I built a full-stack digital agency platform - here's how it works

#javascript #react #showdev #webdev

Brandora is a full-stack digital agency web application I built and deployed independently.

Not a tutorial. Not a clone. A real product with a real backend, deployed and live.

Live: https://brandora-agency.vercel.app
Code: https://github.com/behan05/brandora-digital-solutions

What I built

A modern agency website with a Node.js/Express backend, MongoDB database, GSAP animations, and Material UI components. Fully responsive across all devices.

Frontend: React, Vite, Material UI, GSAP
Backend: Node.js, Express.js, MongoDB Atlas
Deployment: Vercel (frontend) + Render (backend)

What the backend handles

Newsletter form submissions stored in MongoDB
Contact/freelance form with email data saved to database
REST API endpoints for form handling
Vercel routing configured with rewrite rules for SPA support

What I learned

Building Brandora taught me how to connect a React frontend to a Node.js backend properly - CORS configuration, environment variables across platforms, and deployment gotchas between Vercel and Render.

The ~25% performance improvement came from optimizing API calls and lazy loading components - small changes with real impact.