Over the last year and a half, I've come up with several different versions of this portfolio website. It might seem unusual to write a portfolio piece on the making of your own portfolio, but I'm including it because I think this process says a lot about my growth as a designer. Having said that, I'm certain that in a year's time I'll look back at this very version and find a million things that need to change. But that's a problem for 2027 me!
The Previous Versions
Version 1
My first portfolio was clean, minimal, and completely forgettable. I used a template and hardly changed anything other than to add my own info and projects.
And it showed!
While this version technically displayed all my work, it could have belonged to anyone. If you went through the whole thing front and back, you would still come out not knowing anything about who I was as a designer, and a person. At this stage, I viewed a portfolio website as a way for people to know what I had done, but not who I was.
Version 2
The second version was bold and striking. But it also lacked warmth, and felt more like the identity of a business rather than a person.
I focused too much on making it stand out visually, and forgot about functionality. The project headings did not reveal enough about the projects themselves, forcing you to click into each one to find out what it was about. It also was not responsive and had strange bugs when viewed on different devices.
I still like how it looks, and the originality of the concept. But once again, it showed my projects but revealed little about the person behind them.
Getting feedback
Over time, I shared both versions with friends, family, and mentors in UX who gave me varying feedback. Most people gravitated towards Version 2 purely from a visual stand point. But anyone with a UX background, who was thinking from the perspective of a hiring manager made sure to point out that while it might leave an impression, it does not highlight the work.
The Final Version (for now)
So then we come to the website you’re reading this on, which is my attempt to hold two things at once: a specific visual identity, that also actually sounds like me.
The section headers are conversational (‘these are some things I’ve done..’, ‘and by the way,’) because I wanted my portfolio to read like an introduction and not a CV.
When you hover over the project cards you see a short overview of what to expect so that you can decide whether or not you want to read more.
The About section is in the homepage so that you quickly learn a little bit about who I am instead of having to navigate to a separate page for this information.
The flowers are spinning because I found out that I could make them spin and I liked how that looked. I'll be honest and say there's really other reason…
The Things I Learnt
Responsiveness should always be a priority: Responsiveness is not scary and unattainable once you understand basic concepts like auto-layout, stacks, frames, constraints etc.
A portfolio is supposed to tell a story: After looking through 100s of portfolios for inspiration, I’ve realised the ones that stand out the most are those that feel like there’s a human being behind them. With this version, I wanted to make sure I was creating something that felt true to who I am.
Scalability matters: Gone are the days of me using the eyedropper tool or copying HEX codes. I approached this project methodically, focused on making sure it was scalable. I created text and colour styles, components, variants, and templates. Now, when I have new work to add, I won’t be starting from scratch.
What next?
Conclusion now