I met with Nicholas twice before writing a single line of code for LoveVisuals. The first meeting was all about getting a sense of what he wanted for his portfolio. He was clear: the site needed to be fast, look professional, and make his video work the main focus. He didn’t want anything flashy for the sake of it, and he wanted to make sure potential clients could actually find him online.
After that first meeting, I went back and put together a few design options and some rough wireframes. I tried to balance bold visuals with a layout that wouldn’t get in the way of the content. I also started thinking about how to keep things fast, especially with all the video content he wanted to showcase.
The second meeting was more focused. I showed Nicholas the designs, and we talked through what he liked and what didn’t fit. He gave direct feedback—he wanted the work to speak for itself, with minimal distractions. We also talked about practical stuff: how he’d add new projects (with my help), what kind of info he wanted on each page, and how important SEO was for his business.
By the end of that meeting, I had a clear list of requirements:
- The site should be static and fast.
- Video content needs to be front and center, but performance can’t suffer.
- The design should be clean and modern, but not over-designed.
- SEO basics need to be baked in from the start.
With that, I picked Astro for static site generation, Tailwind for styling, and Svelte for the interactive video components. The rest of the project flowed from those early decisions.
What I learned:
You don’t need endless meetings or a 20-page spec to get started. Two focused conversations, clear feedback, and a willingness to iterate are usually enough to set a project on the right path.