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11 Best Design Portfolio Examples for Inspiration (2026)

See 11 of the best design portfolio examples — every site verified live in 2026 — plus what to steal from each to make your own portfolio stand out.

ADPList
ADPList
Sep 21, 2022 · Updated Jul 4, 2026
11 Best Design Portfolio Examples for Inspiration (2026)

Your portfolio is the single most important asset in a design job hunt. It shows your craft, proves your skills, and often decides whether a client or hiring manager reaches out — before you ever get to say a word.

To help you get inspired, we rounded up 11 of the best design portfolios on the internet — and re-checked in July 2026 that every single site below is still live (you're welcome 💅).

The 11 best design portfolios at a glance

  • Mariano Pascual — a gamified, retro-desktop site you can literally play with
  • Robin Noguier — buttery transitions and case-study storytelling done right
  • Adham Dannaway — the famous designer/coder split hero, backed by real case studies
  • Kate Moross (Studio Moross) — an unmistakable personal style across every project
  • RoAndCo — glossy work presented in stills, animation, and film
  • Ben Mingo — click-and-drag exploration instead of scrolling
  • Studio Feixen — a joyful mix-and-match grid that rejects minimalism
  • Heather Shaw — a multi-medium portfolio held together by one voice
  • Merijn Hos — a plain white gallery that lets vivid illustration pop
  • Bruno Simon — a playable 3D world (yes, you drive a toy truck through it)
  • Lotta Nieminen — structured grids that make creativity look effortless

1. Mariano Pascual

Mariano Pascual's gamified portfolio homepage, styled like a retro desktop with colorful draggable windows

The gamified approach of Mariano Pascual's portfolio makes it one of the best design portfolios on the internet. You can pick your own colours, drag the retro desktop-style windows around, tweak the brightness, and apply filters — effectively personalizing your own browsing experience.

Hovering over the animated icons even generates sounds. It's an experience, not a page.

Steal this: one memorable interaction beats ten generic pages. If your style is loud, let the site itself demonstrate it instead of just describing it.

2. Robin Noguier

Robin Noguier is an interactive designer whose portfolio has become a reference point for motion on the web. A horizontal project gallery, fluid page transitions, and carefully choreographed scroll effects pull you from the homepage into a full case study in a single click.

Crucially, the polish never gets in the way — every project still leads with the problem, the process, and the shipped result.

Steal this: make the distance between "first impression" and "full case study" one click. Motion should carry visitors toward your work, not distract from it.

3. Adham Dannaway

Adham Dannaway's portfolio opens with one of the most copied heroes in design: his face split down the middle — "designer" on one side, "coder" on the other. In two seconds you know exactly what he does and what makes him different.

Below the fold it's all substance: product design case studies with clear problems, process, and outcomes.

Steal this: your hero section should answer "what do you do and why you?" instantly. If you have a hybrid skill set, lead with it — it's a differentiator, not a footnote.

4. Kate Moross

Studio Moross work grid showing Kate Moross's colorful hand-drawn typography and bold illustration projects

Kate Moross's distinctive style is recognisable the moment the page loads. Her work now lives under Studio Moross, the multidisciplinary studio she founded — and the site uses space efficiently, letting bold typography and illustration do the talking.

Straightforward navigation lets visitors jump straight to the kind of work they're hiring for, from editorial design to hand-drawn type.

Steal this: consistency is a superpower. If someone can identify your work without seeing your name, your portfolio is doing its job — and simple filtering by discipline helps busy reviewers self-serve.

5. RoAndCo

RoAndCo Studio portfolio homepage with glossy split-screen photography of branding projects

RoAndCo, the creative studio led by Roanne Adams, presents its work in a glossy, editorial format that mirrors the brands it designs for. Visitors can browse split-screen photography, watch animated presentations, or sit back for a full video.

Steal this: offer more than one way to consume your work. Some reviewers skim stills, others want the film — serving both keeps everyone engaged.

6. Ben Mingo

Ben Mingo's interactive portfolio canvas, explored by clicking and dragging instead of scrolling

Ben Mingo — a designer and partner at Mouthwash Studio — takes an unusual approach to navigation: instead of the mouse wheel, you click and drag to explore his catalogued graphic and digital work.

It's a genuinely clever move that translates beautifully to touch screens, and the whole site is layered with smooth animations and transitions.

Steal this: an unconventional interaction can be the portfolio piece. Just make sure it stays intuitive — novelty that confuses visitors costs you the job.

7. Studio Feixen

Studio Feixen portfolio page with mixed-size project tiles in saturated, playful colors

With a mix-and-match layout that happily shuns the "less-is-more" philosophy, Studio Feixen expertly displays its bright, maximalist work. Projects are framed in tiles of wildly different sizes — yet the site still reads as disciplined and professional.

Steal this: your grid doesn't have to be uniform. Varying tile scale creates rhythm and hierarchy — as long as the underlying structure stays consistent.

8. Heather Shaw

Heather Shaw's graphic design portfolio grid showing print, book, and web projects with a unified visual style

Designers who work across many mediums but want one cohesive portfolio should study Heather Shaw. Her independent graphic design portfolio spans identity, print, book, and web work — a real range of skills and client problems — while staying visually coherent and easy to navigate.

She also uses text well, giving each project just enough context to invite you deeper into the work.

Steal this: write a short caption for every project — what it was, for whom, and what you solved. Two sentences of context multiplies the value of every image.

9. Merijn Hos

Merijn Hos's minimalist portfolio gallery of vivid, psychedelic illustration thumbnails on a white background

Dutch illustrator Merijn Hos — whose clients include Apple, Google, and Nike — takes a minimalist approach, and it works. It's one of the more conventional layouts on this list, but the vivid, psychedelic thumbnails pop against the plain white gallery, putting all the attention on the art itself.

Steal this: if your work is colorful, keep the site neutral. The portfolio is the frame, not the painting.

10. Bruno Simon

Bruno Simon's portfolio might be the most talked-about personal site on the internet: a fully playable 3D world where you drive a little toy truck around to discover his work. It's so beloved that it turned into a career of its own — Simon now teaches the WebGL course Three.js Journey.

Steal this: a signature idea people can describe in one sentence ("the one where you drive a truck") is the most shareable marketing a portfolio can have. If you build a gimmick, commit to it completely.

11. Lotta Nieminen

Lotta Nieminen's portfolio grid with tidy two-column project layout on a clean background

Lotta Nieminen's portfolio is structured yet imaginative. Strong pieces are arranged in a tidy two-column grid, with her illustration work presented in its own gallery. The appeal comes from how straightforward it all is — structure that signals clear thinking.

Steal this: restraint reads as confidence. A simple grid with consistent art direction can outperform a flashy build — especially when the work is strong.

Design portfolio essentials checklist

Before you wrap your labor of love into a stylish package, decide what actually goes in. The strongest portfolios on this list all do four things:

  • Curate ruthlessly. Show only your best work — three to six strong projects beat twenty average ones.
  • Include at least one case study. Nielsen Norman Group's portfolio guidance is clear: hiring managers want to see your process and the impact of your work, not just polished finals. We break down exactly which parts reviewers actually read in how to ace the 20% of your portfolio that lands interviews.
  • Pick a platform that gets out of the way. Custom-coded, Framer, Webflow, or a simple template — reviewers judge the work, not the tech stack.
  • Show your personality. Every portfolio above is unmistakably its owner's. If you're still defining your direction, our graphic design career path guide can help you figure out which kind of work to build toward.

So there you have it — the best design portfolios live on the internet right now. Find your own style and let it evolve; don't get hung up on copying any single site above.

Want expert eyes on your portfolio before you send it out? Book a free session with a product design mentor on ADPList — 40,000+ mentors across 140+ countries give free portfolio reviews every day. New to mentorship? Start with our design mentorship guide, or see how ADPList compares to other options in the best mentorship platforms comparison.

Frequently asked questions

What makes a good design portfolio?

A good design portfolio is ruthlessly curated (only your best work), gives context for every project, and includes at least one case study showing your process and the impact of your work. It should also load fast, be easy to navigate, and reflect your personality — hiring managers are deciding whether to talk to you, so make the answer obvious.

How many projects should a design portfolio have?

Three to six strong projects is the sweet spot for most designers. Reviewers spend only minutes per portfolio, so a few in-depth, well-told case studies beat a long gallery of average work. Junior designers can include student or personal projects as long as they show real process and problem-solving.

What are the best design portfolio examples?

Standout examples that are still live in 2026 include Mariano Pascual's gamified retro-desktop site, Bruno Simon's playable 3D world, Robin Noguier's motion-rich case studies, Adham Dannaway's designer/coder split hero, and Lotta Nieminen's clean structured grid. Each one pairs a memorable first impression with substance underneath.

Do I need case studies in my design portfolio?

For product, UX, and UI roles — yes. Nielsen Norman Group's research shows hiring managers look for process and impact, not just final screens. For visual disciplines like illustration or branding, a strong gallery can carry more weight, but even a two-sentence caption per project (what it was, what you solved) meaningfully improves your odds.

Should I code my own portfolio site or use a template?

Use whatever gets your work online fastest — reviewers judge the work, not the tech stack. Templates on Framer, Webflow, or Squarespace are completely acceptable for most design roles. Custom-coded sites like Bruno Simon's or Ben Mingo's make sense mainly when interaction or creative development is part of the skill set you're selling.

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