Single Page Portfolio Sites

There is a great post on single portfolio pages at Web Designer Wall and it got me thinking about my own portfolio organization. When I decided to redesign my portfolio, I was considering doing a single page, but I decided that a more complex site would be more beneficial in displaying my skills as a designer and a developer.

I think the skill gap between design and development may be a big factor when designers decide to create an online presence in one or multiple pages. A single page allows you to show that you are web savvy, at least to an extent, and know the importance of digital media, without having to do much linking and coding. A multiple page portfolio, on the other hand, lets you draw in the user through more than just graphics. I try to make most of my pieces interactive, print or digital, so a single page wouldn't really be "me." I want the user to "hang out" on my page in a way and see that there is more to it than just the plain information it presents. The experience of impacting where the portfolio takes you and the option to go in many directions from any place in the site is what makes a web site successful.

A single page portfolio, though, has the advantage of presenting everything in one place. This makes it easy for the user to see all the information he could want without much effort, such as trying to figure out where the navigation links are and how the page is organized. However, if there is a lot of work and other information to be presented in a portfolio, a single page will not do. Logical organization is the only thing that can make a vast amount of visuals and information accessible to visitors of the site. This presents a challenge - usability. The designer needs to see the site from a user's standpoint and make it equally effortless for the user to find his way around the site.

There is also something to be said about expectations. A multipage website is the norm, and thus most users intuitively look for navigation and organization because it is what they are used to. A single page site then may require an extra effort on the user side to realize that "this is it."

The details of the client, which in most online portfolio cases is likely the designer himself, should determine which way of organization is best. Such details may be the skill level of the designer, budget if the design is outsourced, amount of creative pieces and personality and style of the designer. Just like with any other job, a custom solution will satisfy the specific need of each portfolio project the best.

In the specific case of my online portfolio, I wanted to use it as a showcase of different design styles, so a single page would not work as well for that reason alone. However, a single page portfolio, when it is done nicely, can be very powerful, if the visitor never feels like the page is lacking interactivity or complexity.