From Concept to Vision: How to Know What You Want from Your New Portfolio, Before You Even Get Started

New Portfolio

We have all been there. While, before getting started, we feel as though we have a clear, detailed, and unique image in mind – and as though summoning up the creativity to turn that seed of an idea into a reality will be a simple and straightforward process – many of us know what it is like to sit down at the computer and find that, in actuality, that crystal clear image we had in our minds was nothing more than a vague notion.

What follows is many hours’ worth of hesitation, self-doubt, working and re-working – then, inevitably, deleting it all and starting from fresh, a little more frustrated than you were when you first booted up the computer.

While it may feel like a bit of a personal failure, the truth is that we all experience this strange disconnect between our wild imaginations, and our ability to bring them into reality. This is never true than it is when you are attempting to put together a digital portfolio that exemplifies you and the work you do. It has to be professional, sleek, and easy to use – but it also has to be unique, and true to your voice as a creator.

Still, there are things you can do to ensure that you are able to finish the job with a final design you can feel truly proud of. Read more below.

Get Inspired by Some Excellent Examples

One of the best things about website builders is that they allow you the freedom to explore your own creativity. For instance, Wix websites offer a highly customizable platform from which users can alter, tweak, redesign and make dynamic every element of their website templates. In turn, this means that the internet is filled with instances of users’ customized templates that exemplify how unique the final product can be.

Drawing inspiration is something we can all benefit from, whatever it is we are doing or hoping to achieve. This means that before you even put pen to paper – or, in this case, mouse to screen – one of the best ways to get the creative juices flowing is to appreciate the work of others who have been there and done that before you.

Let Your Style Lead

What makes these website templates so beneficial is the virtually untethered ability you have to make them your own. The original design offers an excellent platform from which you can bypass the long, laborious, and complex world of coding, and jump straight into the creative work.

As a result, you can easily use them as a shortcut to realizing your original vision – however long it takes you to tap into that elusive and mysterious corner of your mind.

In order to feel truly proud of the final result, however, you must make your unique flair and voice a priority. In this way, new visitors to your online portfolio will get the best first impression possible, and you will be able to feel as though you are building a cohesive brand and online profile around yourself.

Leave Some Design Choices to Chance

Anyone who has ever attempted to create or build anything from nothing more than a vague idea will attest to the fact that planning really does represent an essential step in most design processes – particularly those that meld together the technical with the creative.

Planning means that we needn’t sit down at our computers and instantly hit a wall of indecision and uncertainty; it gives us a modus operandi or, in the very least, a launching pad from which to get the ball rolling.

Still, there is certainly something to be said for that unique brand of creativity that is borne of a somewhat spontaneous approach. As we learn how to use the tricks and tools of website builders to our advantage, we can develop new ideas and concepts as we go, ensuring that the final result s truly unique.

That’s not to say that we should do away with the plan altogether – remember, it’s what will keep you from feeling as though you have run out of steam before you have even begun. Still, a mix of both approaches means that you will be able to draw upon two separate breeds of creativity – and your portfolio will no doubt be all the better for it.

Final Thoughts

Don’t allow yourself to get intimidated by the prospect of designing an entire online portfolio on your own. While the pressure to exemplify your personal brand will, no doubt, be high, it is still possible for you to see it as an opportunity to explore your unique attributes from a new perspective.

By following in the footsteps of those who went through the process before you, making use of the expertise of website builders, and ensuring you know what it is you want to achieve before you set out to achieve it, you will find the process to be a breeze.