Spectralis devlog #13
—Hello again proggers—
Still on the website. Turns out the “make it not look like AI made it” problem does not have an easy exit — everything ends up looking like AI made it no matter what gets tried. Also had to ask Claude how to center a div. Yes, that div. The one every developer has fought since the dawn of CSS.
the irony of asking an AI how to make something look less AI-made is not lost on me
Cat or dog? display: flex
Okay let’s get into it~
—Yap—
Round two on the visual rework from last devlog, and the honest update is: it’s harder than expected. Every direction tried still lands somewhere in “generic modern web design,” which might just be what modern web design looks like right now regardless of who’s making it.
—The Great Suffering—
1 — Everything Still Looks Like AI Made It
Tried multiple directions this round trying to get away from the generic look. Kept landing back in the same neighborhood anyway. Starting to suspect this isn’t a “try harder” problem, it’s just what the current design language space looks like from basically every angle right now.
2 — Had To Ask Claude How To Center A Div
The oldest joke in frontend development, still funny because it’s still true. Got stuck on it anyway. Some things never stop being annoying regardless of how many years of CSS have gone by.
flexbox has existed for a decade and this is still where we are
3 — Pulled Up W3Schools For The First Time In Forever
Dug up an old W3Schools reference mid-debugging, and it is dusty as hell at this point but the information’s still correct. Sometimes the ancient reference site is exactly what’s needed, aesthetics of the source be damned.
—FAQ (no one asked these but they are here)—
Q: What is a “progger”?
A: A human programmer. You. The one who asked an AI to help make something look less like an AI made it.
Q: Did the AI-startup look actually get fixed this round?
A: Not fully. Still fighting it. That’s most of this devlog.
Q: Why does everything converge on the same generic look?
A: Best guess: current tools and current design trends both nudge toward the same handful of patterns, so escaping it takes more than just trying different colors.
Q: Is W3Schools still reliable?
A: Apparently yes. Dated presentation, correct information.
Q: When’s the website actually done?
A: Closer than devlog #12, not there yet. Ask devlog #14.
—This is the end*—
*end for now, centered divs permitting
PEPPLE!!!