How I Created My Portfolio After 6 Years Away from Design (+ day in the life)
After 6 years as a software engineer, I had absolutely no design portfolio. Not even old files to update. Here's the exact process I used to build one from scratch while working full-time, including all the late nights, mistakes, and lessons learned along the way.
In this video, I'm sharing:
🌱 How I researched 20-30 portfolios to understand what works
🌱 Why I chose Framer over coding (even though I could code it)
🌱 My exact case study structure that landed clients
🌱 The technical challenges of responsive design in Framer
🌱 What I'd change 6 months later
📱 View my portfolio: https://www.ceciliakimdesign.com
Resources & Tools Mentioned:
Portfolio Building:
Framer
Figma (wireframing & design)
Figma Community (free mockups & resources)
Icons8 Figma Plugin (illustrations)
Porkbun (domain registrar)
Animation Tools I Want to Learn:
Rive (animations)
Jitter (animations)
AI Coding Tools:
Claude Code
Cursor
Windsurf
Research & Inspiration:
YouTube tutorials on Framer
Framer.com education resources
❤️ Mobbin (my design tool, 20% off):
https://mobbin.com/cecilia
❤️ Anything.com (prototyping tool, 20% off):
https://anything.link/cecilia-kim
❤️ Framer (no-code website building tool, 30% off annual Framer Pro Plan): https://framer.link/cecilia1
code: CECILIA2
✨Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ceciliakimdesign/
✨TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ceciliakimdesign
✨Twitter/X: https://x.com/ceciliakdesign
✨Portfolio: https://www.ceciliakimdesign.com
📣 My husband and I are working on some projects. Check out our apps!
📱 https://www.amyfoodjournal.com/
📱 https://ellieplanner.com/
📱 https://lunabudgeting.com/
0:00 catching up
0:53 the plan
1:35 the starting point
3:29 the research phase
6:14 choosing my no-code tool
9:03 case studies and designing
12:00 putting it together
12:53 the final product
16:15 lessons learned
17.55 advice and next steps
#ProductDesign #DesignPortfolio #Framer #CareerChange #UIUXDesign #FreelanceDesigner #PortfolioTips #DesignProcess #DayInTheLife #ProductDesigner #CaseStudy #DesignCareer
In this video, I'm sharing:
🌱 How I researched 20-30 portfolios to understand what works
🌱 Why I chose Framer over coding (even though I could code it)
🌱 My exact case study structure that landed clients
🌱 The technical challenges of responsive design in Framer
🌱 What I'd change 6 months later
📱 View my portfolio: https://www.ceciliakimdesign.com
Resources & Tools Mentioned:
Portfolio Building:
Framer
Figma (wireframing & design)
Figma Community (free mockups & resources)
Icons8 Figma Plugin (illustrations)
Porkbun (domain registrar)
Animation Tools I Want to Learn:
Rive (animations)
Jitter (animations)
AI Coding Tools:
Claude Code
Cursor
Windsurf
Research & Inspiration:
YouTube tutorials on Framer
Framer.com education resources
❤️ Mobbin (my design tool, 20% off):
https://mobbin.com/cecilia
❤️ Anything.com (prototyping tool, 20% off):
https://anything.link/cecilia-kim
❤️ Framer (no-code website building tool, 30% off annual Framer Pro Plan): https://framer.link/cecilia1
code: CECILIA2
✨Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ceciliakimdesign/
✨TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ceciliakimdesign
✨Twitter/X: https://x.com/ceciliakdesign
✨Portfolio: https://www.ceciliakimdesign.com
📣 My husband and I are working on some projects. Check out our apps!
📱 https://www.amyfoodjournal.com/
📱 https://ellieplanner.com/
📱 https://lunabudgeting.com/
0:00 catching up
0:53 the plan
1:35 the starting point
3:29 the research phase
6:14 choosing my no-code tool
9:03 case studies and designing
12:00 putting it together
12:53 the final product
16:15 lessons learned
17.55 advice and next steps
#ProductDesign #DesignPortfolio #Framer #CareerChange #UIUXDesign #FreelanceDesigner #PortfolioTips #DesignProcess #DayInTheLife #ProductDesigner #CaseStudy #DesignCareer