A Minimal, Open Source Portfolio Website
Behind the design and development of mulek.cc, my personal website.
Building mulek.cc
This site, mulek.cc, serves as my personal portfolio and public space to share my projects and interests. I built it from scratch, focusing on clarity, minimalism, and good performance.
💻 Open Source
Everything behind the site is open source. You can explore the full project, check commit history, or even fork it for your own use:
🔗 Repository: github.com/copperpocket/mulek.cc
Keeping the site public not only encourages transparency but also serves as a living portfolio, showcasing real code, decisions, and iterations over time.
⚙️ Tech Stack
The site is powered by Astro, a fast, modern web framework focused on delivering static content efficiently, and styled with Tailwind CSS for clean, composable utility-first design.
Astro’s component model makes it possible to mix frameworks and optimize for near-instant page loads, while Tailwind keeps the design consistent and adaptable. Together, they create a lightweight but powerful foundation for personal projects and long-term maintainability.
✨ Background Particles
One of the more visually distinct features of mulek.cc is the animated canvas particle background, created to give subtle depth and motion without overwhelming the minimalist layout.
We’ve gone through multiple iterations fine-tuning this system, from adjusting density and color blending to resolving performance hiccups and dark-mode transitions. It’s a small touch that reflects a lot of behind-the-scenes experimentation.
🧩 Lessons from the Build
No web project is complete without a few head-scratching moments. Along the way, we’ve tackled:
- Persistent header alignment issues that refused to behave across screen sizes
- PowerShell’s npm execution policy quirks during early Windows testing
- Tailwind’s color opacity syntax inconsistencies
- And of course, the occasional CSS fight between aesthetic minimalism and pixel-perfect alignment
Every fix brought the site closer to the clean, stable version you see now.
🧠 Philosophy
The goal behind mulek.cc isn’t to overwhelm, it’s to communicate capability through clarity. Every section, from the project listings to the contact form, is meant to feel approachable, fast, and functional. No heavy JavaScript, no bloated dependencies, no distractions.
Just code, design, and identity, presented simply.
🪶 Moving Forward
mulek.cc is an evolving project. As new tools emerge and personal projects grow, the site will continue to expand, possibly with integrated project pages, blog entries like this one, or experimental visual features.
If you’re curious about the process, the code is all there on GitHub. Contributions, issues, and discussions are always welcome.
Thanks for reading, and for being part of this build journey. — Michael Mulek