Introduction

As a software developer, it's essential to have a dedicated place to showcase your work. A resume alone isn't enough—your portfolio website becomes your brand. It shows how you work, your experience, your style, and all the important (and even the not-so-important) details people may want to know about you. In this section, I summarize the process of creating this website—the decisions behind the tech stack, the design choices, and the process of bringing everything together and deploying it here on ericklz.com.

Approach

For starters, I chose Next.js to develop this website, since it's the framework I'm most proficient with and the one that lets me build fast, scalable interfaces. For styling, I used Tailwind CSS. Even though I usually prefer pure CSS modules—because they give me more freedom and a cleaner structure—Tailwind helped me speed up development while keeping the design consistent.

The project is organized as a monorepo, where both the backend and frontend live in the same repository. This structure keeps everything in sync, simplifies versioning, and allows shared logic between layers when needed.

On the frontend, the website follows the Next.js App Router architecture, meaning each route lives in its own folder under /src/app. Reusable UI components are placed in /components, while structured content like projects, blog metadata, and constants is organized under /data.

For the contact functionality, I integrated Firebase to securely store messages submitted through the form, and used Resend to handle the transactional email logic, allowing me to send clean, reliable notifications directly from the website.

Results

The project is structured as a monorepo, with both backend and frontend living in the same repository. This keeps everything in sync, simplifies versioning, and allows shared logic between both sides of the stack when needed. This modular approach keeps the codebase scalable, clean, and aligned with modern React practices. As a final result, the website delivers a clean and intuitive experience across all devices. The layout adapts seamlessly to mobile, tablet, and desktop screens, keeping the interface consistent and easy to navigate.

Conclusion

Building this website was more than a technical exercise — it was an opportunity to define my digital identity. From choosing a modern stack with Next.js, Tailwind CSS, Firebase, and Resend, to organizing the project in a scalable monorepo and designing an intuitive, responsive interface. The result is a portfolio that not only showcases my projects, but also the way I think, design, and build. It's a space that grows with me, and a foundation for everything I will continue to create.

More of my works.

Making Of: Portfolio Website

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Camera App

Gestión de procesos

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of my works.