Strategic portfolio tips for UX design & branding in tech
This time I took a look at Shaun’s portfolio and shared advice on positioning their work to get hired in UX design and branding roles in the tech industry. Watch now on TikTok or Instagram.
- It’s not helpful for hiring teams to see every job or project you’ve ever done. Hiring teams need to see examples of the work they’re hiring for to see if you can do what they need. Curate your portfolio to show projects that are aligned to the work you want to be hired for, and hide the rest.
- Research is an important part of the design process, but we don’t need to see your entire research process and findings. Instead, share the key insights you uncovered and explain how you applied them to your design thinking and final work.
- Accessibility* is an important factor in all digital and web design work. Your portfolio itself should be a good example of your accessibility knowledge. Making your own website accessible demonstrates you know these standards and that you can meet these expectations without prompting.
After looking at hundreds of portfolios, I’ve found it’s easiest to understand somebody’s project when that information is presented in a simple linear format. I call this the Project Page Formula: six simple sections that address every aspect of your work, from the basics to research to design to results. These sections break down your project into digestible sections and help surface the information that hiring teams are looking for. Learn more about the Project Page Formula here.
Strategic portfolio tips for a junior brand designer
This time I took a look at Michelle’s portfolio and shared advice on positioning her work to get hired as a junior brand designer. Watch now on TikTok.
- Show how your branding applies to different items in that brand world. This allows you to show your design systems thinking and how you think about adapting your creative to different contexts and constraints.
- Use your portfolio itself as a way to show your design skills with thoughtful typography, colour, and design choices. Your portfolio is the first design project that people will interact with and get a sense of your design skills from, so first impressions are important!
- Tell us why you made the design decisions you did and what they communicate. Designers are hired for our problem solving abilities, not just our aesthetic eye. Tell me why this colour or that font are good choices for what you’ve designed and what they convey about the brand.
If you’re not sure how to write about your work (most designers tbf), I’ve created a PDF guide that outlines my Project Page Formula and includes writing templates to make your next update easy. Get the portfolio writing guide here.