Live preview

See the template before you commit to it.

The decision layer in action — inspect the actual starter experience in-browser before choosing to download.

Retrofuturism

Click to view live preview

View Preview →

Preview notes

Scroll the full page to judge rhythm and hierarchy.
Compare whether the tone matches your personal brand.
Download the ZIP only if the structure already feels close.
Open full page

Preview snapshots

The kind of moments this template should create.

Desktop preview

Cinematic hero

A strong world-building feel around the work
High-contrast presentation for standout projects

Screen 02

Experiment gallery

High-contrast presentation for standout projects

Screen 03

Immersive footer

A portfolio that feels like a directed experience

Content guidance

What to put into this layout.

Tip 01

Use this style only if your work can support the drama.

Tip 02

Keep the number of featured projects tight and intentional.

Tip 03

Use copy that sounds confident and specific, not vague and cinematic.

Why this works

The reasoning behind the style.

Retrofuturism creates a strong world around the work. It is most effective when the developer already has a confident visual identity and wants the portfolio to feel cinematic.

Inspired by

Cyberpunk 2077's interface language and grid overlaysLo-Fi Futures visual aestheticTeenage Engineering's product pagesMax Cooper's Cosmos visual identity

Recommended sections

How this template is structured.

01

Hero

This layout benefits from a focused hero section with clear, editable content blocks in the starter kit.

02

Featured work

This layout benefits from a focused featured work section with clear, editable content blocks in the starter kit.

03

Experiments

This layout benefits from a focused experiments section with clear, editable content blocks in the starter kit.

04

About

This layout benefits from a focused about section with clear, editable content blocks in the starter kit.

05

Contact

This layout benefits from a focused contact section with clear, editable content blocks in the starter kit.

Who thrives here

This template is ideal for you if…

01

Senior frontend engineers with a strong aesthetic point of view who want the portfolio itself to be a statement of craft

02

Creative technologists working at the intersection of art, music, and code

03

Developers who build experimental interfaces and want the portfolio to feel like one

04

Anyone building a personal brand in the creative technology space — generative art, interactive media, spatial computing

When to skip this

This might not be the right fit if…

01

Entry-level job seekers — the drama requires enough work to fill the spotlight, and sparse projects will be noticed immediately

02

Developers targeting conservative industries where this aesthetic reads as gimmicky rather than skilled

03

Anyone whose primary goal is beginner-accessible editing — customizing shader effects and particle systems requires real CSS and JS confidence

04

Portfolios where fast load time is critical — the atmospheric effects add meaningful weight that must be justified by the impression they create

Color palette

The exact colors to use.

Primary

#a855f7

Main actions & headings

Secondary

#231f40

Surface & background tones

Accent

#d8b4fe

Highlights & emphasis

Background

#0f0a1a

Page base color

Text

#e9d5ff

Body copy color

Muted

#a78bfa

Labels & metadata

Typography

Font recommendations.

Headings

Orbitron

Display + hero text

Body

Space Mono

Paragraphs & descriptions

Mono

Fira Code

Code & metadata

Animation details

Motion language.

Hero

glitch

Entrance effect

Hover

scanline

Interactive feedback

Page

cinematic

Transition style

Classification

Template metadata.

Style

creative

Difficulty

advanced

Audience

agency

Use cases

Personal brand, Storytelling

Features

What's included.

CRT effectsParticle systemsGlitch animationsDramatic lighting

Technical notes

Implementation details.

  • Next.js App Router
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Glitch shaders
  • GPU optimized

Layout & spacing

How the grid is built.

Dark canvas at hsl(248 40% 8%) with layered grid lines created as CSS background-image using repeating-linear-gradient at 1px thickness on an 8px cell system. Hero uses a centered layout with a radial gradient glow emanating from the heading using a ::before pseudo-element. Project cards use a deliberate scanline overlay applied as a CSS ::after pseudo-element — this creates the CRT texture effect without any image assets. Border-radius is kept at 4px maximum, breaking the modern convention as a visual signature.

Customization roadmap

Where to start editing.

The four highest-impact edits to make this template feel genuinely yours, in the order we recommend doing them.

1

Swap the purple glow to any hue by changing a single --glow-hue CSS variable (a number from 0–360). The radial gradient, border accents, and particle color all derive from this single value.

2

Reduce the particle count from 80 to 20 for a more subtle atmospheric effect without fully losing the depth — useful if the particles compete with project content for attention.

3

Remove the scanline overlay entirely by deleting the ::after rule on .project-card — the cards read more cleanly without it and the overall aesthetic holds.

4

This template has the highest ROI from real visual project assets — invest in actual interface screenshots, interaction recordings, or generative art exports rather than placeholder images.

SEO

Search & social readiness.

Dark-mode canonical pages need solid OG images — a pre-configured Figma template for generating 1200×630 social cards in Orbitron on dark background is referenced in the HTML comments. The page title uses a separator character (·) that renders correctly in browser tab ellipsis and Google search snippets. All schema.org markup is included for the Person entity with workExample links.

Single H1 per page
OG + Twitter card tags wired
Canonical URL in head
Schema.org Person markup

Accessibility

Built for everyone.

The dramatic visuals are built on a contrast foundation of pure white text (hsl(0 0% 98%)) on the darkest possible backgrounds, delivering a 15:1 contrast ratio that far exceeds WCAG AAA. The scanline effect and particle systems are purely decorative CSS and canvas elements — both are aria-hidden and pointer-events: none so they are completely invisible to assistive technologies.

WCAG AA contrast
Keyboard navigable
Screen reader friendly
Semantic landmarks

Performance

Load profile.

Next.js App RouterTailwind CSSGlitch shadersGPU optimized

Canvas particle systems are throttled to 30fps on mobile screens detected via matchMedia. Glitch animations are pure CSS keyframe animations on the transform and clip-path properties — no JavaScript runtime required for effects. WebGL shader variants are opt-in modules that are not loaded by default. The core page experience without effects loads in under 2 seconds on 4G.

Compare with

If this doesn't feel right, one of these might.

These directions share some of the same goals but take a different approach. Compare them before deciding.

Version

1.0.0

Files

12

Updated

2026-04-15

Style class

creative

Starter kit

Built for fast local customization.

Each template ships as a ZIP containing a fully-configured Next.js starter project. Built with Tailwind CSS and Framer Motion, it provides a deep, production-ready foundation that stays editable while following modern React best practices.

This kit includes

  • Atmospheric color and lighting system
  • Layered hero composition
  • Strong project spotlight modules
  • Interaction hooks for dramatic transitions

Download status

This template has a real ZIP starter kit attached. The primary button downloads an editable Next.js, Tailwind, and Motion project.