Portfolio sites

We are constantly making split second judgements in life. Humans have survived and evolved through the ability to make these split second decisions. Now we are asked to make decisions about so many more things in life. Walking into a grocery store you will make no minimum of 100 different decision along the way. Do I pick this peanut butter or that one? Well, if you haven’t tasted either, in a modern grocery story you’re likely going to choose the option that has branding that resonates with you. Or you might just choose the less expensive option. Either way, you’re making a choice, a choice about peanut butter but one that defines you in some way.

The brands that we use, that we choose, define us and resonate with us in some way.

I don’t think that this is revolutionary to say, but I want to circle it back to portfolio sites. Portfolio sites, are what hiring managers use to make these same split second decisions maybe longer than a split second, but if it’s a good fit you’ll know pretty quickly. I’ve been in the position of reviewing portfolio sites myself, and it is not easy as an applicant to stand out. For me, I have a great sense by landing on the home page if it’s someone that I’m interested in speaking with.

Something that I’ve noticed is that most portfolios come to the point to where there is a standard formula of what a portfolio site is and most people fall in like with that. It’s derived from how the industry has put such an emphasis on the portfolio for anyone coming in.

My Portfolio

With my portfolio I wanted to create a strong first impression on the home page. An impression that told you who I was, and also gave you enough information to decide if you wanted to keep going. I added images and small explanations of that work, but in order to understand more of the context and story behind the designs I’m passionate about having the chance to tell that story myself.

I also wanted to really be able to design my website and build it. In the past I’ve used squarespace to build my portfolio sites and have never quite felt attached to it in the way that I’ve wanted too. So I worked with my friend Colin Thronton to build this site using astro and tailwindui. It’s been great to stretch my proficiency as a designer into the realm of the code editor.

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My logo is an throwback to my time as a lighting designer - practically this matches the color mixing of three Leko light fixtures. The colors also represent different aspects of me. Magenta represents my work. Yellow represents my writing or my thoughts. Cyan represents my personality.