Building a Terminal-Inspired Portfolio
Why I chose a CLI aesthetic for my personal website and the technical decisions behind it.
The Terminal Aesthetic
When rebuilding my portfolio, I wanted something that felt true to my workflow. As a developer, I spend most of my day in the terminal. The monospace fonts, the command palette, the status bar at the bottom—this interface is familiar territory.
Design Decisions
Font Stack
- Geist for body text (clean, modern sans-serif from Vercel)
- JetBrains Mono for UI elements (excellent readability)
This combination creates visual hierarchy while maintaining that terminal feel.
Interactive Elements
The command palette (Cmd+K) lets visitors navigate the site without reaching for the mouse. It’s
not just for show—it actually works, powered by Solid.js for reactivity.
Market Mode
Bull or bear? A playful toggle that changes the entire color scheme—emerald for bullish markets, rose for bearish. It persists in localStorage so returning visitors get their chosen mode.
Technical Stack
- Astro for static site generation
- Solid.js islands for interactive components
- Tailwind CSS v4 for styling
- Pagefind for client-side search
The result is fast, accessible, and uniquely mine.