My Favorite Personal Websites

Throughout the last three years, I’ve collected interesting personal blogs and small websites in a Raindrop collection.

In the last weeks, I have been taking a closer look at the collection again to get inspired to update my website through the Christmas days.

Below you find my favorite personal blogs – in no particular order. Some of them I like because of their design, some for their content, and some for their quirkiness.

There are two sections I really love about Stammy’s website: The gear page & the photo page. Both are exceptionally well-designed and super fun to scroll through.

I’m coming back to Matt Mullenbergs personal blog at least once a year to read his annual “What’s in My Bag?” blog post. Other blog posts are great too, especially if they provide a view into his remote work lifestyle and thoughts on tech.

Greg’s personal website is super creative. On the home page, there is anillustration of Greg at his work desk. By clicking on objects at the desk you navigate to subpages (e.g the pinboard brings you to his projects)

Chester’s website is more than a simple blog, it’s a digital garden. Besides his writing, there are also pages to explore his hobbies like climbing, film photography, and plants. He also has a nice page to track his reading.

Barotosz's website is simple and super user-friendly. The added touch here that makes it special is that inside his articles, he has interactive 3D models and explanations. That makes his articles super visual and easy to follow. I do no know how he makes these, but I find it cool to play around with. Take a look at his article about mechanical watches or bicycles to see what I mean.

Going around Marco’s website feels like being a kid in a toy store. Many elements have creative click or hover animations (some even with sound) that give the page a unique tactile feeling. His contact page, for example, is built after iMessage and lets you chat with him.

Brain Lovins's website has to be mentioned here because he inspired many to update their website and portfolio. His website has a unique, almost app-like layout. Besides his writing, he openly lists his bookmarks and even lets people log in to mark favorites on their own.

Tania's blog is not as flashy as some of the others, but feels “complete”. There are blog posts, projects, a great about page, and even a showcase of Tania's illustrations like the RAM Ram that can also be found on her home page.

Stefan's website feels familiar and easy to use. He also has all the important pages to allow viewers to read something or to learn more about his work. He also has a uses page showing the tools, apps, services, and hardware he uses.

I stumbled upon Justin's website after signing up for Buttondown (his newsletter saas app). If you like the idea of a “digital garden”, then you will love his websites. I don’t know how he does it without going nuts, but Justin tracks basically everything he is watching, reading, playing and listening to on his so-called “weblog”.

SJ's website is polished, to just use one word. It’s beautifully designed in every detail. For example, the sidebar navigation can also be controlled with shortcuts to jump between the main pages quickly.

I love the simplicity of Jordis's site and how the elements on his site pop off from the background through subtle shadows and borders. I also love that he has a dedicated page for UI experiments.

Jason's website does a great job of putting the spotlight on his writing. And the writing is probably the most fun of any personal websites I came across. It’s just such a joy to read through his pages and articles because there is always something waiting to make you laugh about. This is a personal website at its best – authentic, fun and with a clear fingerprint from the owners taste.