Work / AI App · 2026

Nano Banana

AI image-generation playground deployed on Vercel.

Role
Design + build
Stack
Next.js, AI, Vercel
Status
live

Problem

I wanted a small, fast place to try image-generation ideas without wiring a new project every time.

Constraints

  • Must deploy cleanly on Vercel hobby tier
  • Must stay simple — a playground, not a platform

Approach

  1. Built a minimal Next.js front end over an image model API
  2. Kept the UI to one job: prompt, generate, compare
  3. Deployed to Vercel for instant sharing

Key decisions

  • One-screen playground over accounts and galleries

    Speed of experimentation is the whole point.

What failed first

First pass tried to do too much (history, sharing, presets) and slowed everything down. Stripping back to generate-and-compare fixed it.

Result

Live and usable as a daily creative scratchpad.

Lessons

  • Small tools earn their keep by staying small.

Links