Good day, howdy 👋 I’m excited to be featured on Codrops. I’ve been pulling inspiration from this web site since I started my profession as an online developer years in the past. As I’m scripting this, I’m on my second espresso, which suggests at this very second I’m further enthusiastic about the whole lot. Let’s get began.
My title’s Nathan and I’m a artistic frontend primarily based out of Toronto, Canada. I turned self-taught in net improvement after college and located myself hating it for the primary two years as a result of the educational curve was too laborious for my small mind. Coding was laborious as a result of it contained irritating new ideas like open-brackets and camel casing and strings, which at face-value didn’t visually stimulate my mind the identical method my YouTube feed would. For individuals who don’t know what a string is, it’s textual content between quotes. However on the time, I felt as if I had been tasked with fixing an unworldly riddle.
“It will possibly’t be so simple as textual content between quotes”, I’d say. “Nothing in life is so simple as textual content between quotes. There have to be extra to it”.
Because it turned out, there wasn’t extra to it. It truly is simply textual content between quotes, and I used to be overcomplicating the whole lot as a result of code is known as “code” (we must always rename this). Issues lastly clicked, and I fell in love with my job. Now, somewhat greater than 10 years into this profession, issues like an optimized GSAP animation rocks my socks. Once I see a codebase structured in an intentional method, I chunk my lip. And piecing all of it along with an easily-updateable headless CMS makes my toes curl.
I like my job for lots of causes. It’s “sensible” and I get to feed the inventive facet of me sometimes. It additionally retains me busy and pushes away existential questions on life and goal that nobody enjoys answering. I prefer to assume I’m making the world a greater place with my attention-grabbing web sites, however the stark actuality is that my web sites don’t contribute to human flourishing as a lot as I would love them to.
When somebody is having a stroke on an airplane, flight attendants don’t ask passengers if there’s a artistic net developer round to help with the scenario, and this doesn’t offend me. The actual fact is, docs win Nobel Prizes and I’m extra keen on successful Websites of the Day in any case. Docs personal spacious backyards with massive gardens, I personal a Juliet balcony/jail fence barring my rental from outdoors existence. There are trade-offs to the whole lot in life. And there’s definitely an added layer of goal and that means that comes from working for your self that makes me love this job much more.
Once you work for your self, your title is on the road. You’re throwing your self into the world of saturated net improvement competitors, and also you get to determine what sort of title you wish to make for your self – how do you wish to stand out? Whereas my mind loves the task-oriented nature of net improvement, delivering a cultured venture to a glad consumer is extraordinarily rewarding. That is no less than half of why I like my profession: I get to construct one thing that I worth and another person values. This can be a sturdy motivator and reminder throughout powerful days when the code I’m writing isn’t working as meant and I wish to gentle my head on hearth. I pour loads of time into my work and when shoppers recognize that, it makes all the troublesome moments really feel prefer it was value it.
My bread-and-butter tech stack is Subsequent.js & Sanity (with GSAP for animations), however I’ve labored with another stacks and so they’re fairly cool too I suppose. In recent times, AI has made my job much more satisfying by taking up the mundane duties concerning the job I take care of the least.
And, in any case that chatter, listed below are some enjoyable initiatives I’ve had the pleasure of engaged on:
Lusano
Design Companion: CUSP
Function: Lead Dev (Solo)
Awards: Awwwards Web site of the Day, Developer Award
Web site: https://www.lusano.com/
Lusano is a high-end furnishings firm primarily based out of LA. They mix traditional craftsmanship with a contemporary viewpoint – drawing from Italian heritage and Scandinavian minimalism. We constructed them a lookbook-style ecommerce web site designed for exploration. It’s tailor-made to how inside designers and galleries browse: discovering items and getting impressed.
The consumer was open to all and any artistic strategies and naturally, my design companions on this (CUSP) have been a pleasure (as per typical) to work with. For those who genuinely benefit from the course of and your consumer is open to completely different artistic approaches you suggest, I can promise you that a few of your greatest work will come out of that venture.
Admittedly, I did pull out my recently-transplanted hair whereas constructing among the extra advanced options of this web site (web page transitions and product gallery, to call a pair). However what I now lack in hair follicles, the consumer gained in what’s an unique ecommerce expertise.
The animations have been refined, however impactful. The imagery we had entry to was polished. The launch was clean as butter. Everybody was extraordinarily proud of the ultimate consequence.
Tech Stack:
Metalab
Design Companion: Metalab
Function: Lead Dev
Awards: Awwwards Web site of the Day, Developer Award, Awwwards Portfolio Honors
Web site: https://www.metalab.com/
Metalab is a Canadian-born company who builds merchandise for spectacular corporations like Suno, Uber, Midjourney, Slack, Headspace and Calvin Klein (simply to call just a few). For this venture, we let their work do a lot of the speaking, as a result of it actually does communicate for itself. From management to design, their workers is full of such spectacular expertise. I felt extraordinarily blessed to be chosen by Metalab to assist deliver their new web site to life.
A significant spotlight of the redesign was the idea exploration. Metalab developed three instructions: Frames, Constellations, and Editorial layer. In the long run, they selected the Frames path. Frames was a versatile system that makes use of portals and home windows to open up completely different “universes” of Metalab, its shoppers, and particular person initiatives. We iterated on it closely to maintain it usable: portals are triggered by interplay (scroll/hover/motion) so the expertise feels exploratory with out making customers really feel misplaced.
This was such a enjoyable web site to work on. In the end, we have been all thrilled with the end result, and the launch was extraordinarily clean (as per typical). I can’t say sufficient good issues concerning the expertise inside Metalab.
Tech Stack:
I met some actually cool, proficient folks on this venture. Once you work with a crew for months on finish, you get to know every member effectively. It feels bittersweet transport the ultimate product whereas saying goodbye (for now).
Bonus: Some folks thought this web site was so neat, they even re-created the hover animations for the homepage and it was featured on Codrops <3.
The Genius Membership
Design Companion: CUSP
Function: Lead Dev (Solo)
Awards: Awwwards Web site of the Day, Developer Award
Web site: https://wearegeniusclub.com/
The Genius Membership is a collective of creatives: producers, administrators, artists, model consultants, artistic designers and venture leaders. They work with big names like Megan Thee Stallion, Billy Eilish, Gunna and Future, to call just a few. The web site we constructed for them is a portfolio web site containing a few of their highlighted work.
This was a smaller web site to work on, however lots just like the Lusano web site, the consumer was exceptionally easy-going and supplied loads of cool property for us to make use of. The colour scheme is unserious however once you click on round and play with web page transitions, you’ll discover there was loads of work put into the subtler parts.
For those who inform me the web site you need me to construct has a ticker, I’m all in. A ticker for an upscale net expertise is ironic, but compelling. Artwork.
Tech Stack:
Monolith
Design Companion: CUSP
Function: Lead Dev (Solo)
Awards: Awwwards Web site of the Day, Developer Award, E-Comm Web site of the 12 months Nomination
Web site: https://monolith.nyc/
All I’m good for is high-end furnishings web site experiences, apparently.
Monolith is a design studio and gallery that includes a set of monolithic furnishings and objects. Every minimalist piece makes use of traces and heavy proportions to disclose the pure magnificence and class of every materials. We centered the design round a Swiss-inspired basis with refined brutalist affect, aiming for minimalism that also feels geometric and utilitarian (nothing with out goal).
Tech Stack:
A pair attention-grabbing issues about this construct that have been enjoyable to work on:
- The preloader: I loved constructing out this seamless transition into the homepage (which is infinite scroll – thanks, Lenis)
- The product grid: I believed the view-toggle was attention-grabbing – the animation was basically transitioning packing containers of various sizes into each-other, relying on the view the consumer chosen
- Infinite-Scroll Carousel: That is on the backside of each product web page, and the rationale why it stood out to me as somewhat extra attention-grabbing than a standard infinite carousel is that it highlights one merchandise within the middle and has customized lerping performance. Lots of (irritating) calculations go on behind the scenes to find out the dimensions/rework properties of every merchandise
Let’s discuss extra about me now
I like my profession. Since going freelance, I’ve by no means appeared again. If anybody is on the fence about changing into a freelancer, simply know that almost all freelancers suck and those who’re good at their jobs are those who genuinely benefit from the course of. The freelancers who get pleasure from it really need a good relationship with their shoppers and companions and reply at unlucky occasions to Slack messages. Purchasers and companions recognize this. For those who love what you do for a residing, you’re already extra fascinating to work with than 80% of the competitors.
What do I do in addition to work? I’m presently figuring that out. My work/life stability may be very a lot not-balanced. I like understanding and cooking wholesome meals, however that’s unoriginal and boring. I actually love how AI has made my work simpler in some regards, but when it ever absolutely displaced me, I’d have a manic breakdown and acquire loads of weight in a brief time frame. Years later, somebody would possibly see me strolling down the road and say, “Hey, aren’t you that web site man?” and I’d pause. I’d flip my head to them and say “I was. However now, I’m unsure who I’m”, as I pull bits and items of outdated bread out of my coat pocket to snack on.
Another tidbits about me:
- I believe social media is most cancers and I solely have LinkedIn for work
- I wish to reside in a van
- I’ve begun utilizing a telephone that has a keyboard
- I as soon as went viral for driving 9 hours to purchase McDonald’s pizza from the final place that bought it
- I’m 90% certain I’ve nerve harm in my proper toe
Contact me (I’d simply have availability)!
I’m a developer who loves assembly new folks (I perceive how paradoxical this sentence is). Need to crew up, hand off a construct for somebody to take end-to-end, or simply say hey? Ship an electronic mail to nathan@dallaire.io or message me on LinkedIn!
