Portfolio rebrand, what's new?

Adam Govier | 24 Aug 2025

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Why I Rebuilt My Portfolio

My original portfolio, which I launched in 2022, had become outdated. The content was sparse and stale, much of it no longer reflected my current experience. The site wasn’t properly optimised for search engines or newer AI generated search results. In short, it no longer represented who I am today, or allowed me to easily append content.

This summer, with the milestone of graduating from university behind me giving me a little more time to focus outside of work, I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to give my portfolio a revamp!

The new version breathes life back into my online presence. It reflects where I am now as a professional, while leaving room for growth as I continue to grow.

What Changed

The design and styling are largely carried over from the old site, as I was happy with its overall look. Where possible, I kept the original colour scheme and styling rules. The biggest changes come from the updated page structure and the addition of new content.

New Page structure

The original portfolio was a single-page layout with all content divided into sections. In the new version, these sections are split into separate pages, creating a clearer structure with more space to expand the content.

By migrating to Astro, the pages are now statically rendered as HTML, making it easier for search engines and AI tools to index without relying on a JavaScript runtime.

New content

• Expanded Experience Page - Now includes a detailed look at my career history and education, offering more context about my journey into software development.
• Enhanced Skills Section – Introduced confidence level ratings for each technology with a quirky “skills console” that explains the different ratings.
• New Blog - A dedicated space where I’ll occasionally share technical insights, career reflections, and the occasional travel story.
• Personal Biography - Added a biography to the home page, giving visitors a better idea of who I am, how I started, and what drives me as a developer.
• Refined Personal Projects - Projects are now displayed in a clean grid layout, making it easier to browse. Some of them link to deeper blog write-ups for those interested - including Crimson, my master’s research project.

The Road Ahead

I’ll be publishing new posts whenever something noteworthy happens in my journey - or when a topic sparks my curiosity. I also plan to mix in the occasional travel or adventure post.

Looking ahead, I have a few ideas for improvements, such as adding interactivity to the blog: likes, comments, and a way to ask questions. From a maintainability perspective, I’m also considering migrating the old vanilla CSS taken from the original site to a modern utility framework like Tailwind CSS.

A Takeaway Quote

“Real artists ship.”

― Steve Jobs

I interpret this quote as a reminder to share your work publicly or with your target audience, rather than getting stuck chasing perfection and risking the project never seeing the light of day.

I believe this quote captures the current state of my portfolio perfectly. There’s still plenty I want to add and improve, but I didn’t want this to become yet another personal project stuck on the “unfinished” list. What matters most is getting the site out there early and continuing to refine and expand it over time.