Bonjour! 👋 My title is Corentin Bernadou, a French freelance developer obsessive about animations and movement. I work with studios, businesses, firms and people worldwide.
An enormous due to Codrops for the chance to put in writing about my story!
My Path into Inventive Growth
For so long as I can bear in mind, I by no means actually knew what I wished to do for a residing.
My research replicate this: I began with a level in philosophy, then moved on to artwork historical past. Sooner or later, I began questioning what sort of profession path I wished to pursue, so I made a decision to maintain exploring. By probability, I ended up learning communication the place I first found net design. That sparked one thing, and I naturally continued right into a full design diploma. After graduating with a level in Visible & Person Expertise Design, I discovered myself pissed off that I couldn’t go additional: as soon as the design is finished, what comes subsequent?
That query pushed me to take an curiosity in growth. I didn’t simply wish to think about experiences, I wished to construct them. At first, it appeared extremely troublesome, nearly unimaginable. However I challenged myself to study to code by myself, beginning with the fundamentals of HTML and CSS. Alongside the way in which, I found the world of inventive growth by way of Codrops, Awwwards, and FWA. And I bear in mind pondering: that’s what I wish to do.
Just a few months later, after working steadily towards small milestones, I started transitioning from designer to developer. I set myself a brand new objective: to land a job as a developer. So I poured all my vitality into constructing my very first portfolio. To my shock, it paid off. I managed to win a Website of the Day and Developer Award on Awwwards, and I’m fairly positive that recognition performed an enormous half in touchdown my first job at an company.
And right here I’m, six years later, taking up a brand new private problem: freelancing.
Studying & Experiments
To me, growth (and artistic work generally) is a kind of fields with no ceiling. Early on in my profession, I noticed I’d by no means attain some extent the place I may say “I do know sufficient now, I’m carried out!”. And actually? That’s what motivates me each day, the thrill of asking myself: what am I going to study immediately? In fact, being a developer might be difficult, and typically technical issues have stored me up at night time (laughs).
Sooner or later throughout my company years, I felt like I had hit a plateau (and with it, misplaced among the ardour that had pushed me). So I set myself a brand new problem: studying the best way to create extra complicated animations, utilizing WebGL. After attending to grips with the fundamentals, I began constructing experiments and sharing them on social media, nearly like a diary. My first posts reached an viewers I by no means thought attainable simply by posting my explorations, particularly on X (Twitter). Actually, that’s what stored me going — and what pushed me to maintain sharing.
Listed below are a few of my first explorations:
Creating complicated animations with some deformations was one thing I actually wished to grasp, so I spent quite a lot of time on it. That naturally led me to sort out what many take into account the steepest a part of the educational curve: shaders. Fortunately, there are some nice assets on the market to assist wrap your head across the fundamentals (due to Codrops & Three.js Journey by Bruno Simon).
Right here’s what I got here up with:
Extra not too long ago, I’ve been specializing in math for morphing and movement animations:
Stack & Setup
As a freelancer, my stack tends to shift relying on what every mission requires. After years working with vanilla JavaScript and customized WordPress setups, I’ve been transferring towards Nuxt.js paired with a headless CMS like Prismic or Sanity. For the animations, GSAP has all the time been my go-to, and on the WebGL aspect I not too long ago made the swap from OGL to Three.js.
As for instruments, I depend on Notion to handle duties and planning, Cursor for writing code, and Warp as my terminal. However actually, my two actual non-negotiables are my pocket book (the place I sketch out animation concepts earlier than touching a keyboard) and Spotify — I merely can’t work (and dwell) with out music.
I’m all the time curious to see what designers and builders’ setups and workspaces appear to be. Right here’s mine:
What’s subsequent
Actually? I’m undecided, and I really like that.
A number of my explorations begin with a easy “what if I attempted this immediately?” second whereas searching for inspiration. That spontaneity is one thing I wish to preserve.
What I do know is that I’m nonetheless in the beginning. There’s a lot left to discover: extra complicated animations, new methods, concepts I haven’t even found but. Lately, I’ve additionally developed a rising curiosity in back-end growth. It would look like a distinct path, but it surely’s simply one other layer to discover.
I hope freelancing provides me the house to continue learning, experimenting, and creating freely — and perhaps, alongside the way in which, discover the suitable individuals to work with. If I could make a residing doing one thing that genuinely excites me each day, that looks like the form of success I’m in search of.
Last Ideas
If there’s one factor I’d go on, it’s this: don’t wait till you’re feeling prepared to start out studying one thing new. The assets are on the market, extra accessible than ever. In the event you ever really feel caught or uninspired in your work, that restlessness might be an indication value listening to.
That’s all, people! Thanks once more to Manoela and Codrops for letting me write about my journey right here. In the event you ever wish to work or collaborate with me, or simply share what you’re engaged on — you’ll find me on X (Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn.
