The next step of applying for placements was to create a portfolio. A portfolio is so important for designers as we need to be able to show off our ability and creativity to employers so that they know that our work is a good standard before they employ us. A key part of portfolio’s is case studies, and these are done on our previous projects to show the design process that we went through and how we started with an idea and a brief, and ended up with a digital product.
Case studies are probably the most important part of a designers portfolio. This is because it is our chance to explain our thought process and articulate to employers what we were thinking when we made each design decision. The case studies that I would be including in my portfolio are:
When writing the case studies I was really trying to show employers an insight into how I think and how I tackle projects and challenges. For each project I tried to show my design process with images and also explaining what I was doing and why I was doing it. This included research and discovery, sketching, mid-fi wireframes, and UI design. I think that I covered all these areas quite well and articulated my thoughts well throughout the portfolio.
I decided that I was going to use UX Folio to create my portfolio. I wasn’t confident enough to use HTML and CSS to code it myself, so after looking at some of the different options I decided that UX Folio was the best option for me. I love how professional that their portfolios look and for a cheap enough cost I am able to keep the website up running. Using their templates I was able to create a few case studies and I am really happy with how they turned out. I also included an about me page as well as a contact page which was easy enough to make.
When it came to the design of my portfolio I was able to change the background colour of each page so that it would match that specific case study. For example the Access Banking case study has a light blue background whereas the Omni case study has a black background to it which fits into the colour scheme. I think that this made my portfolio more interesting and engaging and can hopefully leave a good impression on potential emplyers viewing it.
I wanted to have my own logo mark so that I could develop my personal brand a bit more, and include it in my portfolio. The logo would only include my initials, and I wanted it to be super simple while still showing a bit of my personality. Using the letters ‘AT’ I was able to come up with a cool logo by removing the cross bar on the letter A. Here is how it turned out:
The final step of making my portfolio was getting a personal domain so that I could get it up and running. Using 123Reg, I was able to buy a domain for pretty cheap and get my own domain with my name in it. This was pretty important as it makes it so much more professional when there is a personal domain instead of a generic one with loads of letters and numbers.
Here is my final portfolio: