How to learn from great design portfolios

Collections of strong portfolios are easy to enjoy and hard to learn from. You scroll, you feel inspired, and nothing changes. The difference is studying them on purpose.

Look at five, not fifty

Pick a handful from designers whose work is close to the kind you want to do. Depth beats volume.

Ask the same questions of each

• What do I know after five seconds? Name, role and the kind of work should be obvious.
• How do they order the work? Which project leads, and why?
• What does a case study open with? A deliverable, or an outcome?
• Where do they show personality? Copy, layout, a small interaction, a side project.

Write down what you would steal

Not the look, the decision. "Opens each case study with one measurable result." "Keeps the About page to four lines." Decisions transfer. Styles rarely do.

Notice what is missing

The best portfolios leave things out. Count how many projects each shows, and how long each case study takes to read. You will probably find you can cut more than you think.

Keep your notes. They become the brief for your next edit.