new layout yahoo!!!!

newsletter #4

mar.26.2026

Hello and welcome to another newsletter/update on the my site! I'm very excited to present: My New Layout!!

The landing page features 3 handdrawn books that represent the different pages on my site: the red notebook with the Hinata and Ponyo stickers for my about page and ramblings page, the sketchbook with the animal crossing stickers for my gallery page and (not yet completed) commissions page, and finally the composition book with the Vivi sticker for my resource page. I spent maybe a few hours drawing the books because I used my own books for reference, but I'm very happy with how they came out.

The "stickers" I used are from my previous layout, and I really liked the idea of the images as buttons rather than the text (it's cuter to me). I had used code from ribo.zone's tutorial about image links and figured I could repurpose it for this new layout. On mobile, the text is displayed permanently since there's no hover ability but I think it still looks pretty good. The thing about using images for everything means that I have to add a LOT of alt text to them. Most of it has been pretty simple but it's the sheer amount that I have to add that has been a bit draining. And guys, you would not believe the hours I spent on optimizing this site. Trying to get everything to look right on different screen sizes, and also having to consider the shape of each bookpage for the backgrounds... I'm sure there are some points where things break but as of right now everything looks alright and that's good enough for me :3

My favorite of the "books" is definitely the sketchbook. I tried a few different iterations of the pull tabs that lead to the different gallery pages, but I think the current ones work well. Originally, I had transition parameters set for the pull tabs but I thought that keeping it kinda jumpy rather than a smooth transition fit better with the site. In the past, I have tried using smoother transitions for things like buttons or links but something about the jittery-ness and pixel-y nature of the site makes me want to avoid it for right now. Maybe I'll mess around with it again in the future, though, who knows?

And so, as of right now, the site is finished. I still have my commissions page to redo, but it's not on the top of my priorities since my commissions are closed for right now. But gosh it feels really nice to have this site active again. I think I'll be more inclinced to add stuff to it now that I'm happy with the layout. And maybe I'll scrap the whole thing if I get bored again but that's the fun part, right?

I'll see you in the next one :D

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