Landing a design job or high-value clients is extremely competitive. Over 75% of human resource managers receive at least 50 applications per design role. With stakes this high, an eye-catching yet functional portfolio site can make or break your chances of getting hired or winning coveted projects.
This 5-step guide draws on industry research and my decade of experience as a design leader to set you up with a portfolio sure to get you noticed. Follow my methodology, and you‘ll have a platform that shows off your style while still keeping the focus on your work.
Step 1: Articulate Your Goals and Target Viewer
Before uploading any pretty mockups, you need to define your direction and audience.
Are you hoping for a full-time UI position at an agency? Looking to pick up freelance web design clients? Interested in consultancy gigs?
Each of these outcomes would warrant shaping content differently. Agencies want to assess technical skills, clients care about past results you’ve driven, consultancies value communication abilities.
Identify priority goals, then determine exactly who your viewer is. Here‘s a filter to think through:
- Potential Employers: Curate projects showcasing proficiency in their technology stack. Show more process.
- Freelance Clients: Feature sites driving hard metrics – traffic, conversions, revenue. Showcase visual designs.
- Fellow Designers: Demonstrate big name brands or innovative styles. Share behind-the-scenes details.
By outlining objectives and viewers up front, you‘ll determine precise projects and details to spotlight in your case studies later.
Step 2: Curate Your Absolute Best Work
The projects you feature and how they‘re presented comprise the meat of your site. I always recommend quality over quantity with a tight 5-10 pieces that wow.
Generating a long list of 25+ samples that you then struggle to cut down is common yet counterproductive. Start by critically evaluating your work‘s strengths and weaknesses so you can identify those few pieces which deserve the spotlight.
Run each project through this checklist to determine if it makes the cut:
- Shows off a specific skillset you want to be hired for
- Demonstrates technical abilities or aesthetics targeted viewers will appreciate
- Features an impressive brand name or metrics
- Represents the design style and interests you want to be known for
- Is a project you are extremely proud of and passionate about
- Has an interesting backstory or challenge you faced during design
Pay special attention to picking a range. For example, if you‘re angling for UI roles, you need designs for web, mobile and software to display responsiveness versatility.
This "greatest hits" approach ensures each case study ties back to goals in amplifying your personal brand.
Step 3: Select the Optimal Platform
With your project list finalized, it‘s time to choose the display mechanism to showcase your work.
Here‘s a run-down of popular portfolio platform options, with their pros and cons:
Custom Site
- Pros: Full creative control, showcase web development skills, on-brand
- Cons: Manual setup is time/effort intensive, hosting costs
- Used By: 15% of designers
WordPress
- Pros: Open source CMS, thousands of portfolio themes/plugins
- Cons: Potential clunky bloat, security vulnerabilities
- Used By: 35% of designers
Squarespace
- Pros: Streamlined templates, optimized for galleries, excellent on mobile
- Cons: Limited customization features without coding
- Used By: 20% of designers
Behance
- Pros: Built in community and feedback mechanisms
- Cons: Flashy profiles sometimes overtake project focus
- Used By: 65% maintain a presence
Take both technical capabilities and priorities around customization vs convenience into account here. A developer looking to demonstrate coding skills needs full control through a custom site. Someone focused on quick setup could turn to Squarespace templates.
I always advise having projects front and center, so watch out for platforms like Behance where the profiles and news feeds can detract focus.
Step 4: Develop Compelling Project Summaries
At this point, you‘ve set goals, identified hero projects and locked in a platform. Excellent progress!
Now it‘s time to bring those case studies to life through informative summaries. Treat this as an opportunity to share inside scoops that demonstrate exactly how you arrive at solutions.
For each work sample, aspire to answer:
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What was the BUSINESS challenge or opportunity you addressed? Articulate the problem statement or goal.
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What was YOUR ROLE across the project stages? UX research, visual design, front end code, collaboration?
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What PROCESS did you leverage to produce deliverables? Share any unique frameworks.
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What were the OUTCOMES you drove for the client or KPIs achieved? Conversions? Accolades?
Resist simply listing boring technical specifications. You want snippets that give viewers a window into your world. Let these summaries highlight how you think as much as what you design.
Crafting each as a micro story will set you apart from flat, unengaging projects.
Step 5: Continuously Optimize Presentation
You have all the raw ingredients for an influential portfolio. The final step lies in effectively assembling your elements into a cohesive, usable experience.
I cannot stress enough the importance of clean information architecture and navigation here. The overall site UX must make accessing awesome work frictionless.
Some usability tips as you finalize construction:
Guidelines for Layout
- Allow ample white space between elements
- Use margin widths, containers to prevent visual clutter
- Mobile first – test across all devices
Rules for Typography
- Limit typefaces
- Clear font hierarchy by scale/color
- Paragraphs no longer than 3-5 sentences
Principles for Navigation
- Sticky menu bar floating on scroll
- Intuitive project groupings/menus
- Prominent contact options top/bottom
Adhering UX best practices ensures your site itself demonstrates mastery of user-centered design. A confusing or overly flashy portfolio with amazing buried projects just won‘t cut it.
Promise yourself you‘ll revisit your portfolio every 3-6 months to continue advancing presentation and swapping out dated samples. Treat maintenance here as having a living, breathing platform that evolves alongside your career.
The days are gone when a PDF passed as job search material. You now require a commanding web presence to kickstart collaborations with dream employers or clients. My guidance here arms you to create a sleek portfolio site exhibiting both your projects and process.
Now get out there, craft your story, and let opportunity find you through the power of compelling digital presentation!
