Building My Developer Portfolio with Next.js 15

Building a developer portfolio is one of those projects that seems simple on the surface but offers endless opportunities for learning and experimentation. Here's how I approached building mine.

The Tech Stack

I chose a modern stack that balances developer experience with performance:

• Next.js 15 with App Router for the framework
• TypeScript for type safety
• Tailwind CSS v4 for styling
• Framer Motion for animations
• MDX for blog content

Design Philosophy

The design follows a minimalist approach with a monospace aesthetic using JetBrains Mono throughout. Key principles:

1. Simplicity first - Clean layouts that let the content shine
2. Subtle animations - Framer Motion for smooth transitions without being distracting
3. Consistent spacing - Using Tailwind's spacing scale for visual rhythm

Project Structure

I organized the codebase using a feature-based structure:

src/
├── app/           # Next.js App Router pages
├── components/
│   ├── layout/    # Navbar, Footer
│   ├── sections/  # Page sections
│   └── ui/        # Reusable components
├── content/       # MDX blog posts
├── data/          # Static data files
├── lib/           # Utilities
└── types/         # TypeScript types

What I Learned

Building this portfolio reinforced several important concepts:

• Type-first development pays off in maintainability
• Component composition makes complex UIs manageable
• Static generation in Next.js is incredibly powerful for content sites

What's Next

I plan to continue iterating on this portfolio, adding:

• More blog posts about technical topics
• Interactive demos and code playgrounds
• Performance optimizations

Thanks for reading! Feel free to explore the source code on GitHub.