I’m Building a Side Project Solo. Here’s the Exact Tool Stack I Used (and What I’d Replace Next Time)

Source: Dev.to

The Context: Constraints Shape the Stack

Before tools, context matters.

Constraints

• Solo builder, no designer
• Evenings + weekends only
• Goal: ship a credible MVP, not a polished startup
• Audience: early users, not investors

With those constraints, every tool had to earn its place by saving time or reducing friction.

Core Product Stack (The Boring but Reliable Stuff)

I intentionally chose a stack that wouldn’t fight me.

• Frontend: Next.js
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• Backend & Auth: Supabase
• Payments: Stripe
• Hosting: Vercel

Nothing fancy here. When you’re building solo, novelty is rarely your friend. These tools are well‑documented, predictable, and let me focus on product logic instead of infrastructure decisions.

If I had to replace anything next time? Honestly, probably nothing. The boring stack worked exactly as expected.

The Part I Underestimated: Launch Readiness

I assumed launch readiness was just:

• Fix major bugs
• Write a landing page
• Hit “publish”

In reality, launch readiness is about trust. Before users click a button, they subconsciously ask:

• Does this look legit?
• Does it feel abandoned?
• Would I trust this with my time or data?

Most of that judgment happens before they read a single word.

Where Things Started to Break: Branding Debt

I didn’t plan branding upfront. I told myself I’d “clean it up later.” That was a mistake.

What happened

• The landing page used one color palette
• The app UI drifted into another
• Social preview images looked generic
• Emails felt disconnected from the product

Individually, none of these were blockers. Together, they made the project feel unfinished. Branding isn’t decoration—it’s infrastructure.

Why I Didn’t Want to Open Figma

I’ve tried the DIY design route before:

• Download UI kits
• Tweak colors endlessly
• Overthink font pairings

It always ate time and produced something I wasn’t confident about. I didn’t want to spend three days on logos and color decisions; I wanted a usable brand system, fast. That’s when I tried Zoviz.

Using Zoviz as a Shortcut, Not a Crutch

I approached Zoviz looking for alignment, not perfection.

Goal

• Generate a logo that doesn’t look amateur
• Lock in colors and fonts
• Reuse the same visual identity everywhere

Using Zoviz’s AI Brand Generator, I created a brand direction in one evening. From there, I refined a logo with the Logo Generator and exported a full Brand Kit. What mattered wasn’t the individual assets; it was that everything now came from the same source.

The Immediate Payoff of a Consistent Brand

Once branding stopped being a moving target, everything else sped up.

• Writing landing page copy felt easier
• UI decisions became faster
• Social images looked intentional
• Email templates stopped feeling random

I wasn’t making design decisions anymore; I was applying them. That mental shift alone saved hours.

Launch Assets Everyone Forgets

Things I used to ignore on previous launches:

• Social preview images
• Simple demo visuals
• Email signatures that match the product

Because I already had a brand kit, creating these assets felt trivial instead of overwhelming. I reused the same colors, logo, and typography everywhere. Nothing fancy—just consistent. Consistency does a lot of invisible work.

What I’d Replace or Improve Next Time

Not everything was perfect.

• Define branding before writing landing page copy
• Lock fewer options early and iterate later
• Treat brand decisions like code defaults, not creative experiments

The biggest lesson: don’t wait until the end to care how things look.

The Real Role of Branding When Shipping Fast

Branding doesn’t make your product better, but it makes people trust it enough to try. When you’re shipping fast, trust is a shortcut. Users forgive missing features; they don’t forgive something that feels sloppy or abandoned. Tools like Zoviz worked for me not because they made things beautiful, but because they removed friction at the exact moment I needed momentum.

Final Thoughts for Other Solo Builders

• Optimize for momentum
• Avoid design rabbit holes
• Treat branding as infrastructure

You don’t need a perfect logo. You need something consistent enough that users focus on your product instead of questioning its credibility. This project shipped not because everything was polished, but because fewer things slowed me down. And that, for me, is the real win.