You need your design portfolios to find great clients, clients who are hiring and are reviewing thousands of portfolios, and you want yours to stand out from the rest. In this video, Ran covers 3 principles that you can start implementing immediately to improve the results from your clients. This video includes examples. Links mentioned (to good examples):
https://www.highfivestudio.co/
https://www.danbeeshin.com/
https://www.ormanclark.com/
https://www.natalieharris.co/
https://www.strelioff.com/


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Your design portfolio is critical for finding great clients.

Clients who are hiring are probably reviewing tens of portfolios and you want to make sure that yours stand out fast.

And so in this video I'm going to cover 3 principles that you can implement immediately to start seeing better results from your clients.

I'm gonna show you examples of people who are doing this greatly and people who are doing this poorly.

Now I do wanna say I'm not here to trash anybody.

I do respect everybody's work, but I do wanna show you some examples of people who could have easily improved their portfolio and haven't done that and you can do that yourself.

The first principle that I want to cover is unique selling proposition.

And by that, I mean not just describing what you're doing, but what actually sets you apart.

There are gazillion other people who are graphic designer, web designer, UX designers.

In this first example, this fellow here opens up with, I'm a Dutch designer and a Webflow developer, which is great.

We know where you're coming from and we know what you do, but not how you are set apart from the probably thousands of other Dutch Webflow developers out there.

Now, here is an example of a studio that is very, very similar.

However, they set themselves apart with just a few words, but it makes all the difference.

So here they say, Hey, we are high 5, no code creative studio specialized in designing modern websites for startups with taste.

Now it might seem invisible to you but these last 4 words, for startups with taste, is their unique selling proposition and what sets them specifically apart, what specifically talks to their potential customers who are startups and want to see themselves as working with people who have great taste so that their website looks beautiful and sets them apart.

These 4 words, which again, you can easily add these 4 words into your portfolio, makes all the difference and sets them apart.

Here in the website of Danby Sheen, she says websites for coaches who know that prioritizing people leads to profit.

So she is first explaining who she's working for and so who's the website is actually for, and then she's talking about something that she cares about and she knows that they care about so that they know that she's the right person to work with them because they share the same values and care about the same things, and the fact that she is sharing the same value with him sets her apart.

So take a minute to think about what sets you apart.

This can be a technical skill perhaps or what you care about and the unique way in which you work that sets you apart from others.

Maybe it's your personality but take a minute to think about this because this is so important.

The second principle I want to cover with you today is the mockups that you use.

It is unbelievable to me but some people just put screenshots from their design software when they are putting their portfolio at work, and this is just unacceptable today and not doing a great favor to them when people are quickly scanning their website.

Now, I'll give you an example here from this website.

Now here, granted, they didn't just put a screenshot, but they did do a very, very simple mock up just like grabbing a PNG of, you know, a Mac or a tablet and just putting a screenshot inside of them.

And the fact that they have a grid here that just shows mockup next to mockup, this just makes it looks repetitive and basically kind of flats it out.

And it doesn't let the work actually shine and it doesn't give it the right space to set it apart.

Actually looking at this grid, what I am just seeing is just 6 iMacs and a bunch of tablets, right?

The way it the work doesn't even shine here.

And let me give you another example from a designer who does this really nicely.

So here in the portfolio of this designer, Orman, he is, note, he is doing very simple mock-ups.

Now, here the whole website is dark, and so the mock-ups are dark as well.

But every time the perspective is a little bit different, right, and they are much bigger and you're seeing just 1 at a time.

This gives the feeling of space, you can actually see the work itself And it does not feel repetitive.

So there are so many free and premium mockup sets out there today for designers of all kinds.

So take a minute to think about how you present your work and how to make sure that it shines and that it gets its proper place and by using proper high quality mockups.

The third thing I want to talk to you about today that you can easily implement in your website and is completely going to set you apart is using what we call social proof.

And social proof basically means showing that other people respect you to because a lot of our clients sometimes they don't understand design too much and they don't know you know looking at our work whether it's great or not great and having other people give credibility to you helps them to trust you more easily.

At the end of the day, our design portfolio is a sales page intending to sell us to our potential clients.

And So social proof, let me show you, it can be done in multiple different ways.

In Dunbee's case, for example, she is putting client testimonials, which is very, very common, very, very easy, quotes and photos.

So immediately see she's been working with real people.

So whenever other people say that you are great, people tend to believe that you are probably great.

In this website of designer, Natalie, here she's just putting in the footer recognition.

So recognition, if other design websites or award has mentioned her or given her recognition, even if I'm the client, I'm not really sure that I understand design, she must be good because her peers and other influencers in her space recognizes her.

If you just start submitting your work to award sites or other magazines or peer reviews, you can get featured and not necessarily, you don't necessarily even have to win.

You can see here that she won honorable mention, not even, you know, side of the day or something like that, but that is still important and still looks great on your portfolio.

So whenever you can use awards that you've won, numbers, number of clients, number of years you're in the business, experience, and again, client testimonials, do that to show social proof in your website.

Now let me finish off with another great example of a website that builds on everything, all the 3 principles that we've covered.

So they start off with a value proposition with a unique selling proposition, brand building practice, passionate about helping purpose-driven companies launch and evolve.

Again, the focus here is on helping purpose-driven companies who is this for and what are they focused on, launching and evolving.

Then they have a showroom, which is really great to animate your work.

And you can always see both here, or if you scroll down to see the work, beautiful mockups that allow for the space of the work to actually shine.

Now they didn't put, granted they didn't put the social proof in the homepage, which I think is not a great idea, but in the about page, you can see that Number 1, they have the names of the clients that they worked with.

So because these are familiar names that immediately gives credibility to the agency and then they have here testimonials from clients.

So all of these principles are coming together in this portfolio.

Now, if you wanna learn more about portfolio, I've actually put together a complete handbook for portfolios which you can grab in the description below.

And we have a full on playlist here on YouTube which I'll link as well.

If you wanna see more videos on portfolios, it's just going to take you a few minutes to implement these things on your portfolio website.

So please go ahead and do this and share your link in the comments below.


Speaker 0: Your design portfolio is critical for finding great clients. Clients who are hiring are probably reviewing tens of portfolios and you want to make sure that yours stand out fast. And so in this video I'm going to cover 3 principles that you can implement immediately to start seeing better results from your clients. I'm gonna show you examples of people who are doing this greatly and people who are doing this poorly. Now I do wanna say I'm not here to trash anybody.

I do respect everybody's work, but I do wanna show you some examples of people who could have easily improved their portfolio and haven't done that and you can do that yourself. So let's get started. The first principle that I want to cover is unique selling proposition. And by that, I mean not just describing what you're doing, but what actually sets you apart. There are gazillion other people who are graphic designer, web designer, UX designers.

So what sets you apart? So let's take a look here. In this first example, this fellow here opens up with, I'm a Dutch designer and a Webflow developer, which is great. We know where you're coming from and we know what you do, but not how you are set apart from the probably thousands of other Dutch Webflow developers out there. Now, here is an example of a studio that is very, very similar.

However, they set themselves apart with just a few words, but it makes all the difference. So here they say, Hey, we are high 5, no code creative studio specialized in designing modern websites for startups with taste. Now it might seem invisible to you but these last 4 words, for startups with taste, is their unique selling proposition and what sets them specifically apart, what specifically talks to their potential customers who are startups and want to see themselves as working with people who have great taste so that their website looks beautiful and sets them apart. These 4 words, which again, you can easily add these 4 words into your portfolio, makes all the difference and sets them apart. Let me give you another example.

Here in the website of Danby Sheen, she says websites for coaches who know that prioritizing people leads to profit. So she is first explaining who she's working for and so who's the website is actually for, and then she's talking about something that she cares about and she knows that they care about so that they know that she's the right person to work with them because they share the same values and care about the same things, and the fact that she is sharing the same value with him sets her apart. So take a minute to think about what sets you apart. This can be a technical skill perhaps or what you care about and the unique way in which you work that sets you apart from others. Maybe it's your personality but take a minute to think about this because this is so important.

The second principle I want to cover with you today is the mockups that you use. It is unbelievable to me but some people just put screenshots from their design software when they are putting their portfolio at work, and this is just unacceptable today and not doing a great favor to them when people are quickly scanning their website. Now, I'll give you an example here from this website. Now here, granted, they didn't just put a screenshot, but they did do a very, very simple mock up just like grabbing a PNG of, you know, a Mac or a tablet and just putting a screenshot inside of them. And the fact that they have a grid here that just shows mockup next to mockup, this just makes it looks repetitive and basically kind of flats it out.

And it doesn't let the work actually shine and it doesn't give it the right space to set it apart. Actually looking at this grid, what I am just seeing is just 6 iMacs and a bunch of tablets, right? The way it the work doesn't even shine here. And let me give you another example from a designer who does this really nicely. So here in the portfolio of this designer, Orman, he is, note, he is doing very simple mock-ups.

Now, here the whole website is dark, and so the mock-ups are dark as well. But every time the perspective is a little bit different, right, and they are much bigger and you're seeing just 1 at a time. This gives the feeling of space, you can actually see the work itself And it does not feel repetitive. So there are so many free and premium mockup sets out there today for designers of all kinds. So take a minute to think about how you present your work and how to make sure that it shines and that it gets its proper place and by using proper high quality mockups.

The third thing I want to talk to you about today that you can easily implement in your website and is completely going to set you apart is using what we call social proof. And social proof basically means showing that other people respect you to because a lot of our clients sometimes they don't understand design too much and they don't know you know looking at our work whether it's great or not great and having other people give credibility to you helps them to trust you more easily. At the end of the day, our design portfolio is a sales page intending to sell us to our potential clients. And So social proof, let me show you, it can be done in multiple different ways. In Dunbee's case, for example, she is putting client testimonials, which is very, very common, very, very easy, quotes and photos.

So immediately see she's been working with real people. They like the experience. And she has client success stories. So whenever other people say that you are great, people tend to believe that you are probably great. In this website of designer, Natalie, here she's just putting in the footer recognition.

So recognition, if other design websites or award has mentioned her or given her recognition, even if I'm the client, I'm not really sure that I understand design, she must be good because her peers and other influencers in her space recognizes her. Now this is pretty simple. If you just start submitting your work to award sites or other magazines or peer reviews, you can get featured and not necessarily, you don't necessarily even have to win. You can see here that she won honorable mention, not even, you know, side of the day or something like that, but that is still important and still looks great on your portfolio. So whenever you can use awards that you've won, numbers, number of clients, number of years you're in the business, experience, and again, client testimonials, do that to show social proof in your website.

Now let me finish off with another great example of a website that builds on everything, all the 3 principles that we've covered. This is Sterling Off & Co. So they start off with a value proposition with a unique selling proposition, brand building practice, passionate about helping purpose-driven companies launch and evolve. Again, the focus here is on helping purpose-driven companies who is this for and what are they focused on, launching and evolving. Then they have a showroom, which is really great to animate your work.

And you can always see both here, or if you scroll down to see the work, beautiful mockups that allow for the space of the work to actually shine. They look different. They don't look repetitive. Great color palette here. High quality mockups.

Now they didn't put, granted they didn't put the social proof in the homepage, which I think is not a great idea, but in the about page, you can see that Number 1, they have the names of the clients that they worked with. So because these are familiar names that immediately gives credibility to the agency and then they have here testimonials from clients. So all of these principles are coming together in this portfolio. Now, if you wanna learn more about portfolio, I've actually put together a complete handbook for portfolios which you can grab in the description below. And we have a full on playlist here on YouTube which I'll link as well.

If you wanna see more videos on portfolios, it's just going to take you a few minutes to implement these things on your portfolio website. So please go ahead and do this and share your link in the comments below. I can't wait to see your portfolio. I'll see You You

See all Flux Academy transcripts on Youtube

GOOD Vs BAD Design Portfolios (With Examples)