My website's evolution: from channel to cozy home

As I start my journey of making my website a liveable, evergrowing space, I’m reflecting back on the shapes my website has had, thinking about the mistakes I made, and how it all has lead to here and now.

Contents of this post:

– Phase 1: Dipping my toes into web design, and jumping in
– Phase 2: Web design and everything else
– Phase 3: Putting on a business suit
– Now: The pendulum stops swinging

Phase 1: Dipping my toes into web design, and jumping in

I created my very first website in 2022, after I discovered Readymag, learnt a lot about web design and thought I could design websites on the side while studying. I put this website together in a few weeks and launched it under the domain gispertnuria.com (which I no longer have, sadly), then submitted it to the Readymag Websites of the Year awards, without thinking much about it and thinking chances were slim, judging by all the cool and amazing websites people built. To my surprise, though, my website was nominated in the storytelling category, and the winner would be decided by votes from the Readymag community.

Even if I didn’t get to 1st or 2nd place (the people who did deserved it!), being nominated got my website out in the Readymag space, it got featured on their Instagram with thousands of followers, and that helped me get my first clients. Other than that, this nomination also meant that my passion and skill for web design (or design in general) was seen and acknowledged by the outside world, it wasn’t just yet another project. Almost like a sign that designing websites was for me, and it made me feel that I belonged in the web design world.

During this time, I was getting inspired by new layouts, animations and interactions, I was learning and experimenting constantly, as well as learning about other platforms. In 2023 I tried to learn Webflow but I didn’t have the patience, then I learned about Framer and started experimenting and learning, and I loved it. I even convinced a client to build their website there, because the platform would also make it much easier for them too.

Phase 2: Web design and everything else

Apart from web design, I had (and have) other creative interests that I wanted to explore, and had the urge to create a project for every hobby. Of course, that wouldn’t work, but I had read about the concept of multi-passionates and thought that maybe the solution would be to combine my interests and creative practices. So in the summer of 2023, I created Nabiu Studio, an “art” studio, as in a space to create. And a new website was born and published in September.

The idea was great, but I published the website with two (important) pages being empty, and never came back to fill them. As for the rest of the website, as I scrolled through it after a long time, I actually like many parts of it. It has personality, it’s fun, it’s in the right direction. It just got a bit abandoned, and the only remaining and functioning piece is what I had then called the journal, which is still now my Substack newsletter/blog.

This website flopped (in my eyes) because I was busy with university and didn’t find the time to put care into it, and found my Substack to be already filling my creative and expressive needs, but also because it held too much and felt too scattered.

Phase 3: Putting on a business suit

Jumping to the summer of 2024, after taking a break from web design to dedicate more time to my degree, and having stopped “marketing” efforts, I found myself with the need to go back to web design. But this time, and without much thinking, I felt like I needed to “take it seriously”, and rebranded Nabiu Studio to be just about web design. I guess I thought that combining other creative work and web design would scare “serious” businesses away.

And so my third website was born, one that would appeal to every kind of business. But one that felt flat, lacked personality, and didn’t feel like me. And that was the purpose, in a way: to make Nabiu Studio appear very professional, and for it to be just a business to me. And sure, the website was nice and I liked the design, it still had a bit of my essence. But I’ve realized now that it didn’t propose anything new or different, it was presented as just another studio, so why would businesses choose to work with me over other studios? My branding was so flat that it would all have to depend on a marketing strategy, but… I didn’t have the time for marketing, and most importantly, I do not enjoy marketing…

Now: The pendulum stops swinging

Through these three years and rebrands (somehow always in the summer), I’ve learnt a lot and failed a lot, but looking back it all makes sense, somehow. The pendulum went from one extreme to the other: from scattered but full of personality in 2023 to corporate-looking but “focused” in 2024. Once it does the swings, eventually the pendulum naturally stops at the center. And I believe that center is being reached now, in the summer of 2025.

I’ve found myself leaning a lot into websites in my newsletter lately (a newsletter open to every one of my creative practices, mind you). Digital homes, to be precise. Websites with soul. I’ve realized that one mistake I made in all my websites was not living in them. They were a mere channel to get from one place to another, not a place to hang out in. I wasn’t putting any love into them, I wasn’t watering the plants, opening the windows to let air circulate, or dusting corners. And I wasn’t bringing in new furniture, decorations, books to fill shelves or food to fill the fridge.

My current website’s design is more simple and mature, it has a lot less color, it’s less visual and more… calm. And I’m a bit scared about that, because part of me feels it doesn’t use its potential for design, it doesn’t have captivating, inspiring design. But it does do one thing: it’s designed to be lived in, to be a living space and not a channel, to evolve and to grow.

Great design isn’t just about aesthetics, but about communication. If a fun-and-cool-looking website lacks depth and fails to communicate, it doesn’t really matter how impressive it might be visually. That’s not to say that kind of design doesn’t have its place! But it might mean that there’s more work to do, internally. It means the pendulum might still be swinging.

These are things that aren’t entirely new to me, and that I’ve applied in projects for others, but I’m still learning to apply them for myself, for my own project. Branding oneself is hard!

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👆🏼 My vision for my current website: a cozy, lived-in home