Can I include a redesign of a real brand's website if they didn't commission it?

Yes, but it must be labelled clearly as an unsolicited concept or practice redesign. Never present it as live or commissioned work. Many reviewers appreciate the initiative as long as the labelling is transparent.

Is university coursework taken seriously by employers?

Generally, yes — especially for junior roles. What matters is that you explain the brief, show your contribution, and present polished artefacts. Reviewers know early-career candidates learn through coursework.

What if my group project was mostly someone else's work?

Only show the portions you personally owned. Document your specific contribution clearly and, if necessary, show a single screen or component rather than the full project. Honesty here protects you at interview.

Do I need a live website for every project?

No. High-quality screenshots, an annotated Figma prototype, or a short screen recording are all acceptable artefacts. A well-presented static image is better than a broken live link.

How do I handle a project where I can't share the files publicly?

If a university or organisation restricts sharing, you can describe the project and show process work (sketches, wireframes) without sharing proprietary final deliverables. Always note why full assets aren't available — it's more credible than silence.

Choosing Portfolio Projects When You Have No Client Work Yet

Why You Don't Need Client Work to Have a Portfolio

Every working designer started without paid clients. A portfolio's job is to show that you can think through a design problem and execute a solution — not to prove someone handed you money. Hiring managers reviewing junior candidates expect to see university briefs, self-initiated projects, and volunteer contributions. What they're actually evaluating is your process, your eye, and your honesty about what you did.

What Counts as a Usable Project

A usable project is any piece of work where you made real design or build decisions and can show the output. The source doesn't matter as much as the substance. Useful categories include:

University or course assignments with a defined brief
Personal sites or apps you built to learn a tool or solve your own problem
Volunteer work for a local charity, club, or community group
Redesign exercises based on a real public site (clearly labelled as unofficial)
Open-source contributions with a visible design or UI element

Redesign concepts are legitimate practice, but they must be labelled 'unsolicited redesign concept' or similar. Never present them as live commissioned work — anyone can check, and the trust damage is permanent.

Honest Labelling: The Non-Negotiable Rule

Every project entry should carry a short, factual label: 'University brief, 2024', 'Personal project', or 'Volunteer work for [Organisation Name]'. This costs you nothing and gains you a great deal. It tells a reviewer you understand professional norms and won't misrepresent your experience on the job. Omitting context — or letting ambiguity suggest client work when there was none — is the single fastest way to lose trust at interview.

Defining Your Personal Contribution

Group projects are fine, but you must be specific about your role. 'I designed the navigation flow and built the front-end in HTML and CSS' is useful. 'I was part of a team that made a website' is not. For each project, write down the exact decisions you owned before you write a single word of portfolio copy. If you only contributed to part of a project, show only that part — a single well-documented screen is more credible than a vague claim of total ownership.

Visible Artefacts: Show, Don't Just Tell

Every project needs something a visitor can actually look at: a live URL, a Figma file with view access, annotated screenshots, or a short screen recording. Process artefacts — wireframes, style guides, user flow diagrams — are especially valuable because they show thinking, not just output. If a project no longer exists live, export screenshots before you lose access. An image of a finished page is far more compelling than a description of one.

The Selection Checklist

Before including any project, run it through this checklist:

Can I describe the problem this project was solving in one sentence?
Do I have at least one visible artefact to show (screenshot, prototype, live link)?
Can I clearly state what I personally designed or built?
Is the project label accurate — does it correctly identify the source (university, personal, volunteer)?
Is there a design decision here I'm genuinely proud of or learned from?
Would I be comfortable explaining every claim about this project in an interview?

If any answer is 'no', either fix the gap or leave the project out. Three projects that pass every check beat six that don't.

How Many Projects Is Enough

For a first one-page portfolio, three to five projects is a sensible range. Fewer than three can look thin; more than five at an early career stage risks diluting the quality. Prioritise variety: try to include at least one project that shows visual design thinking, one that shows structural or UX thinking (wireframes, flows), and one with actual code or a live build if web design is your target role. You can add projects as your work grows — a portfolio is a living document, not a one-time event.