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Portfolio Website Examples: 14 Ideas for Designers, Developers and Creatives

Fourteen portfolio website examples for developers, designers, writers and photographers, with what each does well, a checklist and how to build yours.

Mythex Team · 2026-10-22 · 6 min read

The best portfolio websites do three things quickly: say who you are and what you do, show a few pieces of your best work with context, and make it easy to contact you. Below are 14 portfolio website examples. Five are real sites we read in October 2026; the other nine are patterns for different kinds of work, described without naming a site. Then you'll find a checklist, the common mistakes, and how to build one.

The 14 examples at a glance

Real portfolio sites, and what they do well

Descriptions are as of October 2026.

1. Brittany Chiang: everything a developer recruiter needs

Brittany Chiang's site introduces her as a front-end engineer with a one-line tagline about accessible, polished web experiences. Navigation jumps between About, Experience and Projects. Each job lists the employer, dates, a short description and technology tags, with a link to the full résumé. Featured projects have a screenshot, a description and a link, and a "View full project archive" link holds everything else. A writing section links to her articles.

Learn from it: the main page shows the best few items; the archive holds the rest. Tags make it easy to scan for a specific skill.

2. Jessica Hische: a portfolio that's also a business

Jessica Hische's site presents her as a lettering artist, author and entrepreneur. Client work is grouped into categories (advertising, books and film, editorial, products), each project has a thumbnail linking to a full page, and descriptions are conversational and explain the process. Alongside the work are pages for commissions, speaking, coaching, books, a shop and separate contact emails for different kinds of enquiries.

Learn from it: if you sell several things, give each its own path and contact route so the right enquiries reach you.

3. Lee Robinson: plain text, clear thinking

Lee Robinson's site is a single minimal page: a short bio, a list of topic notes, and a dated list of blog posts. Contact is an email link and an X profile.

Learn from it: for people whose work is ideas, writing is the portfolio. A plain list of titles with dates is easy to read and fast to load.

4. Paco Coursey: short, opinionated sections

Paco Coursey's site describes him as a designer and developer who crafts interfaces. The page has short sections for what he's building, three open-source projects, writing, a "Now" section about current interests, and contact links.

Learn from it: a "Now" section is an easy way to make a portfolio feel current and personal without a blog.

5. Bruno Simon: the site is the work

Bruno Simon's portfolio is an interactive 3D world you drive a small car through, with keyboard, mouse, touch and gamepad controls, achievements and a timed race mode. A "behind the scenes" section explains the stack and links to the source code.

Learn from it: for creative developers, an experimental site can be the strongest proof of skill. It's a poor fit for most other roles, because visitors who just want your CV have to play first.

Portfolio patterns you can copy

6. Case study portfolio

Three to five projects, each on its own page: the problem, your role, the constraints, the process (sketches, iterations), the outcome and what you'd do differently. Lead with the result in one sentence at the top. Best for product designers and UX researchers.

7. Photo grid portfolio

Large images in a grid or full-width sequence, grouped into galleries (weddings, portraits, commercial). Minimal text, fast image loading, and a booking or enquiry link on every gallery. See how to build a photography website.

8. Writing portfolio

Your best clips grouped by topic or publication, each with a headline, outlet, date and a one-line summary. Link to the live article and keep a PDF copy in case it goes offline.

9. One-page freelancer site

What you do, who for, three pieces of work, a starting price or price range if you're comfortable sharing it, testimonials and a contact form. Good when the goal is enquiries, not recruiters.

10. Student or junior portfolio

Treat course and personal projects as real work: the brief, your decisions and the result. A short "what I'm learning" section signals direction. Link to code and live demos.

11. Video reel portfolio

A 60–90 second reel at the top, then individual projects with credits and your role. Host video on a service built for it so the page stays fast.

12. Architecture or interiors portfolio

Projects filtered by type (residential, commercial), each with photos, plans and a short note on the brief. Location and year help clients find relevant work.

13. Data or research portfolio

A few published analyses with an interactive chart or two, links to notebooks or reports, and a plain-language summary of each finding.

14. Link-in-bio portfolio

For creators who live on social platforms: one mobile-first page with your best recent work, your channels and a contact or booking link. See how to build a link-in-bio page.

What the best portfolios have in common

• A one-line intro. Your name and what you do, in words a client or recruiter would use.
• Curated work. A handful of strong pieces, with an archive for the rest.
• Context for each piece. Your role, the problem and the result. Visuals alone don't explain decisions.
• Easy contact. An email link or short form on every page, not buried in a footer.
• Fast and readable. Optimised images, clear type, works on a phone.
• Up to date. Recent work or a "now" note shows you're active.
• Your own domain if you can, so the address is yours for good.

Common mistakes

• Showing everything. Ten average projects hide two great ones.
• No explanation. A gallery of screenshots doesn't say what you did.
• Hard-to-find contact details. If people have to hunt for an email, many won't.
• Style over substance. Heavy animation that slows the page or hides content.
• Broken links and dead demos. Check every link before you send the site to anyone.
• Using work you can't share. Ask clients or employers before publishing confidential projects; anonymise if needed.

How to build your own portfolio website

1. Pick your audience: recruiters, clients or collaborators. It decides what goes first.
2. Choose three to six projects and write a short case study for each.
3. Pick a pattern above and sketch the pages: home, project pages, about, contact.
4. Build it. With Mythex you describe your portfolio in a chat, see it in a live preview, upload your images, and publish to a URL in one click (see how to connect a custom domain). You can also start from a template. If you'd rather hand-code it as a learning project, that's a good choice too.
5. Ask someone to review it on their phone and tell you what you do after ten seconds.

For the step-by-step version, read how to build a portfolio website; if you mainly need a CV online, see how to build a resume website.

How we chose these examples

We read each named site in October 2026 and describe only what it showed at the time. We picked well-known sites that illustrate a clear idea, not a ranking of the "best" portfolios. The patterns are common formats described in general terms.