A beautiful portfolio isn’t a rarity these days. Also, looks alone don’t cut it in anymore. Your design portfolio needs to tell your unique story in a seamless, engaging way. It needs to:
- Showcase samples of your best work in an organized manner
- Display your skill-sets, experiences and achievements
- Highlight the uniqueness and variety aspects of your work
- Utilize the latest technology
- Be mobile friendly
Today, design portfolios have become the criteria for landing the best gigs. A good portfolio provides prospective clients with actual, tangible proof of your abilities, even reflects your aspirations.
The most important consideration when creating your online portfolio is – it should play to your strengths. If you lean towards certain techniques or have a distinctive visual style, let your portfolio mirror it all.
Building portfolio websites isn’t a hard task. You can do it on your own, without even hiring a website designer. Free online platforms such as Adobe Portfolio and Behance are ideal for creating a graphic design portfolio. If you’re a photographer or a writer, you can’t go wrong with WordPress.
Feeling the need for some inspiration? Make sure to check out these amazing portfolio examples:
Top design portfolio websites for inspiration
1. Ben Mingo
Ben Mingo’s professional title reads “graphic and interactive designer”. Visit his portfolio website and you’ll have a good idea of what he does even before you’ve read his “info”.
The minimalist interface has an all-black background that changes as you navigate. The navigation system is interactive in an unusual, sophisticated way. A small circle follows and surrounds the cursor at all times. You’ll need to press and hold to navigate the work samples that utilize moving images to create an immersive experience.
The “info” section includes a succinct introduction; lists the creator’s accomplishments and associations. It also includes links to his social media pages and contact information.
2. Rachel Cheng
At first glance, product designer Rachel Cheng’s portfolio website may appear a little too simplistic. The website is divided into “work”, “about” and “resume” pages. The interface comprises a white background, large fonts for headings, and a handful of what seem to be stock images. But it gets a lot better.
The “work” page includes detailed case studies of the designer’s products. These cover the major issues faced, the solutions, and most importantly, a description of how she went about solving those issues. It’s a wonderful way of providing potential clients with an insight into her approach to work.
Each page has a slightly unique flavor. The “about” page includes a quirky little video showing the designer at work. The “resume” page takes you to a traditional resume in PDF format. It’s a neat little portfolio that impresses with information instead of offering a scenic route.
3. Olivier Guilleux
Oliver Guilleux is a freelance website developer. His portfolio uses a Google Translate plugin to render the website in French or English, based on your choice. The interface employs varied visual elements to engage and inform the site visitors. These include large, vibrant fonts, a large caricature and pictures with image tilt effect.
Each listed project includes details about the client, the goal, a selection of images and a link to the site itself. The bottom of each page includes links to the developer’s social media pages. The contact page includes a handy inquiry form along with details such as email, address, and phone number.
The biggest strength of Oliver Guilleux’s portfolio is that the site’s functionality is a testimonial of his skills as a developer. That’s exactly what a good portfolio needs to replicate.
4. Jane Song
Graphic designer Jane Song’s portfolio neatly categorizes her work across different industries using large, descriptive image buttons. Each category showcases just a few work samples.
This portfolio is a shining example of visual storytelling done right. The work samples all comprise high-resolution images and photographs, none of which requires a caption.
Another remarkable aspect of this portfolio is – it’s minimalist without appearing to have gaping empty spots. The placement of text and images is just perfect. Take cue.
5. Kuon Yagi
Web designer/markup engineer Kuon Yagi’s online portfolio takes a unique approach to site navigation. You can scroll down the home page and view all the information that’s included in the menu at the top of the page.
The portfolio does a marvelous job of showcasing Yagi’s work in the form of stunning, high-resolution photographs. These photographs cover everything from the brands’ logos, products, and services to their day-to-day operations.
The use of life bars (used in video games to indicate a character’s stamina or damage suffered) to relay Yagi’s experience and proficiency is particularly impressive. So is the way the portfolio spotlights his fields of interest.
6. Lotta Nieminen
Graphic designer and illustrator Lotta Nieminen has one of the best portfolio websites we’ve ever seen. Her portfolio is a single page with infinite scroll. Each work sample includes a piece of short text accompanied by an artful photograph that relates to the brand’s theme or services.
Clicking on an individual work sample leads to a page describing the brand’s history and vision. These pages feature some more stunning artistic photographs along with links to the respective brand’s website.
The most impressive aspect of this portfolio is the quality of written content. It’s rich and informative, with a lyrical quality about it – an attribute every portfolio will benefit from.
7. Stephen Calvillo
Stephen Calvillo is a product designer with a pretty basic, yet incredibly impressive online portfolio. The homepage has a dark background that enhances the visibility of the text’s white font. The beautiful, high-resolution images are placed impeccably to best utilize the space.
The work samples are included on the home page itself. The choices are deliberate, intended to showcase the variety of projects that Calvillo has undertaken. It’s a simple, descriptive portfolio that delivers the goods without relying on embellishments.
8. Daniel Polevoy
Product designer Daniel Polevoy’s portfolio website primarily focuses on two of his biggest projects. The individual project pages are highly detailed and utilize videos, high-resolution images, and animations to present the designer’s work.
It’s another minimalist portfolio where large, often full-screen images do most of the talking. The written content is concise, yet adequately descriptive. The placement of the written content corresponding to the images is perfect. Try to replicate it in your own portfolio.
9. Julie Bonnemoy
Julie Bonnemoy’s is one of the quirkiest, most memorable design portfolio websites we’ve come across in recent times. Site visitors are greeted with a light-hearted welcome message and prompted to scroll down. That’s when it gets all the more fun.
The homepage has a beautiful animated background. It’s filled with eye-catchy visual elements such as water ripple effects, transition animations, and vivid, full-screen images. The written content coincides with the website’s visual theme. It’s informal and somewhat witty, yet presents all the requisite details.
There is a lot to get inspired from in this portfolio. Make sure to check this one out when you have a good hour or so at your disposal.
10. Robin Mastromarino
We reserved the best for last. Robin Mastromarino’s portfolio astounds with its unique navigation, gorgeous animations, and seamless transition effects. The motion of the press-and-hold home slider is accompanied by deformation of the background imagery which varies with your scrolling speed. It’s a fun little game, also an indicator of the designer’s prowess.
The website uses breathtaking full-page photographs and varied yet complementing color schemes for each different work sample.
Creating a good online portfolio can be a lot of work, but the rewards definitely make up for it. Parting tip: make sure to update your portfolio every few months and replace any technology that’s over 3 years old. This will keep your portfolio from appearing dated and reduce the number of changes you’ll need to do when looking for that next lucrative gig.
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