How it’s built
The site runs on WordPress and is built with Bricks. I bought Bricks while it was still in beta and built sites with it long before AI could help with any of it. I’ve come to value the tool, and even more the team behind it, so building this site with it was an easy call.
It lives on a server I run myself in Germany. Partly because I like getting a lot for what I pay, and partly because I’d rather not depend on a hosting company whose business practices turn even simple things into a chore. Pages and fonts come from this domain; images go through a CDN so they load fast.
How I work with AI on this site has its own page.
Type
Headings and longer reading are set in EB Garamond, Georg Duffner and Octavio Pardo’s revival of the romans Claude Garamont cut in the sixteenth century. Interface text is set in Plus Jakarta Sans by Tokotype. Both are open-source fonts, trimmed to the Latin alphabet and served from this domain, so no font request leaves the site.
Numbers in running text use oldstyle figures, which sit in the line like lowercase letters. Dates and tables use lining figures.
Color
- Canvas, a warm off-white, #F7F7F3
- Ink, for text, #18242C
- Prussian blue, for links and the one accent, #234F6D
- Night, for the footer, #111C23
- Ember, the accent on night, #84A9BC
In dark mode the palette turns around. The switch in the footer remembers your choice in this browser, without a cookie.
The signature
The signature in the header was drawn for this site. It draws itself once when you arrive, and again when you reload. With reduced motion turned on, it simply stands there.
Principles
- Pages are written to be read, at a measure of about 65 characters per line.
- Motion only where it carries meaning, and never between pages.
- No pop-ups for newsletters, no chat widgets, no infinite scroll.
- Accessibility target: WCAG 2.2 AA, including keyboard use and high-contrast modes.
Privacy
No ads, no marketing cookies. Analytics only run if you agree to them, and you can change that anytime.
Language
Written in US English. Corrections are welcome at hello@leanderh.com.