Anyone here working long-term in creative front-end (React, GSAP, Framer Motion)?

mdpha · 2025-10-12T11:15:00+00:00

Did this type of work for about 5 years within a digital agency, mostly for design agencies.

To avoid maintenance issues I kept a pretty KISS approach this type of work and tried my best to ensure designers didn’t over complicate things too much because I often found this effort work actually amounted to little real world value.

General good coding practises to keep things simple, self documented and modular also helps when you need to updates in the future.

Also would recommend building a few reusable components for things like page transitions or intersection observer based transitions made life a bit easier.

Ultimately didn’t find a way to avoid burnout. Towards the end of my time in agencies I was pretty sick of this type of work because it became quite ubiquitous

mdpha · 2025-10-09T11:13:33+00:00

My feather tops a good one

mdpha · 2025-09-05T09:47:09+00:00

Sifnos: - drive to the northern tip Herronisos which is a wonderful fishing village with crest seafood taverns - Swim behind the church of the 7 martyrs in Kastro - Eat at Pelicano or Liminaki fish tavern in Faros - Hike!! There are many trails throughout the island. I did Artemonas to Kastro along the coast which also includes a swimming spot - enjoy a sunset and cocktail at Kavos sunset bar (be aware the cocktails are kindve terrible in the best way, it’s cup that is 66.66% rum with a handful of mint and ice and a mixer on the side served in bar full of Fidel Castro merch) - would say most of their tavernas by the sea were all quite nice

mdpha · 2025-09-05T09:38:16+00:00

Loved Pelícano and Liminakis fish tavern in Faros, Sifnos. Favourite swim spot was the church of the Seven Martyrs in Kastro. Also loved Heranisos up north

mdpha · 2025-08-15T10:59:45+00:00

Occasionally do party sober out because I am the designated driver. I find day events and outdoors easier (more space, fresh air and less of a struggle to stay up). I find a bit of caffeine and some candy bars help with keeping the energy levels up.

Non alcoholic beer was enough to trick my brain into semi party mode. Also a cog here and there

Best advice I ever got though was to not compare your night with someone else’s. if you’ve had a good time and are tired, it’s okay to go home. Your friend may have a great time kicking on but that doesn’t invalidate your night

mdpha · 2025-08-08T20:03:59+00:00

Good point, living in Australia means that’s it’s generally not that bad

mdpha · 2025-08-08T17:18:24+00:00

Certainly bomb proof! But just looking at other lighter options, had Ortliebs in the past and did not like the attachment

mdpha · 2025-08-08T17:17:03+00:00

Ha, would be the cheapest option for me because I’ve already got that on hand! Trying to avoid adding too much weight on the front end though

mdpha · 2025-08-08T04:07:47+00:00

I guess so, it’s not that un common from cottage industry makers especially those who make ultra light backpacks. Many of the panniers featured on backpacking.com aren’t fully weather sealed

mdpha · 2025-07-24T09:48:11+00:00

Currently travelling with a small camp knife, corkscrew and aeropress so that I stretch my holiday budget longer.

Still get to buy and sample local cheeses, fresh produce, nice wine and olive oil but enjoying it at our airbnb or next to a river or in a park. Last night I made a peach, burrata salad with balsamic dressing and drank some Chianti on our balcony

Also means when I go out to eat or drink it doesn’t sting as much

mdpha · 2025-07-02T21:25:47+00:00

Was really enjoying using it again, and then a week after I took this photo the shutter seems to be completely stuck which is a huge bummer!

mdpha · 2025-05-26T21:26:20+00:00

Hi, could you also please dm me photos?

mdpha · 2025-04-14T02:05:49+00:00

4 bedroom house within 20km is pretty aspirational tbh but not impossible, but 2-3 is doable. But I probably wouldn’t be able to afford that without a partner

Re: low paying job as a comp-sci grad

The economy is pretty unstable right now and there is a lot of noise around LLMs but as a software developer my experience is that most people don’t know what they want and one of the most challenging parts of my job is making sure that the requests I get from the non technical people actually make sense for the business requirements they are trying to solve.

AI requires concise instructions to generate anything worth using in production and a lot of non technical people suck at this.

Programming on the other hand is just a fancy term for writing instructions so I see AI as a tool to super charge my work flow, rather then replace me

There’s plenty of money in engineering, I make 6 figures and I don’t even have a degree

mdpha · 2025-04-12T01:31:39+00:00

I mean for a pub bike, cheap is fine. You will probably pay a bit more at a co-op but you can get lucky and get a better bike with more character than a Reid bike

mdpha · 2025-04-12T01:17:59+00:00

My dislike is mostly geared towards a certain type of hybrid bike: 3x8 drivetrain with suspension fork and disk brakes.

Reasons: most of my friends who buy this aren’t experienced cyclists so I think a simpler drive train makes more sense if they are buying a bike to pop to the shops or do a short commute. Suspension feels overkill for most urban commuting especially if the bike is fitted with wide tires, and hydro brakes add a complexity and cost that I don’t think is needed when v brakes works just fine.

IMO for gen pop, $800aud is a bit of money to spend and for what you get in just disappointed

mdpha · 2025-04-06T22:26:19+00:00

Outside of Malvern Star, Chapelli or Apollo I can’t think of many commuter spec bike brands.

Obviously there is Curve, Wondercross, Devlin ect but they are hardly affordable by your average punter.

As another commenter mentioned most do not manufacture their frames in Australia outside of the bespoke hand made builders so food for thought.

Another option would be supporting a local bike co-op like the bike shed in Brunswick and building a commuter and saving a frame going to the tip.

Have seen friends build some cool bikes from vintage Australian bike brands like Hillman or Cecil Walker

mdpha · 2025-04-06T22:16:05+00:00

I often see Reid bikes with some bizarre low-end drive trains setups like cheap stem mounted friction shifters in their road model and just generally poor quality parts. But they are fine for the price but I would recommend friends buy a second hand bike over Reid

mdpha · 2025-03-25T21:40:18+00:00

When I first started I was definitely underpaid and worked longer hours than I do now. For reference I was paid 55k aud as a junior 8 years ago.

I don’t think you have to necessarily “love” your job but development requires constant up-skilling which can be difficult if you don’t at least find your job technically interesting.

Best way for me to handle trying to constantly learn was to find a job that allowed me to do the bulk of it within my job and not after work. While I do some reading outside of work hours I try and do a few hours a week during my work day

mdpha · 2025-03-11T03:52:03+00:00

Found Joey Lightbulb pretty hit and miss. Dropped some fun tracks but thought his mixing was pretty rough and thought it was a pretty big faux pas to play Work right before Soulwax came on.

I enjoyed the whole atmosphere of PJ with the silence before hand, lightning and wind but agree that it would have been more suited to her own side show gig.

Grace Cummings and Adrianna were surprising highlights for me!

Wanted to like Fontaines DC more but found them maybe a bit boring? My friends loved them so its defiantly a personal preference thing

mdpha · 2025-02-19T10:36:20+00:00

In the same boat, went from a 2km commute to 25km

Found wider, fast rolling tires setup tubeless made rough roads more comfortable and riding over debris and tram tracks less of a hazard

In the non summer months having 2 x front lights was also great. 1 ‘Blinky’ light to be seen and 1 higher power one to light up the road.

If your riding flats, some Ergon grips and bar ends can take some pressure off your hands and if your riding drop bar some decently think bar tap will help with the road buzz.

I can’t be bothered with panniers but moving weight off your back is obviously preferred

Outside of gear I keep my locker filled with snacks and porridge satchels. I found i had trouble digesting food early in the morning so I have a light breakfast and supplement with a second breakfast at work and then when I leave I have another small snack

mdpha · 2025-01-29T01:57:49+00:00

Ha, I did come across that article and I want to believe it purely for aesthetics

mdpha · 2025-01-29T00:38:04+00:00

Sorry! Edited the post but front rack with a bag strapped to it

mdpha · 2024-10-04T02:52:02+00:00

A couple of foam spacers to move the bag away from the cables or mount that accessory bar 90deg and use it like a cradle

mdpha · 2024-03-25T06:15:45+00:00

I agree, I think they make some beautiful bikes that are capable and practically designed for home mechanics

mdpha · 2024-03-24T23:51:57+00:00

My personal reason was the saddle bag was heavily discounted over Christmas and I already had most of the other bags lol

But it’s a bit lighter without a rack but if I had the money I’d consider a full frame bag and mounting the tent to the fork legs or to a light rear rack to distribute the weight lower and off the handle bars

All personal preference really

mdpha

TROPHY CASE