Portfolio websites
A portfolio has one job that no other kind of site has: to get out of the way of the work. The failure mode is not an ugly site, it is a site with so much of itself in the way that nobody reaches the third project.
What this kind of site actually needs
- The work first, large, and loading fast. A gallery that takes four seconds on a phone is a gallery nobody scrolls.
- Enough context per piece to be hireable: what it was for, what the constraint was, what you did. A wall of images tells a client nothing about working with you.
- Fewer projects than you want to show. Six strong pieces is a stronger portfolio than twenty of mixed quality — you are judged on the weakest one somebody happens to open.
- Something about you. People commissioning work are hiring a person and want to know they can talk to you.
- A way to get in touch that reaches you, and a realistic sentence about when you reply.
The images are the technical problem
Portfolio sites are the ones that are slow, and it is always the pictures. Every image on a site we build is sized for the screen it lands on and loads only when it comes into view, so a phone downloads a fraction of what a desktop does.
Send us the largest files you have. It is our job to make them small; it is not possible to go the other way.
What we will ask you for
The pieces you want shown and the order you would put them in, a line or two about each, and how you would like enquiries to reach you. If you are unsure which work to include, we will say what an outsider sees — that is usually the useful part.
Questions we get asked
- Can I add new work myself?
- Send it to us and it goes up — that is what the monthly plan covers. We do not hand over a content system, because a portfolio updated four times a year does not justify one, and the ones that exist mostly get used to break the layout.
- Should I show prices?
- If your work is priced in a range, a starting figure filters out the enquiries that were never going to happen. If every job is quoted, say that plainly instead of leaving people to guess.
- What about a shop for prints?
- Payment links on your own Stripe account handle a small number of fixed items well. A real shop with stock, sizes and shipping is a bigger build — say so in the form and we will tell you what it takes.
Send the work and a line about each piece. We will build the site around it.