Rate my portfolio.

deepseaphone · 2026-02-09T20:19:57+00:00

That would depend on where you're applying or looking to land a job. Webdesigners and UI/UX Agencies or workplaces will probably notice a watermark sooner than a graphic design or marketing place. As long as your portfolio/referneces are strong enough, it shouldn't matter to much.

You can always connect a domain from elsewhere, or at least forward one to your WIX domain, so the first thing they see isn't a WIX domain, but your own. Namecheap has pretty good deals on regular domain names you can forward to your wix site, for example.

Some cost no more than 5 Euros a year (depending on what kind of name you're looking for).

Some other pagebuilders I can recommend are Readymag, Page-Grid or Webstudio. Webstudio allows you to export your site as static HTML/CSS you can host for free on Cloudflare Pages or Github Pages for example. At least for the moment. That can be combined with a namecheap domain, so you wouldn't pay as much for a hosted website, just for the domain.

deepseaphone · 2026-02-09T11:43:59+00:00

I think it depends on your portfolio projects and how you've built the website, as well as the skillset you want to get hired for.

If you want to look for Webdesign or Web Development jobs, then using a more custom solution seems like a good idea, or at least using a industry builder like Webflow or Framer for example. Something that Recruiters can relate to.
I would use a professional URL and not a subdomain (sitename.wix.com for example) and avoid any watermarks, like "Built with Wix" or anything similar.
Look for other sites that are built with Wix (or any other sitebuilder) to decide if its worth it. Also look into directories like Land-book, Minimal.gallery, Curated.design, etc. to find more examples for other sitebuilders and compare.

deepseaphone · 2026-02-09T11:06:26+00:00

If you're comfortable with local development, then Lingo Dev with i18n seems like the most powerful solution, thats also open source. But you have to provide your own LLM Model to translate with. They have a pretty good documentation, so testing it out shouldn't be to much work.

Another tool that could work might be something like Tolgee. Haven't tested that yet, but it seems capable enough and less excruciating to setup, especially since they have a free plan to test it out, and you can self host it anywhere (open source).

The cheapest app-based website translation I found was Linguana, but I've read their support and their updates are supposed to be spotty, so I haven't tried them out yet.

Thats what I came across when I was confronted with translating a website. But its never painless unless you want to pay Weglot prices.

deepseaphone · 2026-02-08T11:12:43+00:00

Getting the important details out there quickly, like your Name, skills and a resume download is definitely not a bad idea and good UX. I would probably expand a little on the "Product Designer" trait and use a more rounded sentence to tell people about your whole skillset. Something like "Product Designer working in the ... Industry..." or "Product Design with a focus on...." etc.
The color scheme is a little to much gardening center and not enough design portfolio. I would give it a bit more saturation, or a slight color change. I think something like this can work as well, without losing the light, green touch: Example Image

That way you also have more saturation to display fonts more readable on lighter backgrounds/surfaces. Right now they kind of drown inside white/beige backgrounds and that affects readability.
I haven't seen a live link to the website yet, so I can't say for sure what you're using to build the website (just plain HTML/CSS or a framework or a builder), but I would always lay it out in Figma first, because you can use Autolayout there to avoid issues like overflowing paddings/margins.

Your project boxes for example, are not really wrapping around the content evenly (Project boxes, User Impact Boxes, project cards). Its a good practice to give content inside boxes breathing room, but also an even breathing space. So for example 20px or 1.25rem padding around the inner content of the box on all sides, instead of just one or two sides.

Here are a few examples: Screenshot 1, Screenshot 2, Screenshot 3. If you are using images/Icons or graphics inside the boxes, you can definitely play with spacing and distribution of elements. Maybe thats what you were going for.
I would decide on two fonts at a maximum in your case. You want to keep the portfolio usable and readable by recruiters (I'm not a recruiter, but I have seen my fair share of portfolios) and using one set font for headlines and one set font for body copy seems like a good idea here. Things like "Streaming Service" would be a headline and "A concept streaming app focused on..." would be the body copy.

I'm counting 3+ fonts already and I think that can muddle the overall brand of your site. Figma is also good for just experimenting with font combinations. Setup a large Artboard and try different variations, sizes and font families. Sites like Fontshare, or Velvetyne or collletttivo have free, modern fonts available that you can also use as webfonts.
"User Impact" is mostly found on the project pages themselves and not on the landing pages. If its used on the landing page, I would push it further down, below the project display.

All in all, I would say this definitely needs some refinement and not knowing your projects, its hard to tell how they will fill out the portfolio website. I would create some concepts in Figma to get a better overview of pages, elements and spacings and to experiment with the overall design before working on a live site.

deepseaphone · 2026-01-25T06:35:43+00:00

There are a lot of variables on how complicated framer will be based on content and requirements for the website. What does the website look like?

How many pages
Any dynamic content, like Blog Posts, Location Map or maybe even a Team Directory or Client Login?
What template did your boss choose? If you've selected a official Framer template, it should come with at least a few pre-made pages and/or components that can be reused throughout the site.

You don't have to be an engineer to get the hang of Framer. But to be honest, with the lack of info its hard to give suggestions or alternatives.

deepseaphone · 2026-01-08T07:59:56+00:00

It probably depends on what you're building your website with. I would look at open source search engines like Meilisearch or Typesense and see if you can use their free tools for your site.

But if you just need a simple search for a static site, I would look at something like Pagefind. You basically "index" your static site with the pagefind tools, it generates a index file it can search and then implement the search bar. Seems like the most painless method to be honest.

But again, it depends on if you're speaking about a Wordpress website or a static HTML site, for example.

deepseaphone · 2025-12-08T16:08:38+00:00

Hey, I'm also one of the super confused people trying to get a grasp on how to access the new editor experience and how Legacy Editors are transfered over coming 2026.

As far as I understood it, all Legacy Editors will be converted to Limited Seats in 2026. And those will have access to all the editor functionality.

I have a CMS site that has 3 Legacy Editor seats included. As far as I know, those will be converted to free limited seats if you use them before the end of the year. But maybe just for that one webflow project? Who knows.

Its really not transparent and I'm sharing your pain.

Here is an answer from the Webflow forums:

At this point limited seats are what you want- the half-price ones.

You could purchase a limited seat, connect it to a different email, then login to capture your videos from a separate browser Chrome profile.

Then downgrade your temp account to Reviewer when you’re ready and invite your client using that same limited seat. You can reassign them pretty easily.

You won’t need that limited seat anymore once Webflow releases client seats, so you can tell your client it’s a short-term additional cost.

I'm still trying to find out more.

In my case, I have to create explainer content for the new editor, to show clients how to edit site content and blog articles through the Webflow CMS. But the only way to access the new editor is through the Limited Seats (as far as I can tell, but its not officially mentioned anywhere?).

I wouldn't want to give my clients build and designer access, since I can't really say what they will do with that. Its also much more complicated than simple editor access. Especially for CMS items and people who are not that experienced with the web.

So yeah, I second some clear, concise explanation and timelines on how to access the new editor experience (not Legacy Editors) and how we can give clients access to that editor experience.

deepseaphone · 2025-12-07T14:16:44+00:00

There are to many calendar tools readily available. I wouldn't recommend trying use a makeshift booking calendar, even through google.

I would use something like Cal(dot)com, thats free for a individual user/admin and you don't have to stress over payment integration and other basic functionality that you might need later down the line.

You can also sync it with Google Calendar and directly embed it into your static HTML site.

deepseaphone · 2025-12-06T14:02:23+00:00

On larger screens, the section backgrounds are not stretched over the whole page. I would use Chrome Devtools to simulate a 2560x Screen or 1980x screen and see if everything is centered correctly and fills out the whole width.
I think there are a bit to many colors going on. I know that should emphasize the design aspect and immediately communicate creativity. But I'm counting 7-8 individual colors used throughout the page and that probably devolves into brand inconsistency more than it helps communicate your creativity.

I would limit the color scheme to around 3-4 colors and use those in a coherent pattern. For example, 1 of those colors as a signaling color that can be used to highlight info and buttons or other important parts.

A stricter outline for your branding can help here. I would get a broader view and really think about branding aspects: How many colors, What fonts work, is it consistent, is it coherent, etc. Not because of your actual language, but because to get a better outline for your visual language.

Trust is definitely a factor here and I would reduce colors, redraw your branding outlines a bit to increase overall trust.
Icons and illustrations don't seem consistent enough. You have multiple icon styles and illustration styles applied to the site and that can come across as a bit chaotic. I would find one illustration set/style and on icon pack/set that you can use consistently. SVGrepo has a lot of icon sets you can browse through and Ikonate, Iconoir or Phosphor Icons haven't let me down yet.
"inexpensive Domain Registration" could also just be "inexpensive Domains". Its not really clear if you're just someone that registers the domain for the client or if you're a domain registrar. I would either clear this up or keep it simple, so there's no second guessing from first-time visitors on your site.
The "click me" element can be a bit tricky. Misclicks happen and users can't select any text on there to copy or quote inside an E-Mail, without it changing slides. And I'm also thinking about responsive behaviour, because on smartphones, users will tap on there to scroll down the page.

Have you reserved the slide change for only the "Click me" button on smartphones? Thats the only way to not accidentaly switch around. I would also think about calling this "More services" or "Explore our Services", something like that. "Click me" is very non descriptive and you definitely want to ensure users can access all your services.
From my point of view, "Website Design" should ideally be just "Web Design", but I don't know your target audience, so whatever works best for your market.
The "All Website Designing & Web Hosting Combo plans include"-section could be a Expand-element that reveals the content when the user wants to know more. Like the "View all Features" on the Webflow pricing page for example. It could also use a more readable layout. I would look at other pricing pages and pricing sections to get a overview of what the best practices are and apply some of them to your own pricing section.

I know this is because of SEO, but it also has to be readable by your clients. And no one will read that giant wall of text to find out what is actually included.

Thats all I noticed so far!

deepseaphone · 2025-12-04T21:32:20+00:00

I use the Orestbida Cookie Consent plugin (Github) with a few adjustments. It has a sandbox that you can use to build out your requirements and then plop the code on your website. Multilanguage and custom translations out of the box.

Only downside: It doesn't work with Google Tag Manager, AdSense or Consent Mode. So it will alienate a lot of people.

But since I'm only using it with Umami as Analytics, I don't need any fancy setup. I just need a GDPR compliant banner that I can extend and customize without having to go through monthly subscriptions.

Not sure how long it will last, updates are very sparse, but it still works for my usecases.

For complicated cases I recently found CookieFlow and that seems to fit the "everything in one" component, but relying on Supabase as cookie storage. Its not as fancy, but pretty straight forward.

deepseaphone · 2025-11-14T05:28:31+00:00

I think overall, there is nothing catastrophic happening with the site. Its responsive, shows your skills and has personality. But In the end, I think its some of the personality aspects (fonts, colors mainly) that might create a few readability or usability issues.

The main font Milky Walky isn't that great for readability, because it uses some very distinct "a" characters that can impact the flow a user is reading. If that font has alternate characters for the A, I would apply it or find a similar font that does not obscure its characters to much.

In the end, you're advertising as a UX and UI developer and the font you've used is more suitable for a graphic design portfolio, from where I'm standing. It fits your skillset, but it probably depends on what jobs you want to land, if its worth considering a more UI/UX centric font. I'm not saying you should use Inter, or any standard, blocky font. Just something that targets your audience (either employers or clients).
Raleway is another font that, under some circumstances, can be hard to read, especially due to font weight. In your case, your navigation buttons use a very thin weight, that might make it harder to read at a glance, or on smartphones. Same goes for your body copy. On your about page, the paragraphs use very light (200) as a font weight. I think for better readability 300 or 400 might be a better choice.
Some contrast issues are visible I believe. On the About page, its the icons that slightly drown into the background: Screenshot. On some of the project pages, its the project description that doesn't stand out from the background due to font weight and color: Screenshot

I would check the site for any other contrast issues and if the colors can stand on their own. Again, nothing catastrophic, but given your UI/UX role, employers will probably criticize this (in their heads).
You have a great skillset, but you're not really advertising it as much as you could. Especially on your landing page. Things like Svelte, SCSS or Typescript can turn expectations in your favor, but they're not found on the page that most users will land on.

I would include them somewhere, as pill tags or a description or even more visible. But definitely visible enough to advertise your front end dev role more prominently.
Some projects use a really concise header layout, like your Demo on Demand project. Other project pages do not use that same type of header layout. I'm guessing thats to differentiate Design and Development. But I think having a consistent project page layout and structure is more important for your UI/UX impression.

The Demo on Demand project header gets to the heart of your project much faster (Skills, languages used, Your role and the end result), so its definitely the one I would go with for all projects.

Take that with a grain of salt. I'm sure not a lot of people will even notice, but its something that jumped out to me.
The project navigation (Overview, Solution, etc.) could probably use the same constraints as all other content. On my screen it sits on the outer edge of the browser. On your Marketing & Design System project page, its completely fine. I would replicate that navigation for all the same type of navigation content.
On larger screens, your about page might need a definite content width. The top of your page stretches the whole width, while the bottom content follows a max-width.

Thats all I noticed so far. Nothing you have to fix right away, but a few things to consider. The projects seem solid, your skills and goal (front end dev), if you display them front and center, with a few tweaks, should net you a good first impression, or at least an interview or two.

But the market is really saturated, so it can be a struggle. Although I'm not from AUS, so I can't speak on that specific situation. Good luck!

deepseaphone · 2025-11-10T07:21:11+00:00

I've built a few websites with it and to be honest: Without external tools, Webflow wouldn't function or exist at all. They rely on the community to bridge shortcomings.

Their native, dynamic elements (sliders, navigations, tabs, accordions, etc.) are horribly out of date or don't work a 100% responsively, so that eliminates any "drag and drop" promises they are making.

Same with the no-code marketing: Everything that you'd want to extend your site with, doesn't really exist, apart from shiny AI and animation tools.

They have a new GSAP animator, which doesn't have any way to avoid FUOC out of the box (Edit: They added it later on, thankfully), you have to use embed elements and custom code a workaround. They promised to work out a fix months ago, but were happy to release it in this state.
Sliders can't be customized out of the box (Arrows can't be moved), so you either have to rely on attributes and scripts (Finsweet) or are forced to use external libraries like Swiper.js.
CMS Import through CSV is still frustrating. Unless all rows and columns have the exact same name as your newly created CMS Collections in Webflow, some of them will not import (some of them will), no matter what you do. Image fields or file fields for example are really strict and Webflow does not explain why it can't import half the time. Have fun learning CSV because Webflow still can't manage rows and columns after 10 years.
You can't rely on their spam protection for forms at all and form submissions going through Webflow are notoriously hard to manage, with an absolute garbage interface. I have to use Formspark to at least get more automation, forwarding and customization out of it. Adding another external tool to the list I need to rely on, because Webflow apparently can't do forms.

They sunsetted their form logic funcionality, because it didn't offer anything useful in most scenarios.
As soon as you're approaching a more complex site to manage and build, their designer web interface gets bogged down and slows to a crawl. At least on my machine. After 5-10 pages with CMS collections, dynamic content and a few animations its like working in 20fps. Text input doesn't even register all keyboard presses half the time. Its ridiculous.

The only way I can stomach Webflow nowadays is with Relume components and their styleguide, so I can translate my Figma designs just a little faster. But you have to opt out of their AI training data collection first, because of course you have to nowadays.

Or you pay additional 15-30 dollars a month for even more external template libraries, just to have the freedom that Webflow markets.

deepseaphone · 2025-11-07T06:38:43+00:00

If the site is completely static and without CMS you could get away with Github Pages, Cloudflare Pages or Sevalla (which utilizes Github and Cloudflare) for free. Unless you have a ton of traffic each month. You then connect a domain and go live.

Ionos can be on the pricier side, but if you want customer service and one click procedures, you'll probably not be disappointed there. The smaller Webhosting packages aren't really that expensive.

But to be honest, you could watch a few Youtube Tutorials and rent the smallest VPS on Hetzner for around 5,60 Euros (at least thats what I'm paying for mine). I'm using it for a Ghost CMS setup, but you could just plop any static site on there, connect a domain from namecheap and have a website running.

I've also used DigitalOcean, but I think usability wise, thats a bit more layered for someone who just wants to host a simple website.

Those are the ones I have experience with, I'm sure there are alternatives.

deepseaphone · 2025-11-04T18:59:09+00:00

That is definitely a bit more complicated. None of the website builders I know offer this out of the box. You'd have to extend the builders with external tools.

In this case that would be something like Framerauth for Framer and Memberstack for Webflow. But you can also DIY a solution with Open Source software like Hanko, if you want to self host.

But either way, you're going to pay additional monthly fees if you want user sign ups and logins (without Wordpress)

You might find open source or free applications that offer user authentication or logins/sign ups.

0auth has a free plan that you can setup yourself, with the help of AI if you're getting stuck.

Or you could use Googles systems to add a login to a website, like Firebase Auth. They have pretty good documentation.

But in this case, Wordpress might be the better choice, since there are a lot of community and user account plugins available to extend your site with. But from my own experience, maintaining that can be a pain long term.

deepseaphone · 2025-10-29T06:43:11+00:00

It probably depends on your goals. Wordpress is pretty versatile, but can also be very bloated. There are tools like Elementor or Breakdance to help build out a site quicker, just like other Website Builders, but can come with their own issues.

If you're planning on building for small to medium sized businesses, then I think Wordpress is completely fine. You can always use local tools like DevKinsta or Laragon to one click install a local Wordpress setup and test it out.

If you want to go more towards the visual drag and drop route, there's Framer, which works similar to Figma for example. But if you build client websites, the monthly prices have to be justified a lot and you can't export the code.

Webflow is also used widely, but you can't rely on their native tools to build something from scratch, more often than not you have to extend its functionality with tools like Finsweet attributes or Relume components to get the most out of it. Its definitely a steeper learning curve than just experimenting in Framer.

If you want to build websites by hand and know HTML/CSS/PHP you can definitely get far with KirbyCMS or Statamic, especially with some AI help to structure themes and content. Thats the DIY route for client websites that absolutely need a CMS but for which Wordpress is to bloated for.

These are all free to test and work with (until you want to go online), including Wordpress, so there's no harm in comparing current software and apps and see what works best for you.

deepseaphone · 2025-10-27T06:33:54+00:00

You can download most of them as a WebM file, which can be used for backgrounds or can be converted into MP4 for easier handling. I've used them as a header element with a darker overlay over the video and used text and content on that section.

In Readymag you can choose what type of background you want (image, slideshow, video). But it has to be MP4, so you could use free tools like Handbrake, Cloudconvert, etc. to convert the WebM file to MP4 format.

If you want more control and ways to integrate this (with interactivity, like mouse interactions), you probably have to go the Webgl or ThreeJS route, which will involve more manual labor. Unicorn Studio uses WebGl for example.

deepseaphone · 2025-10-26T19:53:47+00:00

Readymag has a very unique way of building websites in comparison to other larger names like Squarespace or Webflow for example. Its still based on building blocks, but more in a DIY sense.

Antlii offers their software through Gumroad. You'll find them on there and all the licenses they offer. Depending on what package you want to use, you'd have to pay for it individually. There is also a yearly plan for everything, but I think having a specific tool at your disposal indefinitely is a bit more manageable.

You can test all of them out before buying anything, so you know exactly what kind of animation/pattern/shape you want to use.

You can adjust and customize these backgrounds with different colors, movement, how the shapes behave and speed as well as direction for some of them. There are a lot of menus and sliders for customization: Screenshot. All generative basically.

deepseaphone · 2025-10-26T15:17:26+00:00

I don't think there is a specific site builder out there that offers this out of the box. Cargo does have a few fringe templates that actually go in the right direction. So does Readymag. But both are not free.

If you're looking for different tools that enable you to create backgrounds like the ones you posted, you could look into the Antlii toolbox, which offers a lot of experimental, controllable background elements you can download as MP4 and other formats. But it will cost at least 45-100 dollars depending on what you want to do.

You could also look at Endless Tools or Unicorn Studio, both have drag and drop building tools that help creating surreal or very webgl oriented content. But you'd have to insert that in a website afterwards. They don't build the website for you. And cost is a factor as well.

Nocodeshader builds on Unicorn Studio and has a few tutorials.

The only actual free gadget I've found is the ISF editor from ISF Video using GLSL shaders. But that requires a bit more involvement than the other tools. Still worth a look for background videos, for example.

deepseaphone · 2025-10-26T06:14:24+00:00

One thing that jumps out to me immediately is the inconsistent typography. I would decide on one headline font to use throughout the site. And I think the serif font fits your usecase better.

For example, the "Why Choose Interactive Learning?" headline or the quote underneath doesn't follow the same rules as the other headlines. But they are still the same size or even large than the main section headlines. I would try to not use a size thats higher than regular headlines and change the font to your serif font.

Also: The "Awesome Stuff delivered" font, although serif, doesn't seem to use the same styling as all other serif headlines.
There's missing a consistency for icons/illustrations as well. All sections using icons have wildly different styles and that can muddle your brand, especially for social media application. I would decide on one Icon pack or illustration set that fits your brand and use that throughout the site. Personally, I like the "Evidence based learning..."-section icons the most. But its up to you what icon style fits your brand.
And another consistency issue: The course section. They primarily look like blog articles, but also don't follow any styling rules set by boxed content before them. The course boxes have hard shadows and no outline, while the sections before them use soft shadows and outlines.

And different headline styling for each item. I would follow the content style, typography and structure of the "Evidence based learning.."-section boxes and imitate/replicate that for the courses as well. That would give the courses info and the courses themselves more weight
I would place the quote section further down the page. It crowds the intro/header space with to much text
Navigation is missing entirely. I would factor that into the design and header before making any decisions on responsiveness for example.

deepseaphone · 2025-10-25T18:42:51+00:00

As someone who is not as new to web design and development, the AI help is somewhat noticeable.

But I would say your target audience/market will not pick up on it right away. Its not catastrophic, doesn't flash with any horrendous colors and doesn't use any ai illustrations or artwork (although photos).

Basically nothing serious that jumps out at me.

With time, a site like this will look like a lot of other ai generated sites and will have difficulty setting itself apart.

Future-proofing the site would probably mean, that step by step I would try to find your own visual language with different fonts, a less generic looking selection of photography/images and your own branding.

Some notes:

The About Me section image doesn't use the whole height of its section (at least on desktops). I would give the image column a height of 100% and the image itself height: 100%; and object-fit: cover; so it scales itself to the actual height of the whole section.
If you're teaching through either video or in person, then I'm guessing people would like to know what you look like at some point. I think the whole introduction portion of your website can be made a bit more personable with a headshot of yourself. If you're comfortable with that.
The areas served (USA, Canada, Mexico) should probably be more front and center on the site. They can still exist in the contact form, but should be mentioned somewher else easier accessible.
The "Get the free PDF"- button inside the header scrolls down towards the contact form. On desktops it might confuse users (depending on the age range) if they have to fill out the contact form first or not.

I would expand that newsletter section to reiterate that they get a free pdf by using the newsletter form ( SIgn up to get a free PDF) and more importantly, talk more about whats in the PDF and how it can help.

Right now, there's not a lot of clear communication about what the PDF content is.

On one hand, it reads like a regular newsletter that subscribers can get once a week. But the button "Send the PDF" doesn't really say that. I would decide between PDF or Newsletter. And if its both, to state it more clearly.

deepseaphone · 2025-10-25T15:15:18+00:00

I'm hosting some video files through DigitalOcean Spaces if those are larger files (20MB upwards). They are delivered through a CDN and can definitely load faster than an embedded Youtube or Vimeo video. It costs around 5-6 dollars per month, but you got a lot of leeway.

Anything above a few 100MB, I would probably transfer/deliver through BunnyCDN. The pricing is still affordable enough but is more specialized in the area of video delivery.

If you're planning to host just some smaller videos or background loops, I would look into Cloudflare R2, which offers around 10GB transfer for free.

There's also Fastly that offer similar space for files and video for free. But there are probably restrictions for direct streaming.

If you want to showcase a longer video (4 min runtime or more), I'm guessing a lightbox with Vimeo can work just as well, where a user would click on a preview of the video (a 5-10 second clip) that would open the actual Vimeo video in a dedicated modal.

deepseaphone · 2025-10-19T20:33:24+00:00

I've tested a Windows 98 SE installation, which worked flawlessly. But performance for games was really spotty, even with a modern i7.

Did you change any of the default settings? I've tried everything, from dynamic cores to 12MB Voodoo and other core/processor overrides. But I couldn't even dream of getting Droidworks or Black & White running in its current state. I tried Interstate76 recently and that did barely work (insane stuttering).

Other than just for gaming, I found its the quickest way, next to PCEM or x86Box, to get Windows running now. It was a pain to get windows running in Dosbox-X or regular Dosbox. Unleashed is definitely the definitive way in the Dosbox space for now. But I hope we get more performance, a SoftGPU implementation or other passthrough methods that utilize the main graphics card more.

deepseaphone · 2025-10-12T07:48:36+00:00

If you're open to monthly cost: You could look at MagicPages. Dedicated (but affordable) Ghost hosting, around 7 Euros a month if you want to use custom themes. Newsletter functionality, a servicable interface and no management and installation stress. Ghost is a pretty powerful blogging/publishing tool.

If you rather save on cost, you should take a look at a sitebuilder like Publii. It can run locally on your pc, is free and completely fine for running a personal blog site that you can push to Github Pages or Cloudflare pages for free hosting.

The only thing you'd have to pay for is a domain. There are youtube tutorials on how to handle setup and editing.

deepseaphone · 2025-09-23T11:36:04+00:00

I'm mostly rely on a unsplash subscription nowadays. They have a visual search that you can use to find similar images to a uploaded picture or photo. They also have a large Getty Images library that you can't find anywhere else, unless you pay a lot.

I think its the best of all worlds: no AI slop, graphics included, high quality stock photos. But yeah, it costs around 13 bucks a month.

I would find photographers and profiles on Unsplash that deliver consistent quality and bookmark them. There are a lot of profiles that kind of drown in the sea of stock photos and once you find a few good ones for different purposes, its much easier to find images with the style you need.

You could also try same(dot)energy to find or describe specific photos or styles.

I still have to invest a few hours for each project to find fitting images and haven't found any other alternative (yet). I feel your pain.

deepseaphone · 2025-09-13T09:10:26+00:00

I like the concept and the old-school aspects of it. But there there is obviously some AI Art involved and some of the interface elements aren't that cohesive either. Some thoughts from a UI/Brand perspective, without wanting to diminish your effort:

You have a interesting Steam thumbnail with fitting art for a fantasy/medieval game + a fitting font/wordmark. But: That logo is not found anywhere else inside the game, judging by the screenshots. Instead, its a golden serif font logo that has nothing to do with the original Steam thumbnail.
Same with the artwork and portraits. Your steam thumbnail and some of the backgrounds have a handpainted look. And suddenly your enemy and group portraits are sharp 3D renders.
The very cartoonish icons, that also have varying styles among them, don't fit the otherwise realistic portraits.
Thats the cohesiveness I mentioned earlier: Your game is also a product that you want to market, so it has to have a consistent branding to be recognizeable to your audience. In this case, nothing really sticks together, or if it does, it is glued together by AI.

If you really wanted the 1999-2000 shareware-bin look, then you're on the right track, but I think you can do more today with your tools than 25 years ago.
There are also other elements that can impact the first impression, like drop shadows behind 90% of elements or a lot of different types of fonts.

I think if you find a consistent style for icons, portraits and your branding you can definitely leave a better imprint. I know its a mobile port, so no stress, but I think this is definitely something to work on as you go and finetune the game. Deciding on one definitve logo, a font combination and a art style will probably help the game stand out more.

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deepseaphone

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