The Ultimate Guide to A Great UI Designer Portfolio

As a UI designer, the abbreviation for User Interface Designer, you will be in charge of designing all the interfaces through which a user will move on a website, app, or in a video game, and creating visual elements that facilitate this movement. UI designers will have to work closely with UX (User Experience) designers and other design specialists. That’s why you may see many professionals work as UX/UI designers at the same time.

If you’re new to this field or have completed plenty of projects, it’s important to have your own UI designer portfolio to showcase your talent. A stunning UI portfolio website can help you with employment seeking in the future, especially for freelance UI designers/artists. A UI portfolio helps a UI designer showcase their skills through their past projects to attract employers/clients.

A UI designer portfolio can go by other names like UI design portfolio and UI artist portfolio. Regardless of the term, a professional UI portfolio should be able to give the full picture of you as a UI designer/artist. It means that you need to showcase your works so the viewers can know your values and visual design skills. Similar to a resume, a top-notch UI design portfolio will help you get a leg up on the competitive job market. 

You might wonder, where should you publish your UI artist portfolio?

There’s no right or wrong answer for this as it depends on many factors, such as:

• Which UI designer portfolio website is popular in your region, especially for recruiters and employers.
• Whether or not you have knowledge about coding.
• The number of UI design projects for your portfolio.

1. Home page

Think of this as the exterior of a restaurant that looks good enough to attract you to walk into and dine. The homepage of your UX/UI portfolio website needs to be eye-pleasing, but able to direct users around your site with ease as well, as this essentially is the main responsibility of your job.

The homepage of his UX/UI design portfolio displays a brief enticing headline statement about Sam on a blue gradient background. The background color also changes when you hover the mouse around. 

2. About me section

Sometimes you can see this under another name “Personal Bio” on a UI design portfolio. Think of this section as a brief self-introduction that pitches yourself directly to the viewers. A compelling paragraph can give you an advantage over other applicants. It doesn’t need to be formal, but always has to be concise, coherent, and most importantly, best expressing yourself.

3. Contact information

After viewing your UI portfolio, a potential client’s next step would be to get in touch with you. Therefore, always include the following details in your UI artist portfolio: 

• Full name
• Email address 
• Social media
• The city and country you’re currently based in (optional) 

4. Resume

If you are seeking employment, it’s necessary to attach your resume along with UI portfolio projects. The information listed on your resume allows the recruiters to get to know more about you, in terms of educational background, work history, and achievements.

It’s recommended that you use Cake, a free UI portfolio maker, which allows you to attach your digital resume directly to your portfolio page. 

5. Your UI design projects for your portfolio

When it comes to the showcase of your works, focus more on the design process, not just the finished work. Make sure you provide a detailed description of your UI portfolio projects as well as clearly explain your contribution. This way, hiring managers can see a wide variety of your skills, from UX/UI design to drawing or illustration. 

Below is what should be seen in your UI designer portfolio projects:

• Context of the project – Including client’s name, project name, and a brief description of the project.
• Design process – Briefly explain what steps you took throughout the project 
• Problems & solutions – What problems need to be solved and how you’ve resolved them (i.e., specific requests from the client)
• Visuals – What visuals you’ve adopted (i.e., scientific visualization, information visualization, 3D photogrammetry, etc.)

Example:

💡 Choose the right medium. 

According to the purpose of your UI portfolio, you need to choose the most appropriate medium. Read on to check out the pros and cons of UI design portfolio websites mentioned below, which can help you reach more target audiences and display your works effectively. 

💡 Focus on the quality of the works, not the quantity.

Future employers and clients expect to see the UI portfolio projects with high quality and clear explanation. As mentioned earlier, they would like to see the design process you went through and the contribution you’ve made to the project. Also, good-quality works also mean that they have no problem when viewing the documents and images you upload to your UI design portfolio website.

💡 Keep your UI portfolio up-to-date. 

Though it might take a lot of time to update your UI design portfolio website, doing it regularly will be helpful to your personal branding in the long term. These revisions might include adding new projects or changing the design of your UI portfolio sites to catch up with the latest creative trends.

💡 Check for any grammatical errors or typos.

Before publishing your UI design portfolio, ensure that it doesn’t contain any grammatical errors or typos. This can be a deal-breaker that could cost you the job as it shows that you did not pay attention to details. 

💡 Don’t limit yourself to just images and text.

As a professional working in the creative field, you need to show that your UI design portfolio is unique, eye-catching, and professional-looking. You can try to adopt the right visual elements to take your UI designer/artist portfolio to the next level. 

1. Cake

This platform is a great portfolio builder for UX/UI designers who want to showcase their works easily in a digital format. 

FEATURES:

• You can link your UI design portfolio directly to your digital resume created on Cake. 
• Free for registered users.
• Allows users to create multiple portfolios under a single profile. 

2. Carbonmade

Though Carbonmade is a rather new platform, it has earned much attention in recent years. The builder is aimed at those who don’t want to bother with a web hosting service and work in the creative industries. 

FEATURES:

• Allow users to personalize their layouts specifically for a specific profession.
• Upload images and videos.
• The before/after block allows you to share your process and show how you make an impact.
• Present your works and projects in a beautiful slideshow format.

3. Dribbble

Dribbble is well-known as a place where designers and stylists gain inspiration, feedback, community, and jobs. Thus, consider this site if you’re looking to build a professional UI design portfolio website. 

FEATURES:

• Build responsive UI design sites with full breakpoint control.
• Explore other professionals’ UI portfolio projects.
• Offer various design courses and workshops. 
• Hire freelance UX/UI designers. 

4. Squarespace

Squarespace sites are best known for sleek, professional-looking, and well-designed templates. Hence, try this builder if you plan on creating a stunning UI artist portfolio.

FEATURES:

• Offers flexible layouts, custom color palettes, built-in photo editing capabilities, and more.
• Provides high-quality images through Unsplash for free.
• Set a post as featured.
• Run and manage eCommerce stores. 

5. Behance

As the top free online portfolio builder for years, Behance has now become a part of the Adobe family where creatives can showcase and explore creative works.

FEATURES:

• Publish and share your UX/UI projects with anyone. 
• Add relevant metadata like creative fields and keywords. 
• Connect and interact with other peers on Behance.
• Share and apply for job openings. 

--- Originally written by May Luong ---