Detecdev Digital Portfolio

Detecdev is a play on detective and developer. I really like detective esthetic and neo-noir film/literature, and I'm also a software test engineer. As a test engineer, I'm kind of a detective when finding defects in software, thus became the name. 🕵️‍♂️

Detecdev started in the height of the pandemic of 2020 when times were beginning to get more difficult. I was in a job that took a major hit during the pandemic. The place I was working at during that time went through many waves of layoffs.

It was a really stressful time and I wanted to try to find not only a different income stream but also find something creative to get my hands on.

An early rendition of the Detecdev logo. It was later reduced to be just the joystick.

The original idea for Detecdev was to do video game reviews, but that quickly turned into something greater. Instead of a typical review site, I wanted to try something a bit different. Rather than reviews, it was decided to talk about video games in a more philosophical and intellectual manner. Asking strange questions or really diving into a certain topic further than most.

It was an uphill battle starting and running with Detecdev at the time I did. However, a lot was learned and it now has become something I hold dear in many aspects of both the personal and professional aspects of my life.

A Detecdev calling card that was used in e-mail correspondence with video game developers and publishers.

The original website ran from May 2020 to just about May 2024, and then was converted over into this portfolio shortly after. During those years, nineteen articles were created and published within the website. Looking back at it, it wasn't too many in total. In defense of it: I was doing it solo, trying to save my job, taking care of a small family, and was battling depression at the time as well.

Even though it came with it's own unique challenges and hardships, Detecdev became one of my proudest projects to date. Despite the first rendition being no longer, it still lives as my online alias and the forefront of my digital work.

I learned a lot about web design and what goes into it with this project. The only other actual web design I had done beforehand was just in college. This ended up sparking my interest in doing different kinds of digital art now too.

Although some of the beginner stuff I did was primitive, it made me look into vector art and minimalist styles. With these two things in mind, I started incorporating that into banners for my articles.

The banner created for the "Covid-19 and Game Development" article

The banners were a fun way to get creative beyond the writing I was doing. It ended up being my favorite part of the process eventually. Thinking about an idea, and then bringing the visual to life in one of these banners was always a good time.

The banner created for the "Video Games & Violence Correlation" article

The banner created for the "Video Game Time Investment" article

The banner created for the "Flooded Game Market" article

One of the banners made for the "FFXIV Dungeon Guide" series that I started

The banners above were a few of the first ones I created for various articles that I had written. I was messing around with that vector/minimalist style. Tinkering around with the isometric perspective was a neat experience as well.

With all the above in mind, this was the project that sparked my creative journey as a whole. My experience with the first rendition of Detecdev is invaluable and has set me on a further creative path.

An isometric test for the Detecdev logo. Never ended up using it!

Detecdev's First Year Anniversary Banner

Detecdev's Second Year Anniversary Banner

With heavy heart, I decided to retire the original Detecdev website in early 2024 for a multitude of reasons. It was bittersweet since this was the first real break from career monotony and served as a creative beacon. It opposed the somewhat dull corporate world that I'm accustomed to. Detecdev was the first project that I felt excited and proud to work on and create. Again, it's not entirely gone and it fuels the rest of my artistic career/hobbies.

The final banner created for the original Detecdev website. It's ironic as this was created for a "New Horizons" post made as if it was a second wind for the website. It now symbolizes the official sunset of the original project. Still shining, still inspiring to me.