4 Portfolio Takeaways from Two Product Design Leaders
Caitlin Nelson / Event Producer at Working Not Working
Product Design is currently one of the most in-demand jobs. But with so many hirers looking for designers that best fit their company’s needs, how can you make your portfolio stand out?
Enter Lara Mendonça and Jessica Miller, two award-winning product designers with over 20 years of experience in the industry. With clients like Sundance, Bumble, and Twitter, they’re here to give you the rundown of what you can do to make your portfolio pop.
1. Deciding on your Brand is step one.
Jessica talked about focusing on the container that work goes into, saying, “I think that’s something that people don't always think about... [Templates] are super helpful in terms of maintaining our portfolios, but there are other things we can do in order to really stand out.”
The phrase ‘building your personal brand’ is all over the internet these days, but Jessica breaks that down as, at its core, a methodology for communication. She goes on to muse that you should build your portfolio for your dream client, and that, since the end-user of your portfolio is often other creatives, the dream client is you.
You can let that idea inform your brand decisions. Start with a long-term vision, ambition, or goal. Then figure out what makes you different, and what specific characteristics make your brand feel like you.
2. It’s about showcasing your innovation.
Lara explains, “Focus on showing something new: a passion project, a problem you wanted to solve. Don't just… choose a redesign of a famous brand. [It’s] so common. I've seen so many of them that it doesn't stand out anymore.
Focus on showing something that you're passionate about, or [on] fixing a problem that no one has solved… be creative with it!”
She also notes that you want the visuals to anchor your narrative, and really tell the story of the project, instead of just decorating the text explaining the project.
“Keep the text short and to the point. No one wants to read thousands of paragraphs [about] your case study.”
3. Use your portfolio design to model your strengths.
Interaction is a big part of the user experience, and how people interact with your portfolio can tell them a lot about how you communicate and where your strengths lie.
Jessica explains, “A classic example is the desktop of your computer. We have folders that...transition us from analog to digital, and mirror [the] archetype of a physical desktop.”
4. What you have is enough.
Ultimately, it’s about quality and showcasing projects that you’re proud of and that support your brand and the kind of design you’re best at.
“Don’t choose 20 screens. Show me just enough that I understand the final designs.” Lara urges. “Ultimately, I don’t care [if] I’m not going to have enough context to make sense of each screen. What I need to understand is the general idea behind it.”
She also explains that you want to think of image scale and quality. “Don’t blow up images to the point where one screen is giant, or [make it] too small for me to see the details of that screen.”