Updating my interior architecture and design online portfolio from the unauthentic, cookie-cutter template it was last year, to a niche and poetic site that screamed "this is me!" was a beautiful journey I embarked on during the spring term. It made me think about making it a space for people to understand who I am as a designer, not just the projects I followed briefs to create. It has become a space where I can collate all my projects, including live projects I have been completing outside university.
I first discovered Adobe Portfolio at the beginning of second year and initially found it challenging. Readers who may have come across my Student Stories before will know how I am not always confident with software at first, but after experimenting I get the hang of it eventually, and I love the challenge! I’m someone who usually prefers those more hands-on and visual processes, so working digitally in this way felt rather exciting. Seeing the portfolio looking closer to complete (of course, it will keep developing with time) feels deeply gratifying to those efforts.
Perhaps the most challenging thing was not the software, which turned out to be much simpler in the end, but deciding on what to include in the site. As students, we produce a lot of work, spending weeks on a single project (especially if your course is anything like mine), but not all of it truly represents who we are as individuals. I had to step back and consider which projects actually reflect me, my style, my values, and the direction I want to travel in professionally. It wasn’t about showing everything, but instead being selective about what parts of the process were the most significant to mention.
I also discovered rather quickly that layout and storytelling matter just as much as the work I have produced over the last few years. A portfolio, in my opinion, should feel like an experience, immersing readers into the world of my work. I spent my time thinking how they might scroll through it. Just like in many of my projects, where I want users of the spaces I design to be intuitive in their navigation, I would want my readers to do the same when visiting my portfolio site. So, keeping an evocative image as the background graphic for each project tile on the main page, for example, was a subtle way of allowing readers to journey their own way across my portfolio.
Something I didn’t quite expect was how personal it would feel. Looking through my work from the past year-and-a-half of university, as well as over the holidays in between, I could visualise in one place how much I have changed. Not just in the polish of my skills, but in how I think and design, how much more I know of myself now than at the beginning of university, which has shaped my identity. My projects have become more honest. I’m able to create my own briefs, be my own designer. That became more important than trying to present something in comparison to others – rather, something that was idyllic to me.
This process of creating my online portfolio was really something special. I was finally able to put all that work somewhere, in a way that didn’t fulfil a template, or have a clean, basic look, as conforming to common trends simply isn’t me. I adore pastels, gentle elements of nature and a touch of fantasy, and my style makes that less "aesthetic" and more practical, creating designs that are phenomenologically complete (touching on every sensory experience), and deeply personal and nostalgic. I don’t just design to create beautiful spaces, but to make people feel things, experience things like they never have anywhere else, and perhaps will only exist in their minds. Creating spaces that will live on in the heart, as well as the mind, is more meaningful to me than anything.
My semi-complete online portfolio feels like a quiet milestone. It brought everything I’ve passionately been working on into one place and made it feel real for the first time. It isn’t just coursework or live projects anymore – it’s the beginning of something more professional, and something I can continue adding to as I grow.
