A fresh start

You might notice things look a little different around here. That’s because I’ve just launched a completely new version of my personal site — redesigned from the ground up. This time, instead of crafting everything by hand, I experimented with a new way of working: vibe coding with GPT-5.

The idea was simple: treat the AI as a collaborative design and coding partner. Instead of spending hours tweaking layouts or writing CSS from scratch, I guided GPT-5 with prompts, reviewed the results, and iterated quickly. The process felt less like “coding” and more like “directing a creative assistant.”

How we built it

Here’s a rough overview of the steps and prompts we used to bring this site to life:

  1. Initial direction
    • “I want to redesign my github.io website. Can you help me with this?”
    • Outcome: set up a plan for a clean portfolio site with room for a blog.
  2. Look & feel
    • “A clean personal portfolio, with light/dark mode, and a section about me, a photo, and resume.”
    • Outcome: generated a custom Jekyll theme (HTML + CSS) with automatic dark/light support.
  3. Adding content
    • “Here’s my photo, can you add it to the design?”
    • “Please generate the full layout and CSS.”
    • Outcome: a working prototype with personal branding baked in.
  4. Resume
    • “Can you ask me questions to complete and correct my resume?”
    • [uploaded CV PDF]
    • Outcome: distilled a shorter, highlight-focused resume integrated directly into the site.
  5. Blog setup
    • “I want to add some content to the site, the resume and a few blogposts.”
    • Outcome: a blog section ready to be filled, starting with this very post.

Lessons learned

Working with GPT-5 in this “vibe coding” way came with some clear pros and cons:

✅ Pros

  • Fast iteration: I could go from idea → prototype → polished result in hours.
  • Creative sparring partner: GPT-5 suggested layouts, design choices, and content structures I wouldn’t have come up with alone.
  • Focus on content: Instead of fiddling endlessly with CSS, I could focus on what I wanted to say.

⚠️ Cons

  • Encoding gotchas: Some generated files had hidden BOM characters or spacing that broke Jekyll.
  • Need for manual polish: GPT gets you 90% there, but the last 10% (consistency, tone, polish) still needs human touch.
  • Context juggling: For bigger projects, it helps to keep track of the conversation and prompts carefully.

Wrapping up

So here we are: a new site, a new design, and a new way of working.
This first post felt fitting — not just to celebrate the redesign, but to document the process of building it with AI collaboration.

If you’re curious about the nitty-gritty or want to try vibe coding yourself, feel free to reach out. And of course, more posts are on the way — this time less about how the site was built, and more about the themes I’m passionate about: architecture, developer experience, and innovation.