If you want to get the job or freelance gig you’re looking for, your portfolio needs to impress. And web designers have a tougher time than other creatives, as it isn’t just the case studies people will judge you on, but the design of the site itself.
In this post, we bring you 10 of the coolest web design portfolios we’ve seen emerge in 2017 so far. While some go to town on special effects, others just rely on the timeless values of good design. All, however, should provide ample inspiration for your own portfolio.
01. Nick Boes
Nick Boes is an award-winning digital creative director, designer and animator originally from Northwest Ohio and based in Los Angeles. His portfolio site is beautifully laid out and easy to navigate, with inspired use of typography.
Plus there’s one particular thing that caught our eye. Most seniors spend as much time delegating as designing, so we like that the ‘Work’ section is headlined: 'Selected work created with the help of many'.
02. Cédric Pereira
Formerly an intern at Deezer and Ultranoir, Cédric Pereira is an interactive designer based in Paris, and currently a fourth year student at HETIC. His simple but well-structured portfolio site features a loading screen, which is usually a turn-off for us, but in this instance it works well. An undulating blob that carries through to the homepage, it’s so mesmerising, we’d happily watch it for hours.
03. Adrian Rus
Adrian Rus is a web and UX designer based in Timisoara, Romania. His portfolio website draws on minimalism, but avoids the often painful cliches of that style, instead presents a look that is artful, attractive and original.
We also love the way Rus explains the best way to get in touch with him. A thoughtful ‘Email availability’ section constantly updates, with messages such as 'Now in Timișoara, it’s 13:59 and I'm at home. It's the perfect time to answer your email or plan our first meeting. Ready to talk?'
Not only is this very useful for a global audience, it subtly conveys the idea that Rus is all about attention to detail. And who wouldn’t want that in a hire?
04. Fabian Irsara
Based in Austria, Fabian Irsara is a developer, jury member at awwwards, and founder of presentation software company Momate. So we were expecting something pretty impressive from his one-page portfolio website, and we weren’t disappointed. The typography and colour palette is glossy mag-classy, the text concise and intriguing; and there are a couple of neat little tricks, such as how the headshot zooms out of focus as you scroll down the page.
05. Felipe Castro
Felipe Castro is a web designer and frontend developer from Colombia who has made his portfolio enormous fun to read. We like that there’s a decent amount of info on each project, some subtle but lovely image effects on scrolling; and bright and beautiful colours throughout. Plus, he shares plenty of insider knowledge, such as specific fonts and Pantone references, which is the icing on the cake.
06. Mike Dekker
Mike Dekker is a senior UX/UI designer, mentor and consultant based in Queensland, Australia. He’s put a lot of effort into sharing images, assets and explanations of his recent projects, and it all comes together delightfully in this wonderfully inventive design, which provides a lot of info without ever overwhelming.
07. Patrick David
Patrick David is a frontend developer and web designer based in Italy. He’s not afraid to use big, bold and beautiful type throughout his one-page portfolio site, combined with liberal use of ‘strikethrough chic’. The overall effect is to portray a strong sense of confidence, originality and experimentation.
08. Prashant Sani
From Mumbai, India, Prashant Sani is a creative frontend developer specialising in SVG, JavaScript, HTML5 and responsive web design. His portfolio site is packed with lots of cool little touches, such as how the hamburger menu transforms into a back button on click, and the colourful highlighting that erupts when the user hovers over main menu items.
Bounce around the site and you’ll see similar additions, which amuse without ever detracting from the solid and well-explained case studies.
09. Sebastian Graz
Based in London, Sebastian Graz is a designer and developer focused on rapid prototyping, iterative design methodology and branding. The homepage of his portfolio site is quite unusual, as you can see above. But it still works perfectly in helping you navigate Graz’s recent projects in an original and friendly way.
10. Victoire Douy
Based in Paris, Victoire Douy is a designer working in UI, UX and branding, with a keen interest in typography. While many web designers believe the carousel has had its day, Douy combines it with some subtle animated effects here, to showcase her five top projects in quite an eye-catching way that just works.