Your Portfolio Shouldn't Read Like a Résumé in a Halloween Costume

I've reviewed a lot of creative portfolios over the years — friends' sites, mentees' sites, strangers' sites when they ask nicely. And I can spot the same disease in almost all of them: a perfectly competent website that could belong to literally anyone.

You know the type. Stock phrase About page. Work displayed in a grid with no context. A contact form and a prayer. It's a résumé wearing a website costume, and hiring managers and clients can smell the generic from the homepage.

The good news: the fix isn't a personality transplant. It's a series of small, deliberate choices. Here are the five that matter most.

1. Write Your About Page Like You're Talking to One Person

The default About page is written in third-person corporate: "Jane is a multidisciplinary creative passionate about storytelling." Yawn. Who talks like that at a coffee shop?

Instead, write it like you're answering the question "So, what do you do?" at a friend's birthday party. First person. Specific details. Actual opinions.

Look at how writer and creative directors with strong personal brands handle it — many of the best ones open with a hook, not a job title. Something like: "I write about the internet's weird corners for magazines and brands that let me keep my sense of humor." Instantly, you know who this person is.

A quick test: read your About page out loud. If you'd never say a sentence to another human, cut it.

2. Show Fewer Things, Tell Better Stories

A portfolio stuffed with everything you've ever made doesn't say "prolific." It says "I couldn't decide." Curators are more convincing than hoarders.

Pick your 6–10 strongest pieces — the ones you'd still be proud of in two years. Then, for each one, add a line or two of context: the problem, your approach, what you'd do differently. A designer in Portland I admire includes a short "what broke and how I fixed it" note on every project. It's more persuasive than any polished mockup, because it shows how she thinks.

Story beats volume. Every time.

3. Put Your Process Where People Can See It

Anyone can show the finished product. Showing the messy middle is what makes you memorable and trustworthy.

That could be:

• A short "how I work" section with your actual steps
• Sketches or drafts alongside final pieces
• A blog or notes section where you think out loud

This is also the easiest way to prove personality without gimmicks. Your process IS your personality. A copywriter who shares her rejected headlines is demonstrating both humor and rigor — no forced "fun facts about me!" section required.

4. Balance Voice With Clarity (Voice Should Never Cost You a Job)

Here's where people overcorrect. Personality doesn't mean writing your entire site in inside jokes or making navigation a puzzle. If a recruiter can't find your work samples in ten seconds, your creative voice just cost you money.

The formula that works: clear structure, human language. Conventional menu (Work, About, Contact). Unconventional copy within it. One illustrator I follow labels her contact button "Say hi" — small, warm, zero friction. Her case studies, meanwhile, are rigorously organized with client, role, and outcome. Warmth on the surface, professionalism in the bones.

5. Add One Thing No Résumé Could Ever Contain

A résumé is a list of credentials. A portfolio is a chance to show something no bullet point can: your obsessions.

Give your site one element that's purely you. A photo essay about your neighborhood. A running list of books that wrecked you. Sketches from every airport you've been stuck in. This is the stuff that turns a stranger's fifteen-second visit into a twenty-minute deep dive — and makes them remember you by name when a project comes up.

The Bottom Line

Your portfolio's job isn't to impress everyone. It's to make the right people think, "Oh, I'd actually enjoy working with this person." Credentials get you considered. Voice gets you remembered.

So audit your site this week with one question in mind: if I stripped my name off every page, would anyone guess it was me? If the answer's no, you've got some fun work to do.