Portfolio first: the page potential clients judge you by

Your portfolio is not an archive. It is an argument — for your taste, your process and your price.

Start by cutting in half. Twelve strong projects beat thirty mixed ones, because every weak piece lowers the perceived value of the strong ones beside it. If a project needs three paragraphs of apology, it is not portfolio work yet. Archive it, thank it, move on.

Then show the thinking, not just the shine. One hero image, one paragraph on the problem, two on the decisions, one honest line on what you would change. Clients hire judgment, and judgment is visible only in the middle of the story — never in the before-and-after alone.

Edit like a curator, write like a guide, and end every case with a door, not a wall.

Order matters more than volume. Lead with the work you want more of, even if it paid less; bury the lucrative misfits that attract their own kind. The portfolio is a magnet tuned to a frequency — make sure it hums your tune.

Finally, make contact frictionless: your email in the header, a short form, a photo of a human. And update quarterly — a living portfolio signals a living practice. The first thing potential clients see should be the truest thing about your work.