Building a portfolio website with rich scroll and entrance animations often means balancing user experience with performance. GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform) is a popular library for smooth, complex animations, but it can add weight and complexity that conflicts with static site generation (SSG) approaches like Next.js’s. The shinthant.dev project tackles this challenge by combining Next.js SSG, GSAP animations, Zustand state management, and Tailwind CSS styling with accessibility in mind.
What shinthant.dev is and how it’s built
Shinthant.dev is a statically generated personal portfolio website built with Next.js and TypeScript. It uses Next.js’s SSG capabilities to pre-render pages at build time, which suits portfolio sites where content changes infrequently and SEO matters. This approach ensures fast initial page loads and good SEO without requiring server-side rendering on every request.
Styling relies on Tailwind CSS, a utility-first CSS framework that keeps CSS footprint minimal while enabling rapid UI development. The project supports light and dark themes, defaulting to dark mode, which is common in developer portfolios for aesthetics and eye comfort.
Animations are handled using GSAP, a robust animation platform known for smooth and complex scroll-triggered and entrance animations. GSAP is heavier than simpler animation libraries, so integrating it with Next.js’s static rendering model requires care to avoid hurting performance or Lighthouse scores.
For state management, the repo uses Zustand, a minimalistic and lightweight alternative to Redux. Zustand fits well here because the site’s interactivity is limited mostly to theme toggling and managing animation states rather than complex global state management.
The site is deployed on Vercel, a platform that aligns well with Next.js’s SSG approach, providing a CDN-backed, fast delivery.
Technical strengths and tradeoffs in the implementation
The standout technical aspect is the combination of GSAP animations with static site generation. Animation libraries like GSAP often add JavaScript payload and runtime complexity that can degrade Lighthouse performance scores if not handled carefully. Shinthant.dev manages to integrate GSAP animations while keeping accessibility and SEO a priority.
The use of Zustand instead of heavier state management solutions like Redux is a clear tradeoff in favor of simplicity and a smaller bundle size. Zustand’s API surface is small and it’s easy to integrate with React, making it well suited for managing light state such as theme toggling.
Tailwind CSS’s utility-first approach aligns well with the project’s theming needs, allowing quick theme switching and styling without large custom CSS files. The emphasis on accessibility-first design is commendable given portfolios often overlook this aspect.
That said, the README includes a header for Lighthouse scores but does not provide actual metrics. This leaves open questions about how well the site performs on Lighthouse audits in practice. It’s worth noting that GSAP’s inclusion inherently risks increasing JavaScript payload and runtime cost, so the tradeoff is clear: richer animations versus potential performance impact.
The codebase’s choice of technologies reflects a balanced, pragmatic approach rather than pushing for the absolute lightest or fastest. It prioritizes developer experience and feature richness while keeping an eye on static generation benefits.
Explore the project and documentation
The repo includes a README with an overview of the project’s architecture, stack, and design choices.
Since no quickstart or installation commands are provided in the README, the best way to explore the project is to start with the README itself and then dive into the source code:
- The main source code is organized under the
pagesdirectory typical of Next.js projects, containing React components for each page. - Styling is configured with Tailwind CSS, so check the
tailwind.config.jsfile for theme settings and customizations. - Zustand stores and hooks can be found in a dedicated state management folder, providing theme and animation state.
- GSAP animations are integrated into components, which you can find by searching for
gsapimports.
The project’s deployment on Vercel suggests that it can be previewed live as well, which is handy for seeing the animations and themes in action.
Verdict: who should look at this repo
Shinthant.dev is relevant for developers building personal or portfolio sites who want to combine smooth GSAP animations with Next.js static generation. It shows how to integrate a heavier animation library like GSAP without completely sacrificing accessibility and SEO considerations.
The use of Zustand for minimal state management is a practical choice worth understanding if you want a lightweight alternative to Redux for simple interactivity.
The main limitation is the lack of published Lighthouse performance metrics, so if your priority is cutting-edge performance with minimal JavaScript, you may want to test and optimize further.
Overall, this repo offers a clear example of balancing feature-rich animation with static site benefits and modern styling, making it a useful reference for front-end developers tackling similar challenges.
→ GitHub Repo: devshinthant/shinthant.dev ⭐ 96 · TypeScript