If you’re like many of designers, you’ve had every intention of updating your design portfolio — for the last two years at least. But procrastinating on your portfolio is a mistake. You never know what opportunities you could be missing out on because someone landed on your site and thinks you gave
This article was originally published as a guest article by me on Design Shack.
As the co-founder of Semplice, my portfolio system for designers, I’ve learned how crucial a portfolio is to getting new work. And the only thing worse than not having a design portfolio is having one that’s poorly made or out of date. Here are some quick tips to refresh your portfolio and start getting more of the work you want to do.
1. Trim your projects
We all know our projects can make or break our portfolio. Yet we still let the wrong projects get in the way, usually because we know how hard we worked on them and can’t bear to cut them out. Observe your project page with an objective eye and remove:
Class projects / unsolicited redesigns: Unless you’re early in your career or they’re incredibly impressive, unsolicited redesigns or old class projects only date your portfolio and make you look inexperienced. If you can afford to get them out, do it.
Old projects you’re still attached to for some reason or another: Remove your outdated projects and let your best work shine. If you still think they maybe add value to some extend, create a specific Archive page and let them sit in there.
Any projects that don’t make you proud: Even if they’re current projects. You’ve heard this before but it’s worth saying again: Your portfolio should only feature your best work, and the kind of work you want to do in the future. Filler projects aren’t doing you any favors.
2. Refresh your fonts
The wrong typography can date your portfolio more than anything. The good news is, updating your fonts is easy and makes a big difference for the look and feel of your portfolio.
Choose modern, web-friendly typefaces that best represent you and your work. I've seen many portfolios that didn't look too bad, but the typography didn't look refined or it had this old dated "early 2000's" look on them. Say bye bye to Tahoma or Verdana and pick something more refreshing.
3. Add videos and gifs
Studies show 88% of visitors stay longer on sites with video. And when recruiters or companies are likely looking through lots of portfolios to find new talent, you want to do everything you can to keep them on yours.
GIFs are a great way to incorporate video and add energy to your site with little effort or strain on loading time. The Las Coleccionistas website is a great example. Using Semplice’s full-screen background video feature, Las Coleccionistas features a quirky GIF to greet you to the site. Project images come to life as you scroll, engaging you without making you dizzy or distracting from the work.
4. Add animation & motion (but use it wisely)
Subtle hover effects, scroll reveal, page transitions. Tiny updates like this will make your portfolio feel more alive. Don’t go overboard and make your site unusable. It’s the little touches here and there that enhance the experience without getting in the way.
Take Johannes Leonardo’s website for example. Nav items flip on hover, images slightly zoom when moused over, page elements slide in on scroll. The final effect is elegant and smooth – you don’t think too much about it, but it elevates everything significantly.
5. Give your images more breathing room
Too often I see portfolios that feature their projects with tiny little thumbnails crammed on the page. We may be working with smaller and smaller screens these days, but that only means your images should be bigger.
Of course you need to be aware of file size, but you can still share nice, bold images that are optimized for web. Check out Summerkid’s portfolio, featuring a full-screen cover slider for her projects. Each image fills the screen and immerses you in herwork, inviting you to dive straight into the case study page.
6. Add one or two new projects
Refreshing your portfolio might be as simple as adding one or two new projects featuring your current work. But don’t just plug everything into a template and call it a day. Each of your projects are different and your project case studies should be too.
Semplice allows you to create fully-branded case studies, so every piece of your page matches the look and feel of your project. You can even customize the navigation on project pages to create an fully-immersive experience for your readers.
Also, don’t forget: Every new project you add gives you the opportunity to promote your whole portfolio again on your social channels. So if you have 10 new projects, launch them in phases and not all at once.
7. Update your existing projects
It’s possible you’re proud of the work but your portfolio project page is dragging it down. So update it. Maybe you need to take new photos for your print projects, or perhaps you now have results to share for a past project. Maybe you could add some nice effects to the page to give it some depth. If the work feels relevant but your project page doesn’t, take time to make them work together.
8. Perfect your mobile screens
It’s 2018 so I’m assuming your website is already responsive. But considering more than 50% of people will be visiting your site via phone or tablet, it’s worth giving extra attention to your mobile screens.
With Semplice you can fine-tune each mobile breakpoint individually from your desktop so every screen is designed with your user in mind. Make headlines bigger for small screens, hide specific content or sections entirely. Our visual content editor lets you see in real time how your changes will look live.
It’s one thing to make your website responsive (which just means people can view it on a mobile), and it’s another thing to make optimizations that intentionally guide your mobile readers through your work.
9. Streamline your navigation
The beauty of design portfolios is that we essentially have two simple goals: Share our work and get people to contact us. It doesn’t need to be much more complicated than that, and your navigation shouldn’t be either. Jacob Lindblad manages to sum it up with “Work” and “Info.” Can you simplify yours?
Do you need an About and a Contact page, or can those be condensed to one? What about that Archive menu item — are any of those old projects helping you get new work? Remember what you want your user to do (hire you) and make it as easy as possible for them to do so.
10. Remove any and all Lorem Ipsum
Placeholder text not only appears lazy, but it doesn’t make our work come to life the way real copy does. Whenever possible, include real content in your designs or at least write something more human than Lorem Ipsum. I promise it will make a difference.
11. Create a memorable About page
If there’s one thing I’ve learned after reviewing hundreds of portfolios over the years, it’s that your About page is the most important page on your portfolio. Yet for some reason it’s the most overlooked page when we’re designing our website.
Yes, your portfolio is about the work, but it’s also about you. Your employer or client wants to know who you are and how you’ll fit into their culture. They want to understand your personality and what you’ll bring to the team. Show them on your About page.
I remember most standout About pages I’ve seen, including Alina Skyson’s. Her About page is not only well-designed but shows personality. Check out her unique "10 true facts about me,” a unique yet simple approach that makes her portfolio memorable.
12. Rewrite your case studies
Many portfolio project pages I’ve seen include a sentence or two about the project at most, leaving the reader to fill in the gaps on their own. Pretty images are not enough to sell your work. I know as designers we’re used to handing off the copy to a copywriter, but I believe designers can (and should) write too.
Your introduction should be one or two sentences tops, telling us at a glance who you are and what you do. Forget every buzzword you’ve ever learned and instead write the way real people talk. I don’t “create custom strategic solutions with visual storytelling,” I do graphic design. Whatever kind of creative work you do, say it simply.
14. Add Flash & background music
I’m kidding! Just making sure you’re still reading.
15. Ditch the templates
As designers, we’re creative by nature. But when it comes to our portfolio, it seems like our standards go out the window and we’re OK with copy and pasting someone else’s template. If your design portfolio looks like everyone else’s, what does that say about your work?
Conclusion
Whether you’re designing your portfolio from scratch or just giving it a refresh, these tips will help your work stand out. All portfolios shown here were made with Semplice. Visit the Semplice Showcase for more inspiration and then get to work building a portfolio that makes you proud.