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// BUILD NOTES
2026

# Colophon

Behind the scenes of milesallen.site — how it's built, what it runs on, and why it looks the way it does.

## Tech Stack

- Vanilla HTML/CSS/JS — no frameworks, no build tools, no dependencies. Every page is hand-written. I wanted the site to be fast and simple.
- GSAP — For scroll-triggered animations, parallax effects, and entrance sequences. I use ScrollTrigger for most of the scroll-based animations.
- GitHub API — Live fetching of repository stats (stars, forks, language) on project pages.
- FEDL API — Live stats from the FEDL server on the FEDL project page.
- Netlify — Hosting and deployment. Push to main, it goes live. Simple.

## Fonts

- Press Start 2P — Pixel font for headings, section titles, and tags. Gives the site its retro arcade feel.
- Space Mono — Monospace font for body text, code, and technical content. Readable at small sizes, distinctive at large.
- Inter — Sans-serif for readable paragraphs and descriptions. Balances out the chaos of the other two fonts.

## Design Philosophy

The site is inspired by overrides.com and the early web — a time when websites weren't afraid to be ugly, weird, and full of personality. The tilted cards, the scan line overlay, the glitch effects, the chaotic navigation — they're intentional.

I wanted the site to feel alive. The custom cursor, the progress bar, the hue-shifting background, the scroll-triggered animations — they're small touches that make the page feel responsive and present.

The color palette is minimal: black background, white text, hot pink accents, and yellow tape strips. No gradients, no complex color schemes. Just high contrast and aggressive accent colors.

## Accessibility

The custom cursor hides the default cursor site-wide, but the Konami code (↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A) reveals it. The site supports keyboard navigation via the `?` shortcut modal. Light mode reduces eye strain in bright environments. Some secrets respond to the reverse.

## Performance

No frameworks, no build step, no unnecessary dependencies. The site is static HTML with minimal JavaScript. Fonts are loaded with preconnect hints. GSAP is loaded from CDN with browser caching. Each page is under 50KB of HTML.

> Build for the web like it's 1999, but with today's tools.

→ What I use → What I'm doing now
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