Top-down aerial view of cars in a parking lot, the Carflixer about-page hero

Case Study

Carflixer

A car-first social platform where your build gets the audience it deserves. Showcase projects, swap real feedback, and connect with enthusiasts who care about the car, not the algorithm.

  • Next.js
  • React
  • Tailwind CSS
  • TypeScript
  • Vercel
  • Postgres

Overview

I led Carflixer end to end as sole developer, from data model and auth through UI and deploy. The stack centers on Next.js with PostgreSQL, Drizzle, and Stripe for tiered memberships. A media pipeline handles images and video, with privacy tools like license-plate hiding before photos go public.

Role
Sole developer & designer
Scope
Data model, auth, UI, deploy
Type
Automotive social platform
Year
2026

Colors

Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Accent

Brand Identity

One mark, two atmospheres

Arctic Lava breathes cool and open; Carbon Fiber goes dense and nocturnal. The wordmark holds steady across both.

Light Mode

Carflixer dark wordmark on Arctic Lava light field

Dark Mode

Carflixer light wordmark on Carbon Fiber dark field

The Product

Four surfaces, one story

Carflixer is a single platform seen several ways. Each surface answers a different question, but they all point back to the car.

carflixer.com

Marketing

Why it exists

First-time visitors need to understand a new category in seconds: this is social, but for your build. The landing page has to sell the philosophy before it sells the plans.

What it does

A conversion-focused marketing site with hero CTAs, feature storytelling, a how-it-works walkthrough, Stripe membership pricing, and clubs and tournaments that frame Carflixer as a car-first social network.

  • Hero CTA and feature storytelling positioned against feed-driven apps
  • Stripe-synced pricing across Enthusiast, Collector, and Builder tiers
  • Clubs, tournaments, and privacy-first sharing explained up front
carflixer.com/@carflixer

Social Profile

Why it exists

Builds should be shareable anywhere without forcing a login or leaking private account controls. The public profile is the product's front door for the whole community.

What it does

Signed-out public surfaces: member profiles, media grids, vehicle and mod context, and discovery so builds stay shareable while private controls stay hidden.

  • Public profiles with featured vehicle heroes and follow or message CTAs
  • Media and mod galleries browsable without an account, with deep links
  • Privacy-aware sharing with license-plate hiding baked in
carflixer.com

Dashboard

Why it exists

Day-to-day owners need a calm workspace to manage garages, upload media, chat, and control privacy without the marketing noise. This is where members actually live.

What it does

The authenticated app shell: garage management, the media pipeline, chat, account privacy controls, and membership tooling for everyday product use.

  • Signed-in garage, builds, and media tools for owning the collection
  • Account privacy controls and member-to-member chat
  • Membership and billing surfaces gated by Stripe across every tier
carflixer.com

Custom themes

Why it exists

Members want the product to feel like their build — not a one-size chrome shell. Accent colorways let them pick Arctic Lava, Carbon Fiber, Cyber Drift, and more without rewriting the mark or layout.

What it does

A theming system where brand structure holds while accent fields, surfaces, and chrome shift with the selected palette — so every member sees Carflixer in their own colorway.

  • Accent colorways including Arctic Lava, Carbon Fiber, Cyber Drift, and Neon Drive
  • Wordmark and layout stay fixed while palette and chrome recolor
  • Theme preference carries across marketing and authenticated views

The Problem

Digital Car Enthusiasts need a home

Enthusiasts pour years into their cars, then post them into platforms designed for everything except cars. The medium works against the message.

The feed

Algorithms bury the car's journey

On general social apps, a months-long project gets the same three seconds as a meme. Enthusiasts lose the thread of a build the moment they scroll past it.

The noise

Context gets stripped away

A photo without the spec sheet, the mod list, or the story behind it is just a picture. Real gearheads want the receipts, not just the reveal.

The privacy

Sharing feels risky

Posting your car often means exposing plates, locations, and identity. That friction keeps a lot of great builds offline entirely.

The Approach

Build the platform car culture would build for itself

Three principles guided every decision, from the data model to the smallest UI affordance.

Capabilities

Everything a build needs, in one platform

Beyond the core product surfaces, Carflixer ships a full toolkit for owning, sharing, and growing a car community — anchored by an AI assistant made for gearheads.

Fixie AI

An AI copilot that talks shop

Fixie is a built-in AI chatbot, trained around the way enthusiasts actually work. It helps members write build descriptions, suggests mods and compatible parts, answers spec and fitment questions, and surfaces relevant cars and clubs to follow — all without leaving the app.

  • Drafts build write-ups and captions
  • Recommends mods and compatible parts
  • Answers spec, fitment, and how-to questions
  • Surfaces cars, clubs, and people to follow

Tiered memberships

Stripe-synced Enthusiast, Collector, and Builder plans that scale storage, discovery, and shop tools with how serious a member is.

Media pipeline

Image and video upload with processing and license-plate hiding built in, so every post is fast and privacy-safe before it goes public.

Garage & build logs

Members catalog vehicles and document mods over time, turning a build into a living record instead of a one-off photo.

Clubs & meets

Community modules that let enthusiasts organize around shared interests, regions, and events rather than an algorithm.

Tournaments

Structured competition surfaces that give builds a stage and give the community something to rally around.

Member chat

A dashboard inbox for direct, member-to-member conversations that start from a profile or a build.

Discover feed

A signed-in feed with search, filters, and community build cards for finding cars and people worth following.

Privacy controls

Private mode and per-item visibility toggles so members decide exactly what stays public and what stays personal.

Reflection

What building Carflixer taught me

Owning the project end to end meant every decision had a visible consequence. A few lessons stuck.

One data model, three audiences

Serving marketing, public, and authenticated views from a single schema forced clarity early. Getting the vehicle and garage objects right made every downstream surface simpler to build.

Privacy is a feature, not a setting

Treating license-plate hiding and visibility as first-class parts of the media pipeline, rather than an afterthought, is what makes members comfortable sharing at all.

Membership shapes the product

Wiring Stripe tiers into storage, discovery, and shop tools kept the business model and the UX aligned. The plan you are on genuinely changes what the app can do for you.

Carflixer proved that a focused, car-first platform can give a build the audience it deserves without the noise of a general feed. Next up: deeper community tooling around clubs and tournaments.