This website is, like many designer’s websites, a perpetual experiment. I’m building it from scratch, writing it line-by-line in HTML, CSS, and Javascript, and hosting it on Github pages with a custom domain name. I built a few components in React, too-- before I learned I can’t integrate it on a page already structured in HTML. Whoops!

But hey, that’s part of the the learning process. I’m trained in the arts, so aesthetic critical inquiry is my bread and butter. I’m a big believer that a craftsperson shouldn’t use shortcuts when it comes to their practice. I’ve harnessed internet platforms to host my artwork since I was a child, and eventually took up UI/UX design because I like to know both the how and why of what I do. I really care about websites: I believe in rigorous consideration of websites as a context with real social and political impact. Why follow a standard just because it’s the standard? What does it mean to present myself via someone else’s product?

So when I explored no-code portfolio builders like Webflow or Framer, I struggled with the reduced measure of control. Even though abstraction was reduced, I wasn’t satisfied. What was I missing by relying on a third party vendor? What if the GUI of no-code editors obfuscates something new and different a website could do?

That’s a lot of questions and no answers all in a row. I’m trying to answer these questions for myself by getting down to brass tacks and learning to code. I’m still new to this, and as I practice, I’m learning code organization, syntax, and accessibility; I’m becoming accustomed to the many new languages, frameworks, infrastructure and data structures that govern digital life. You might encounter a few inconsistencies: that will change. Stay tuned as betsyje.com evolves.

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