Portfolio Website

einarlogi.is

I created a website to introduce myself and showcase my skills and projects. This also had the added benefit of learning and practicing with some new technology.

I chose Next.js for this project because it provides a great mix of performance, flexibility, and developer experience. Specifically:

• SEO-Friendly Features - With server-side rendering and static site generation, Next.js helps improve SEO, ensuring my portfolio ranks well on search engines.
• Optimized Performance - The ability to pre-render pages and load only what's needed ensures fast page speeds, which is important for both user experience and Google's ranking.
• Easy Deployment with Vercel - Since Next.js is developed by Vercel, deployment is effortless with built-in optimizations like image optimization, caching, and edge functions.
• Scalability and Future-Proofing - The framework makes it easy to expand the site later, whether I want to add a blog, dynamic content, or new features.
• Great Developer Experience - The combination of file-based routing, API routes, and built-in optimizations makes development smooth and enjoyable.

In short, Next.js was the perfect balance between performance, ease of development, and scalability for my portfolio.

Since I'm Icelandic, I wanted my website to support both Icelandic and English. I chose Next-Intl for internationalization because it offers all the features I needed, including multiple language support and the ability to set different default locales for different domains. This allows einarlogi.is to default to Icelandic while einarlogi.com defaults to English. Creating a seamless experience for visitors based on their domain.

I chose Motion because I wanted to implement animations, and it is a robust 2d animation library that simplifies animating elements. It not only allows for start and exit animations but also enables smooth transitions between pages, enhancing the overall user experience.

I wanted to gain experience with a Headless CMS, and while I could have added projects to my portfolio manually, I chose to integrate a CMS for better scalability and flexibility. I selected Sanity because it offers a powerful UI through Sanity Studio, handles hosting, and provides a generous free tier, which is more than enough for this website.

I chose Vercel as it is arguably the best platform for Next.js, offering automated deployments, built-in optimizations, and seamless performance. Given that this project is unlikely to experience heavy traffic, the free tier is more than sufficient for its scale.

This project is more than just my personal website and portfolio. It's been a great way to dive into Next.js, internationalization, animations, and using a headless CMS. The tech stack gives me a fast, scalable, and visually engaging site, and I've learned a lot along the way. I'm excited to keep improving and expanding it as I grow as a developer.