Create Your Portfolio

If you think differently, it is important to proactively built a portfolio of your accomplishments so that you can narrate your story on your own terms centered around your superstrengths.

1. Build A Professional Website

Non-Coders

Wix is a great resource for building a personal website. Other platforms which are easy to use typically invest more in features built to sell products and handle credit card information. A portfolio, on the other hand, needs to be particularly visually customizeable.

Coders and Data Geeks

Websites are built in HTML, but you can still build a website even if you “speak” another language. Some platforms take code that you are already familiar with and convert your code into HTML for you.

If you are not prepared to invest money into buying a domain name, you can always change this later.

Architecture

Here is some sage advice on how to approach designing your website before you even begin considering a provider. Building something on the wrong foundation can create catastrophic consequences for you later on.

Static Websites

There are many free resources to create static websites with great documentation, one of which is called Hugo.

Dynamic Websites

Thankfully, you do not need to know HTML to build a dynamic website for free. Quarto is a great alternative.

Design Your Website

Color

Canva has some strong functions for helping you select specific color combinations by their codes. Choosing your color palette matters because it will limit what graphics you will be able to use in the future. Most sites address this problem by using neutral colors such as white, black, navy, and gray. This also reduces the chance that you will build a site that someone who is colorblind, for example, will be unable to use.

Step 1: Choose a Color Palette

Step 2: Store Better Colors

Salesforce is the industry standard for industrial-grade websites. They have the economies of scale to provide strong resources on digital design.

  • Sadly the vast majority of colors do not perform well on an interface.
  • We recommend that you take the closest version of the color you would like to use for your website that they have.
    • If your platform allows you to have a dark/light mode, use the same Salesforce link to generate those palettes. The colors will be labelled by function.

Step 3: Add Color/Font (Quarto Websites)

  • Sass is a great place to start and can be much easier to work with than a .css file.

Font

Choosing your font carefully is another important decision to make. Not all fonts are made for digital interfaces. These are called computer fonts. Many computer font websites provide fonts which are largely meant for logos, so use these instead:

Images

Using your website for work means you need to be particularly careful about the terms of use for your images. If you are in a field which is more literary, you may not have the visuals needed to keep up with the text you produce.

  • Try using Dall-E to generate images related to your color palette. Their terms of use are quite generous.
  • Wikimedia Commons provides a wealth of media you may be able to use, along with the terms of copyright for each image added.

2. Develop Your Brand

Color

Color psychology: The logo color tricks used by top companies—and how to design your own

3. Buying A Domain

Once you’ve decided to invest in your website long-term, it’s wise to pick a domain name. Countries we are aware of with official national registries are provided below:

Country: www.domain.xx

Footnotes

  1. Times New Roman is an example of what not to use.↩︎