidden easter eggs, a custom crash screen, and even a mini dino game—a playful nod to developer nostalgia.

• Custom Markdown Renderer: I built a tailored rendering engine incorporating KaTeX for complex math, Mermaid for diagrams, and more, providing a rich and dynamic content display.

• Accessibility-First Design: The site respects user preferences such as prefers-reduced-motion and offers a “Low Chaos Mode” to cater to sensory sensitivities.

• Privacy-Focused: No analytics, cookies, or tracking—just a clean, honest web experience.

This project represents a significant milestone in my journey as a developer—transforming an abstract idea into a tangible, open-source showcase. The accompanying blog and Dev.to articles delve into the technical challenges, creative decisions, and mental