drew-parrish.com is forthcoming. At the time of writing, if you click that link you’ll find a rather plain webpage with some rather plain AI-generated placeholder copy. It looks like this:

Guess which bit of copy is not AI-generated? If you guessed the bit under the header, “Words that respect readers. Readers who feel respected keep reading.” you’d be right. Congratulations, but that shouldn’t have been difficult. Readers who feel respected keep reading. I borrowed this concept from a fabulous book and I ought to explore it with a proper write up. But for now, I’ll just leave you with a reading recommendation.

This plain site was built in about 15 minutes purely by prompting Claude Code in plain English. Maybe I shared a screenshot or two. This does not include the time it took to buy the domain, and configure it up with Github and Cloudflare. But all that didn’t take more than an hour or two.

At first I was pleased with the design. It bored me, but it wasn’t dysfunctional. Looked clean, professional enough, and functional for what I needed. But so is Notion. Why was I creating more work for myself?

For one, the own web-domain-as-portfolio boosts a personal brand. I’ve had the inkling for awhile that I could do more to cultivate my personal brand, however I’m reticent of a regular LinkedIn posting cadence merely for the sake of visibility. Feels weird. Improving the aesthetics of my portfolio is a better reflection of my personality.

Secondly, building a portfolio site is tedious, even in Notion. If you’re putting in all that work, why not put it in to a space you own. It’s like doing handy repairs around a home that you own as opposed to one you rent.

Finally, the past couple months have been a kind of AI awakening for me. I have been having all manner of fun designing and building tools and programs from scratch. Claude Code has allowed me to access a dimension of creativity and function I otherwise never would have tasted. Building a portfolio website without the help of a no-code site builder, like Wix or Square, has been a fun challenge.

<aside>

List of my projects since I bought an Anthropic subscription in Oct 2025

(time of writing is mid-Nov 2025)

• PrettyWriter - a minimalist, browser-based word processor designed for distraction free writing with simple file saving in local storage. Featuring my original photography as immersive backgrounds.
• LinkedOut - simple browser extension that scrapes a LinkedIn profile for Name, Role, Company, and URL and adds it to a new line in my Notion database used for tracking potential connections and leads.
• DJ Librarian Tool - a python script that automates cleaning up the metadata and messy naming of numerous tracks in my rekordbox library after a flawed library transfer to a new computer.
• citysaunafinder.com - a sauna directory website. Definitely under heavy construction. Don’t judge me on this one, yet.
• Flea Market POS - a simple point of sale web app for small-time flea market use that tracks what was bought, how much, calculates tax, and saves data in a spreadsheet for reporting. Handles multiple sellers’ inventories if you’re sharing a booth.
• drew-parrish.com - portfolio website and lightweight no-code builder adjusted to my workflow and skill level. </aside>

In many aspects of my life, I am very much a DIY first, outsource or pay for it second type of person. There’s just far more learning to be done that way.

That said, I’m no web designer (not yet!) and fall well within a key customer profile of those no-code CMS companies. “Creative writer with little technical programming ability who needs a custom site for their portfolio and business.” 🙋‍♂️. So, I am doing two projects at once and had Claude write a lightweight program that mimics the very basic function of said no-code tools.

Running locally, viewing my site in my browser, I can press ⌘E and induce Editor Mode. All the text fields become editable. As a copywriter, this is huge. I consistently find that copy I draft in a blank word doc, or stage in a spreadsheet, ends up needing adjustment after viewing it in layout.

The visual context a phrase is integral to its final meaning. Language is not reserved for solely words. The ability to write in context in a web dev environment is great for quickly iterating and arriving at final copy. I wanted that ability for my site build, so I had Claude give it to me.

I also built a basic image uploader. Running locally, in Editor Mode, I can click on the space where an image can go and a pop up window will prompt a file load. I go to my directory where all the images live, select the one I want, and its on my site.

These updates are written into my codebase and I can push it live. That’s it. Other than that, I iterate prompts with Claude and do a small amount of manual HTML coding to design my site.

Remember when I said I was bored with my site’s design? I don’t like being bored or settling. I leveled up my vibe coding, found a web design example I liked via Pinterest, copied their HTML and had Claude mimic it.

Is this ethical? I like to believe in the creative commons of the internet, but it’s 2025 and I just got done talking about cultivating a personal brand. It’s not the Wild West out there anymore. The ranchers have put up their miles and miles of barbed wire fencing. Cordoning off digital intellectual property feels more in vogue than communal creative sharing these days.

I digress. Rest assured the original design is far better than what I will achieve as, once again, I am no web designer. See the intended design below. Coming soon.

I am going for a classic newspaper-like aesthetic while still remaining simple, minimalist, scannable, and mobile-friendly. Much work to be done.