Tools: New Year, New You Portfolio Challenge: THE OTHER SIDE

About Me ## Portfolio ## How I Built It ## Tech Stack ## The Struggle ## Google AI Tools ## What I'm Most Proud Of ## 1. The Hidden “Konami” Dev Mode ## 2. Dimension Switching Engine New Year, New You Portfolio Challenge Submission This is a submission for the New Year, New You Portfolio Challenge Presented by Google AI My name is Robert Ishoka, and I wanted to build something that felt less like a website and more like a place. I’m a mobile developer with 4 years of experience, building apps that focus on smooth interactions and thoughtful user experiences. I came across the New Year, New You Portfolio Challenge around the same time Stranger Things had just finished airing. The show left me pondering parallel worlds, hidden layers of reality, and the way small, seemingly insignificant forces can completely reshape a space. That idea stuck with me, and I realised I wanted my portfolio to capture a similar feeling—something that could shift and transform depending on how you interacted with it. I didn’t want to present information in the usual way. I wanted users to move through a space, not just scroll through a list of skills. That meant rethinking every part of the portfolio: layout, scrolling physics, colour, typography, and transitions. Each element had to feel alive, almost like a world with its own rules, so that crossing from Reality to The Other Side would feel like stepping through a portal, not just loading a new page. In a way, this project became more than just a portfolio—it became an experiment in world-building with code. Drawing inspiration from the parallel worlds in Stranger Things, I chose specific elements to convey that sense of shifting dimensions: unexpected colour changes, subtle motion physics, hidden interactive easter eggs, and dynamic transitions that make the environment feel responsive and alive. This portfolio reflects how I see coding: not just as syntax or functionality, but as a medium for creating experiences. Every choice—from scrolling physics to the secret “Konami” dev mode—was about crafting a space you could explore, not just read. I attempt to transform something as ordinary as a portfolio into a space that feels alive, mysterious, and a little otherworldly. (Note: If the embed above doesn't load, you can explore the live site here: THE OTHER SIDE Flutter Web isn’t a traditional web framework, and you feel that immediately. The biggest challenge wasn’t functionality—it was feel. Scrolling, momentum, and the transitions between dimensions needed to feel weighty, intentional, and physical. There were multiple optimization passes and more late nights than I’d like to admit, tweaking physics curves and render timing. I refused to ship until it felt like stepping through a portal, not just navigating between pages. I used Antigravity (Google’s advanced agentic AI) as a pair-programming assistant. It was especially helpful for: Having an AI to reason through failures made iteration significantly faster. I couldn’t resist adding a secret. Entering the classic Konami Code: ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A unlocks a hidden Matrix-style developer overlay. This grants System Root Access and allows you to download a raw, JSON-parsed version of my resume as a PDF. It’s a small easter egg designed to reward curiosity—especially from fellow developers. At the press of a button, the entire application mutates: All of it changes instantly, without dropping frames. Optimising this level of global mutation on Flutter Web was one of the hardest technical challenges of the project—but seeing it run smoothly makes it worth it. This project pushed me far outside my comfort zone—not just technically, but creatively. If you believe the web can be more than pages and forms, I’d love for you to step into The Other Side. Templates let you quickly answer FAQs or store snippets for re-use. Are you sure you want to hide this comment? It will become hidden in your post, but will still be visible via the comment's permalink. Hide child comments as well For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse - Framework: Flutter (Web) - State Management: flutter_riverpod (v2+) - Deployment: Google Cloud Run (Docker + Nginx) - Brainstorming the overall architecture - Debugging an Nginx configuration that repeatedly broke during early Cloud Run deployments - Colour systems - Layout physics - Interaction behaviour