"We gotta keep playing defense this way, this will win us the game... our offense will always catch up..."
Karl-Anthony Towns, taking charge of the huddle ๐
Knicks have a 1-0 series lead in the NBA Finals!
one of the quotes i find most inspiring on a hard day:
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom"
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Your portfolio has one job.
Make someone who's never met you feel like they already know exactly what kind of designer you are.
These things will help:
1. Show the work. Immediately.
I cannot tell you how many beautiful portfolios I clicked off of because I couldn't find the work. Stunning animations, incredible typography, clever interactions nut no work anywhere to found quickly. I'm hiring a designer. Show me what you design! If I have to scroll more than a few seconds to find work, I'm gone. Those hiring have thousands of these to get through. They'll appreciate the time you save them by showing your work in a respectful time.
2. Don't hide work behind rollovers.
I know it looks cool. But I'm in a hurry. If your work is hidden, I'm not finding it.
3. Three projects is not a portfolio. It's a teaser.
If you only have 3-4 projects showing, I immediately wonder what have you been doing? Where are the side projects? The experiments? The fun stuff you made at 2am just because you wanted to? Show more work! Not everything has to be a polished case study (most shouldn't tbh because no one is reading it). Throw in the logo you made for fun. The brand concept nobody hired you for. The UI exploration you did on a weekend. That's the stuff that tells me who you really are as a designer.
4. Stop repeating your name.
I clicked on your link. I know your name. The first thing I need to see is your work, not your name three times.
5. Don't make me figure out how to use your site.
If your portfolio requires instructions, it's too complicated. I don't have time. Neither does the person hiring you. Do you read instructions? Probably not either.
6. The about me section matters more than you think.
The portfolios that stopped me all had one thing in common. I felt like I knew the person. Their pets. Their hobbies. Their personality. Design is a team sport. I'm not just hiring your work. I'm hiring YOU. If it came down to two equally talented designers where one surfed and the other displayed no outside hobbies, I'm going with the person I can connect more with, the surfer since we'll have things to talk about besides work. Use this to your advantage. It's the secret tip most most.
*The portfolios that make my final list all do this:
Work visible immediately. Clear about what they do. Personality came through. Something unique that made me stop and explore.
*The ones that don't make it:
Beautiful design. No work. Or work hidden so much I gave up finding it.
Important note: With all that said, the #1 thing that gets people hired: relationships.
I'm not gonna lie. The people I already know online get looked at first. Every time. That's not fair, but it's real.
Make relationships.
Be a kind person.
Get the work.
Day 19 of my daily creative challenge. [WIP]
I started exploring what my recent Ratchet Scroll Gallery could feel like on mobile, while also exploring early dark mode direction alongside it.
The current live version is still desktop-focused and available in the thread:
Another interactive project built with Claude Code for my daily creative challenge.
For day 17, I built out the archive concept from day 15, this time focusing on nailing the interaction system behind the experience to make it feel like a precise visual mechanism.
Still refining some of the micro-interactions and sound design before fully publishing it, but this has been one of my favorite explorations from the challenge so far.
Day 18 of my daily creative challenge is now LIVE. [SOUND ON & LINK IN THREAD]
Yesterday, I shared an early WIP preview of this project. Since then, Iโve continued refining the interaction feel, motion timing, and sound design to push the experience much further.
The hardest part of this project was refining the scroll experience itself to feel precise, mechanical, responsive, and almost give the ratchet-like feel I was aiming for
Designed in Figma, built with Claude Code + Figma MCP.
NEW YORK WENT ON A 44-11 RUN TO COMPLETE A 22-POINT COMEBACK WIN IN GAME 1 ๐จ
DOWN 22 WITH UNDER 8 TO PLAY IN Q4.
30-8 RUN TO FORCE OT.
WON BY 11.
1-0 SERIES LEAD IN THE EAST FINALS ๐ฟ
This tweet has made me look at Naira investing very differently. This is less than $150k. That amount can keep solving family issues for a long time and the remainder will keep compounding. Better than some startup investments.