Let me tell you about the dumbest project in my portfolio.
It's called Tindog. It's a Tinder clone. For dogs.
Yes, really.
The Context
It was 2022. I was teaching myself web development. Everything felt impossibly hard.
Flexbox? Couldn't center a div to save my life. Responsive design? My sites looked like modern art on mobile (not in a good way). Bootstrap? What even is a grid system?
Then I found a tutorial that said: "Build something stupid. You'll actually finish it."
So I built Tindog.
Why Dogs?
Because dating apps are complicated. Authentication, matching algorithms, real-time chat.
A landing page for a fake dating app for dogs? That's just:
- A hero section
- Some feature cards
- A pricing table
- A footer
No backend. No logic. Just HTML, CSS, and vibes.
Did You Know?
Trivia: "Tindog" is actually a common tutorial project in web dev courses. But I didn't know that when I built it. I thought I was being original. Narrator: He was not.
What I Actually Learned
1. Flexbox Finally Clicked
After 3 months of confusion, I finally understood justify-content vs align-items.
The trick? I stopped thinking in code and started thinking in furniture.
justify-content: How items spread across a shelf (left to right)align-items: How items align on that shelf (top to bottom)
Once I visualized it with dog photos, it stuck.
2. Mobile-First is Non-Negotiable
My first version looked great on my laptop.
On mobile? The dog photos were the size of postage stamps and the buttons overlapped.
I rewrote it mobile-first. Start with the smallest screen. Add complexity for larger ones.
/* Mobile first */
.card {
width: 100%;
}
/* Then add desktop styles */
@media (min-width: 768px) {
.card {
width: 50%;
}
}
Revolutionary. Also, obvious in hindsight.
3. Finishing > Perfecting
I spent 2 days tweaking the gradient on the hero section. Two. Days.
For a joke project about dog dating.
That's when I learned: done is better than perfect.
Ship it. Get feedback. Iterate. Don't polish turds.
The Aftermath
Tindog is still deployed. It's still live.
I could take it down. It's not exactly a portfolio highlight.
But I keep it for two reasons:
-
Humility. Every senior developer has a Tindog. A project that makes them cringe. Keeping it visible keeps me grounded.
-
Progress marker. When I look at Tindog, then look at Medianeth or listd.ph, I see how far I've come. That's motivating.
The Lesson
If you're stuck learning, try this:
- Pick the dumbest idea you can imagine
- Set a 48-hour deadline
- Ship it
Don't aim for impressive. Aim for finished.
My "Tinder for dogs" joke project taught me more than any tutorial course.
And honestly? It's still the project that gets the most laughs in interviews.
"You built WHAT?"
I built Tindog. And I'm proud of it.
...Mostly.
