For many designers one of the most difficult projects you can take is designing your own portfolio or company site. At Business Logs our redesign isn’t going as smooth as possible mostly because we expect so much out of our own site and are working hard to get it right. I think though that at times we are trying too hard and in turn that makes things more complicated than they should be.
When doing your portfolio the content is the past work you’ve done. Should your design obscure the content or should it enhance it? I guess this depends on how well you value your work. I have seen many times where the portfolio site was many times better than the actual work that was done by the company. So which route do you take and which route will work best for your potential clients?
Here are two extreme examples (maybe not so extreme):
Now do you think there is a best approach to take? I love the design of both sites, but can’t help and wonder if a potential client will see the twothirty site and move away from it because it doesn’t offer enough flair. As designers we should all be able to see the complex beauty in that site and understand that minimalistic design doesn’t mean a lack of design skills (unless you are talking about me ;-).
So I know I am asking a broad quesition here, but is there a best route to take when it comes to portfolio design? I have an answer that I will expel upon probably tomorrow in another entry, but I would love to hear what you think first.