5 Design Portfolio Examples to Inspire You
If you work in any design field — graphic design, UX design, or web development — you need to have your portfolio.
As a designer, or professional in another creative area, your online portfolio will serve as a record of your work. You will be able to see your progress over time and show previous projects to potential clients and employers. It will also help you establish credibility, build your personal brand, network with colleagues in your field, and demonstrate your skills.
But as we all know, self-promotion is not easy. That is why this guide will be useful to you. Do you need inspiration for your personal portfolio? Keep reading. Below you’ll see 5 design portfolio examples — the best of the best — to help you start your own portfolio. Learn from the greats and present your work to the world with style.
What is a Design Portfolio?
A design portfolio is basically a collection of your work. In it, you will show your skills, experience and creativity. Typically, it is a digital collection of images, videos, or other media that showcase your work in a professional and polished manner.
Why Do You Need a Design Portfolio?
As a designer, your portfolio will be essential. It will be a visual representation of your skills and experience for potential clients, employers or collaborators. Additionally, it will allow you to showcase your graphic work and demonstrate your ability to solve design problems, work within limitations and deliver effective image solutions.
Here are some reasons why you should have your own design portfolio:
- Highlight your talent: A design portfolio is a great way to showcase your skills and experience to potential clients, employers or collaborators. By presenting your work in a professional and polished manner, you can demonstrate your ability and communicate your value as a designer.
- Differentiate yourself from others: In a field as competitive as design, having a portfolio that stands out can help you differentiate yourself from other designers. By showcasing your unique style, approach, or perspective, you will demonstrate your creativity and added value.
- Build personal brand: A design portfolio is also an opportunity to build and develop your personal brand. By displaying your work in a consistent and cohesive manner, you will show your stamp and create a lasting impression on whoever visits you; clients, employers or collaborators.
- Attract new clients or employers: A design portfolio will help you attract employers and clients, as you will demonstrate your ability to offer effective solutions. Plus, by showcasing your past successes and highlighting your design process, you’ll build trust with potential clients, employers, or collaborators. And you will increase your chances of being hired.
10 Design Portfolio Examples You’ll Want to See
Ready to get started with your own portfolio? Before you get started, check out these examples — some of the most creative, innovative and on-trend portfolios — and get inspired.
Jessica Hernandez
Jessica Hernandez is a UX researcher and school counselor based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her portfolio is different and she has personality, given her unique work experience.
Jessica uses emojis and illustrations, to show her love of color and design, throughout every part of her portfolio. She even brings an interactive section, where visitors can “meet” her dog, Neo, by “helping him pick up” her virtual toys.
The result is a portfolio that presents Jessica as a fun-loving, creative person — if that’s the vibe you need for your project, you’ll definitely want to hire her.
Studio Feixen
Studio Feixen is a design studio in Switzerland, with a lot of material to show. The studio uses screenshots and graphics of different sizes from its previous works — each image fits together like a puzzle, so there is cohesion despite the different sizes.
This makes the studio’s design skills clear and helps build trust with potential clients about the quality of their work.
Active Theory
Active Theory, a creative digital agency in Los Angeles, uses its portfolio as a great lesson in how to balance your personal brand with the need to display your work in a clean way.
From the moment you enter their site you live an immersive experience, designed to establish a sensation: dark, grunge and a little cyberpunk. The experience becomes even more striking with mouse-triggered screen glitches and other animations.
But when you browse Active Theory’s collection of work, the page becomes much simpler. Use full-screen videos that help you immerse yourself in the agency’s experience and designs. Thus, this portfolio ensures that each visitor focuses completely on what the agency is capable of doing, in a tremendously effective way.
Velvet Spectrum
Velvet Spectrum is the pseudonym of Australian digital artist Luke Choice. In his online portfolio, he lets his work speak for itself, displayed in a grid with static images, 3D graphics and animations to demonstrate the wide range of talents and skills.
Everything on Luke’s portfolio site is full of color, so you’ll be immersed in his unique design style without needing many words — because they simply aren’t necessary here.
Studio Thomas
Studio Thomas also focuses its portfolio on vibes. This London agency, founded by Thomas Austin and Thomas Coombes, says it focuses only on “Design for bold brands.”
Of course, your portfolio has to go hand in hand with affirmation. And he does it. Featuring a bold combination of color blocking, stunning animations, and full-screen images of every project included in the history of your work. Studio Thomas has worked to include his personal brand in every detail of his portfolio. The final product is an eye-catching, memorable and visually beautiful website.
