Don’t get it twisted; we are not suggesting you copy one of your peers’ portfolios.
All we’re saying is that you should check out peers’ portfolios to see what’s out there.
Once you feel like you have seen enough, grab a piece of paper.
Write down everything you don’t like in other people’s portfolios. Perhaps the word “don’t like” is a bit too aggressive, but the idea is simple enough: just jot down the parts of other people’s portfolios that you don’t quite like, or think could be better.
For example, you could write something like:
1. Using the same screenshot of an app from 7 different angles, on 10 different screens, in mock-ups that all have perfect lighting.
2. Featuring projects that are completed 5 years ago.
Done that?
Good.
This list will be your “what-not-to-do” list, which will help you realize quickly what you actually want to do with your portfolio. For example, this list will help you with choosing the color palette or typeface you should use on the website. It can help you define how many pages your online portfolio should contain and so many other site aspects.
Now that the concrete of your portfolio has been poured and you can move onto smoothing the surface.