Matt Sellers - What a top 1% design portfolio looks like

By Dive Club

Categories: Product, Design

Summary

Reduce your portfolio to just 12-13% of your best work, laser-focus on craft over process, and craft an immersive, interactive experience that conveys your design ethos - these are the secrets to a top 1% design portfolio that lands you at leading startups.

Key Takeaways

1. Ruthlessly cut your portfolio down to only your finest 12-13% of work, removing any outdated or irrelevant pieces.
2. Prioritize showcasing your craft and attention to detail over lengthy process explanations or performance metrics.
3. Treat your portfolio as an immersive, interactive experience that conveys your design ethos, not just a functional showcase.
4. Use minimal text and let your visuals do the talking - an introductory paragraph is enough for each case study.
5. Carefully curate each image to raise the overall quality bar, rather than including everything you've done.
6. Incorporate subtle micro-interactions and animations to elevate the premium feel of your portfolio experience.

Topics

• Portfolio Curation
• Design Craft Showcase
• Interactive Portfolio Experiences
• Minimalist Case Study Presentation
• Quality-Driven Asset Selection

Transcript Excerpt

What does it take to create a portfolio that gets you hired at one of today's top startups? >> I had this like general quite blurry idea about what I wanted this to look and feel like and then it was just a case of iterate, iterate, iterate, iterate, and then come back and see what feels right. >> How can we challenge the way that we've historically thought about personal websites in order to create an experience that truly stands out? I don't even really show like how to get to the case studies...