Arefolio

Brutalist personal portfolio and project showcase

Arefolio is my personal playground and professional showcase. It's built with an unapologetic brutalist aesthetic—utilizing sharp corners, high-contrast borders, and custom interactions. Beyond the visuals, it is highly optimized with server-side rendered pagination and dynamic case studies.

[THE CHALLENGE]

Most developer portfolios fall into the trap of using generic templates or overly bloated 3D animations that distract from the actual work. I needed a portfolio that was distinctly 'me'—fast, highly readable, and aesthetically brutal.

[THE SOLUTION]

Designed a brutalist interface from scratch using Tailwind CSS 4. Integrated 'Vaul' for smooth, native-feeling mobile drawers, and built a custom server-side pagination system for browsing projects without client-side lag.

[TECHNICAL DEEP DIVE]

Leveraged Next.js 16 App Router for robust routing and React 19 for advanced component rendering. Components were rapidly prototyped with shadcn/ui and heavily customized to remove border-radiuses and inject harsh drop shadows. Data is managed through a typed local CMS structure.

// DEVELOPER'S RETROSPECTIVE

"Building Arefolio taught me that breaking standard UI rules (like adding thick borders and zero radiuses) requires immense attention to detail to keep the layout from feeling broken. It also solidified my love for the latest React primitives and the speed of Next.js."

BACK TO PROJECTSAREFOLIO // CASE STUDY // LAKSHMIPUR