Oct 2017 - Present

Company

Self-study

Industry

Design

My Role

Designer / Developer

Background
Many a moon ago, I needed a way to showcase my design work to potential employers. Over the years, I've created and recreated my personal branding and website. It's a great opportunity to reflect, apply what I've learned in my design journey, and get feedback from other designers too.

?

How might I design a brand and personal site to market myself to potential employers?

Design Process Overview

Step 1.

Discovery

Core Values and Inspiration
Following the advice of a mentor, I took some time to identify four core values for myself. Aligned to these values, I started looking for inspiration and explored some potential colors and typography.

Core values

Initial inspiration

Landscape Analysis
As preparation for early solutioning, I sought out several example portfolios. I used my experience in hiring UX designers to identify what worked well and not-so-well in some of these prototypes. I further vetted my assumptions by referencing portfolio guidelines that large tech companies (like Google) had created.

Step 2.

Solutioning

Sketching and Mocks
For my site and branding, I started with the basics: layout, typography, color, and logo. I let my imagination go a bit wild when sketching out logos, and once I had some ideas that I liked, I transitioned to Figma for linework. I also created a simple homepage layout in Figma to test typography, color, and logo combinations against. I sought feedback from fellow designers as I iterated.

Early sketching and logos

Initial mocks

Initial brand board

Prototypes and Feedback
As a final step prior to development, I created a Figma prototype and distributed it to several designers for feedback on layout and visuals.

Closing

Delivery & Impact

You're currently viewing the result of this project! This most recent iteration is a bit unique - some might even say bold? I feel I successfully infused more of my personality into the branding, balancing a bit of playfulness with my analytical side. Oh, and to explain the name - "Rally Potential" is a reference to one of my favorite games and leans into a "down but not out" mentality.

Feature Mix

Work section with case studies
Explanation of typical process
About page with resume

Key Results

Widely accessible portfolio

Branding that resonates with me

Positive designer feedback

Bonus Section

Previous Iterations

It's safe to say that things have evolved over time - myself included. My old site is still live at pjackman23.github.io if you're curious to check it out, and below are some visuals from previous iterations.