Having a web-based portfolio is crucial for displaying your online and/or offline work. The key to an effective portfolio design is how you to set up the content. In this article, we are going to cover various ways designers and artists set up their portfolio site. We’re also going to look at some well-designed examples from each style.
1. Portfolio as the main focus
These portfolio websites are usually pretty simple, having some basic information on the front page. All the focus is geared towards the design work.
Leonardo Maia
skillicorn
Juan Diego Velasco
Fred Maya
Ersel TANIR
Caitlin Hathaway
2. Featured Work/Navigation as the main focus
This variety of portfolios usually consists of the designer displaying their design projects in a "featured" section on the web page. In addition, the designer can use their design/art – in combination with visual design elements – to set their home page as the jumping point to get to the rest of the site’s content.
CamiloHolguin.com
theenergycell
84colors
Todd Stowell
Trevor Clark Photography
Bohoe
Loukotka Design
3. Services/"About us" as the main focus
This portfolio design style typically has a short paragraph/blurb about the site owner’s services and/or a description of who they are. These descriptions are built either into the header, or just below it. These websites may have a weblog or a showcase of their work below the header, but the main goal is to center on what the designer does.
mark mcgall
Havoc Inspired
gummisig
MadeToKill
Southern Media
Falcone Creative
55Eleven
RonnieSan
4. Blog as the main focus
This category of portfolio designs puts a weblog as the central attraction to the site, and is meant to show the personal side of the business owner or awards and accomplishment that they have received. New portfolio pieces and recently finished work are sometimes mixed into the blog as posts. It’s a great way to show potential clients their knowledge about the industry, as well as drawing in visitors by way of great content.
Tyler Gaw
Kim Ellefsen
Function
Jeffrey Sarmiento
blenDesign’Blog
5. The single page portfolio
This type of portfolio design utilizes various coding techniques such as accordion style menus and page scrolling to move the user to different parts of the page.
ftdesigner.net
Little Red
Andrea Cima Serniotti
Alexander Kaiser
fourtwo
Studio Skitz
What’s the best portfolio design style?
Do you have an opinion on which style is the best/most effective/most appealing? Are there other popular design portfolio styles that we didn’t mention? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Related Content
- Five Types of Effective Headers in Web Design
- 25 Impressive Portfolio Web Designs
- 25 Stylish Examples of Headers in Web Design
- Related categories: Web Design
and User Interface
About the Author
Tyler Denis is a part-time freelance designer from Ashland, New Hampshire. He is also the creator/writer of the design blog Denis Designs/blog
, a website dedicated to bringing quality tutorials and inspiration. You can follow him on Twitter
or at his personal site, Denis Designs
.
