Self-Initiated · Personal Branding · 2026
Building
My Own
Digital Home
This portfolio site is itself a project, one that required every skill I use professionally. From brand identity and content strategy to UX architecture and technical execution, this is the most personal work in my portfolio.
The Brief
A Portfolio That Actually Demonstrates What I Do
Most portfolio sites for digital strategists are built by developers, templated, or outsourced entirely. I wanted mine to be different. Every page needed to reflect a clear strategic decision, every section needed to earn its place, and the entire site needed to work beautifully on desktop and mobile.
TI built it in collaboration with Claude, Anthropic's AI assistant. Not to hand off the work, but to have a technically capable partner to execute the vision I directed. Every design decision, content choice, and structural call came from me. The code was the medium, not the message.
Design Decisions
A Visual Identity Built on Intention
Every visual choice was deliberate, from the color palette to the typography to the way content breathes on the page. I didn't want a generic portfolio. I wanted something that felt like me.
Color Palette
Warm Olive & Cream
Rooted in warm, earthy tones: deep olives, soft creams, and a muted gold accent. Elevated and editorial without feeling cold or corporate. It mirrors the hospitality industry I work in.
Typography
Cormorant Garamond + Jost
Display headings use Cormorant Garamond, a high-contrast serif that brings elegance and personality. Body copy uses Jost, a clean geometric sans-serif at light weight. Sophisticated and easy to read.
Layout System
Grid-First, White Space as Design
CSS Grid throughout, with a consistent 2px gap between sections creating a subtle tile effect. Generous padding and restrained borders let content breathe.
Signature Detail
The Arch Photo Frame
The arched portrait frame achieved through CSS border-radius became a signature visual element across the homepage and about page. It turns a functional portfolio into something that feels personal.
Content & UX Strategy
Eight Pages. One Coherent Story.
The site architecture was planned the same way I plan client websites: starting with the user journey, mapping conversion goals, and making sure every page earns its place.
Designed for a hiring manager or potential client landing on the homepage, structured to move them from curiosity to credibility to contact.
Every page was content-planned before a single line of HTML was written. Design served the content, not the other way around.
Three categories mirroring exactly how I talk about my work, each with its own case study page: scope, approach, projects, results.
Professional but not stiff, confident but not arrogant. Every word written or closely directed by me, consistent across all 8 pages.
Page titles, meta descriptions, heading hierarchy, and URL structure planned from the start. It wouldn't make sense to build an SEO strategist's portfolio without it.
Built into every page from the start, with three breakpoints ensuring the site works across every screen size.
The Technical Build
From Concept to Live Site
Hand-written HTML and CSS throughout. No frameworks, no libraries, no shortcuts. Each page deployed into WordPress via Elementor's HTML widget.
The Collaboration Process
Directing AI — A New Kind of Creative Partnership
This site was built in collaboration with Claude, Anthropic's AI assistant. Collaboration doesn't mean delegation. Every decision came from me. Here's how the process worked.
I defined everything first: brand identity, color palette, typography, tone of voice, page structure, and content. Claude didn't make creative decisions. I did.
Every page was reviewed on desktop and mobile before being approved and deployed. When something wasn't right, I identified it and directed the fix.
Technical issues required real debugging. I diagnosed the problems and we worked through solutions together, building my understanding of the technical layer as we went.
Every word on this site is mine. The AI helped structure and refine, but the ideas, experiences, and voice are entirely my own.
Knowing how to work with AI tools is itself a professional skill. This project demonstrates my ability to brief, direct, review, and iterate with AI to deliver a high-quality outcome, the same way I would with any creative or technical collaborator.
The Outcome
A Portfolio That Practices What It Preaches
"I didn't want a portfolio that just described what I do. I wanted one that showed it, in every layout decision, every line of copy, and every page that actually works on your phone."
— Maycie Rosado
Skills Demonstrated