Hi, my name is Brecht
I'm a passionate front-end developer located in Belgium, born in 1987. I work at iO, a full-service international agency. I am also a Google Developer Expert, speaker, a W3C Community Contributor, and a guest writer for Smashing Magazine
The front-end landscape keeps changing. What started as writing HTML and CSS has grown into something much bigger: complex architectures, UX thinking, accessibility, and now AI is very much part of the conversation too. There's a lot of noise out there, but I try to focus on what genuinely helps people and brings real value to the web. This blog is my way of sharing what I pick up along the way.
It's been well over a decade since I started as a designer / front-end developer. The design part slowly faded. I was never a great designer honestly, but I do have an eye for detail. The front-end side kept growing, and so did the landscape around it: JavaScript, PHP, React, Vue, you name it. But no matter which framework or tool comes next, design, accessibility and UX will always be the pillars I care about most.
Love and marriage
In 2016, I got married to Renée, who also started out as a front-end developer and now works as an analyst. We're both quite geeky when it comes to our hobbies. A few years later we welcomed the joy of our lives: our daughter Eva, born in January 2019.
In my spare time I enjoy photography, play some guitar, a round of golf or a board game. That's about it, I'm a pretty normal guy.
The struggles that became a goal
Being self-taught came with a lot of challenges. Learning to code while working a daytime job in a factory required some serious dedication, but that's nothing compared to finding the first employer willing to take a chance on you. Many years and quite a few jobs later, I found a new purpose in helping others grow. I write on this blog, for the iO tech hub, Smashing Magazine and CSS-Tricks. In 2023, I also started giving presentations and workshops at conferences.
A few things I've built
- Oklchroma, an OKLCH color pattern generator that outputs CSS variables
- Enhanced Range Slider, a proof-of-concept for the proposed multi-thumb range input
- for-love-element, a fun little web component that brings hearts to your page
Some places I've had the chance to speak
I never set out to be "a speaker", but since 2023 I've been lucky enough to share some stories at a few events. You can also find some of my talks on Sessionize.
- DevFest Catania Catania, IT
- DevFest Nantes Nantes, FR
- Frontmania Utrecht, NL
- Fronteers Dark Mode Amsterdam, NL
- Google I/O Connect Berlin, DE
- CSS Day Amsterdam, NL
- International PHP Conference Berlin, DE
- Devs.gent Ghent, BE
- International JavaScript Conference London, UK
- EnterJS Mannheim, DE
- Webdevcon Amsterdam, NL
- NDC London London, UK
- Google for Students Berlin, DE
- DevFest Catania Catania, IT
- DevDay Mons, BE
- DevFest Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man
- Frontmania Utrecht, NL
- CSS Café Online
- Middlesbrough Front End Middlesbrough, UK
- CSS Café Amsterdam, NL
- Devs.gent Ghent, BE
- Coven of Wisdom Herentals, BE
- Fronteers BE Meetup Ghent, BE
- Full Stack Gent Ghent, BE
So why this website?
This blog is a place where I write about the things I learn. Things that might help others or that I simply enjoyed digging into. I try to keep a down-to-earth mentality and there won't be any ads here. I hope you find something interesting.
Writing beautiful code is a joy and you can keep enjoying it till infinity because there will always be "the next big thing"