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Freelance developer · Leeuwarden

What I build beside my job

I work full-time as a developer at an agency. Beside that I now and then build something small for someone else: a portfolio, a first version of a product or a site of their own. This is what fits, and what does not.

  • Leeuwarden, NL

What fits

Three kinds of work, all three small.

  1. 01

    A portfolio

    For a designer or maker: a site where the work speaks for itself, and that you keep up to date yourself.

  2. 02

    A first version of a product

    An idea that still has to prove it works. Start small, and soon have something real to react to.

  3. 03

    A site of your own

    Your own place on the web, like this one: light, fast and built so you can carry on with it yourself.

Who this is for, and who it is not for

I do this beside my job, in the evenings and at weekends. So I take on little at a time, and only work that is small enough to do well.

That is how I built the portfolio of Thijs Veldwisch, a designer in Leeuwarden, where video and stills carry the work and he puts his projects together himself. Traklyst and OnderhoudJe are products of my own, from design to code.

A company website, a webshop or online marketing is not part of this. For that you need an agency, with a team and fixed agreements about maintenance and availability. I would rather say that straight away.

Do you have a business in or around Bolsward? There I do build websites: read how I go about it.

How I work

Clear decisions, short loops and something real to react to.

  1. Find the actual need

    Before choosing a stack, I clarify the goal, the user and the smallest version worth building.

  2. Build the right amount

    I choose the simplest stack that fits, then move quickly into something real enough to test and improve.

  3. Refine the experience

    Responsive behaviour, subtle motion, accessible choices, readable code and a clear CMS turn a working build into a finished product.

Questions

What people usually want to know first.

  1. No. You are better off at an agency for that: there is a team, and there are agreements about maintenance and availability. What I do beside my job stays small.

  2. Little, and I would rather be honest about that. I work full-time and do this in the evenings and at weekends. We agree on a schedule beforehand that works for both of us.

  3. That depends on what it has to be. Email what you have in mind, and I will tell you roughly what it costs and whether I have time for it.

  4. The simplest one that fits. Below is what I choose when.

Which stack when

I choose the simplest one that fits.

Stack When
WordPress Content someone manages themselves: a site, a portfolio, a blog.
Expo Something you carry with you and that has to remind you: an app.
Next.js A product with accounts, logic of its own or a lot of interaction.
Laravel An application with users, permissions and a lot of data.