Index / Projects / This site Local —:—:—

This site.

The page you’re reading — a hand-built static site with no framework, no runtime dependencies, and one accent colour.

01 Overview

Overview

A personal index, set like a printed one.

The Problem

Most portfolio sites are a template with someone else’s taste baked in, and a JavaScript bundle three times the size of the words it renders. I wanted the opposite: something that reads like paper, loads instantly, and is unmistakably mine.

What I Built

A static site — cream paper, ink type, hairline rules, one vermillion accent, and a monospace ledger for anything that behaves like data. No framework, no runtime dependencies. The only JavaScript is the part you’d miss: the intro reveal, the scroll reveals, the clock, the menu, and the lightbox on these project pages.

Why It Matters

It stays fast because there’s nothing in it to slow it down, and it stays honest because every status on it is one I’d defend out loud.

02 Stack

Tech stack

  • HTML · CSS · JavaScript zero runtime dependencies
  • Node a 300-line generator for these project pages
  • Vercel hosting
03 Screens
Click to enlarge

Screenshots

The homepage of ethanptacek.com
The index itself
The site on a phone-sized screen
Same paper, narrower page
The projects ledger page
The ledger
04 Latest ships

Changelog

05 Timeline

Timeline

  1. First build Paper, ink, one accent.
  2. Project pages The ledger gets depth.
  3. Current Now Live, and never quite finished.