Best Portfolio Websites of 2021 |47 Examples + Templates

1. Illo

URL: https://illo.tv/

Oh yes. Looking for a modern portfolio website example? Illo definitely is one to watch!  This design studio created a bold portfolio design by using powerful colors combined with big fonts. Love it!

• Awesome animations
• Very unique web design
• Lots of whitespace

2. Dennis Krawec

URL: https://www.krawec.org/

Haha oh yes. You definitely want to have a look at this one. Dennis Krawec was actively listening when you asked him to ‘go bold with your portfolio website’.  The creativity is everywhere!

• Very unique web design
• Bold colors and shapes
• The website feels very much ‘alive’

3. By Experience

URL: https://www.byxp.co.uk/

By Experience is an agency which created their own portfolio website. And they clearly know what they’re doing. They used an animated background with bold fonts and fun images. Very inspiring portfolio example!

• Nice animations
• Bold color scheme
• Incredible images

4. Created by Carla

URL: https://createdbycarla.co.uk/

Carla is a freelance marketing consultant with a nice portfolio website. As you click on the portfolio section of this website, you’ll find a powerful call to action which invites you to get in touch. I’m sure this website converts many visitors into customers!

• Clear call to actions
• High converting website
• Clean design

5. Web design by Lucia

URL: https://webdesignbylucia.com/

Lucia is a web designer based in Spain. Her website features a nice background video which makes you feel instantly connected to Lucia. Definitely a nice way to engage with your visitors!

• Clear call to actions
• Nice video background
• Clean design

6. Phoyd

URL: https://phoyd.nl/

Phoyd is a web designer based in the Netherlands. I love how he uses cool shapes throughout the website to create a funky vibe!

• Clear call to actions
• Funky shapes
• Clean design

7. Nine 9 Web Design

URL: https://nine9webdesign.co.uk/

Nine9 web design is a web design agency with a cool portfolio website! The scrolling animations as you explore the website are a great way to make the website come ‘alive’!

• Nice scrolling animations
• Great color scheme
• Clean design

8. Mary Rohl

URL: http://maryrohldesigns.com/

Mary Rohl is a visual designer. I love the color scheme which is consistent throughout the entire website.  Very clean web design!

• Clear call to actions
• Great copywriting
• Nice typography

9. Jonathan Jackson

URL: https://johnathanjackson.com/

Jonathan Jackson is a UX/UI designer. The website features an inspiring background video and cool shapes throughout the entire website. Definitely check this one out!

• Nice shapes
• Awesome background video
• Clean website design

10. Ana Cano

URL: https://anacanodesign.com/

Ana Cano is a web designer with a nice portfolio example! I love how Ana blends the outfit she wears in the background image with the rest of her color scheme. Clever!

• Awesome color scheme
• Nice images
• Greet portfolio design!

11. Created by Carla

URL: https://createdbycarla.co.uk/

Carla is a freelance marketing consultant with a nice portfolio website. As you click on the portfolio section of this website, you’ll find a powerful call to action which invites you to get in touch. I’m sure this website converts many visitors into customers!

• Clear call to actions
• High converting website
• Clean design

12. Christina Vanessa

URL: https://www.christinavanessa.com/

Christina Vanessa decided to do things a little bit differently with her portfolio website. She leverages a powerful background video combined with slick typography. Very classy!

• Nice background video
• Clean design
• Clear call to action

13. Sophie Britt

URL: https://www.sophiebritt.com/

Sophie Britt is a visual designer with a very unique portfolio website. She decided to keep things clean and use lots of whitespace. I love how she uses shiny colors to add playfulness to her portfolio!

• Amazing artwork
• Playful colors
• Lots of whitespace

14. Lena Steinkühler

URL: https://www.lenasteinkuehler.com/

Lena Steinkühler is an artist based in Hamburg. She definitely knows what she’s doing, and you’ll experience the same after visiting her website for a few seconds. The incredible background images showcase her portfolio projects – and yes – they look incredible!

• Amazing 3D art
• Cool typography
• Very unique design style

15. Carles Palacio

URL: http://carlespalacio.com/

Carles Palacio decided to approach his portfolio website a little bit differently. He chose for a minimal website design combined with a clean menu design. Very inspiring!

• Unique web design
• Clean menu
• Epic background image

16. Steve Wolf

URL: https://www.stevewolf.co/

Steve Wolf is a design and branding studio from Austin, Texas. I love the approach they took – big and bold images combined with a minimalistic design. Great portfolio website!

• Nice building blocks
• Powerful images
• Lots of whitespace

17. Wendy Ju

URL: https://www.wenxinwendyju.com/

Wendy Ju definitely created a modern portfolio example to showcase her projects. I love the scrolling effects combined with incredible images. Definitely make sure to check this one out!

• Unique web design style
• Very clean design
• Nice layout dividers

18. Studio Bagaz

URL: https://www.studiobgz.com/

Studio Bagaz is an agency based in Israel. This is definitely an inspiring portfolio example. Actually, when you check this one out, have a look at the ‘contact’ page. It’s awesome!

• Love the color scheme
• Clear value proposition
• Great website set up

19. Shiyuan Ye

URL: https://www.shiyuandesign.com/

Shiyuan is a graphic designer who built an epic portfolio website. I love the big fonts and the moving objects. Definitely have a look at this inspiring portfolio!

• Nice portfolio images
• Clear introduction above the fold
• Nice colors

20. David Milan

URL: https://www.davidmilan.com/

David Millan is an art director and lettering artist. I love how he constructed his portfolio around this lettering arts. His homepage is filled with portfolio projects and does a great job at showcasing his creativity.

• Very powerful images
• Nice logo design
• Lots of portfolio examples

21. Thai Pham

URL: https://www.thaiphamphotography.com/

Thai Pham is a photographer based in Vietnam. Her website is so incredibly clean, there’s no fluff to be found. If you desire to build a minimal yet powerful portfolio website, this is a great example to study!

• Powerful bakcground image
• Clean menu design
• Unique website setup

22. Reut Chen

URL: https://www.reutchen.com/

Reut Chen is a textile designer based in Israel. What I love about this portfolio website is quite simple, yet so powerful. The headline. It instantly tells you wat Reut does, and how it could help you. Simple but smart!

• Great portfolio examples
• Clear value proposition
• Nice shapes

23. Michael Schmid

URL: http://workdiary.de/

Michael Schmid is a developer based in Germany who created one of the most minimal portfolio websites I’ve ever seen. It contains almost no text, yet it looks awesome. Have a look at the animations on this website!

• Cool animations
• Clean design
• Fun domain name 

24. Bartlett School of Architecture

URL: https://bartlettarchucl.com/ss20

The Bartlett School of architecture built a pretty cool website which is very inspiring. Depending on what type of portfolio website you want to build, this website is definitely worth to explore!

• Amazing portfolio examples
• Nice animations
• Cool color scheme

25. Pchico

URL: https://pchico.es/

Pchico is a designer based in Spain. The website uses a slick typography and has a minimalistic design. I’m a big fan of the design of the cursor as you hover over the website.

• Clean design
• Nice portfolio projects
• Lots of whitespace

26. Simon Daufresne

URL: https://simondaufresne.com/

Simon Daufresne is a designer based in Paris. This portfolio example is about as minimalistic as possible. Very inspiring!

• Incredible scrolling objects
• Nice animations
• Great website set up

27. Sophie DFK

URL: https://www.sophie-dkf.com/

Sophie is a freelance graphic designer from France. I love the scrolling animations as you scroll down this website. Definitely make sure to have a look at this portfolio example!

• Minimalistic web design
• Nice scrolling objects
• Clean design

28. Language Dept

URL: https://www.languagedept.com/

Language Dept is a portfolio website you should definitely check out. The effects when you scroll down the website – hell yes – are simply amazing! Super inspiring web design!

• Nice images
• Unique design
• Great value proposition

29. Nahel Moussi

URL: https://nahelmoussi.com/

Nahel Moussi built an amazing portfolio website. The scrolling animations as you explore this portfolio are super inspiring. I love the visual effects as you tap on one of the portfolio projects. Love it!

• Bold design
• Great scrolling animations
• Cool portfolio reel

30. Vault 49

URL: https://www.vault49.com/

Vault 49  uses a dark color scheme which makes this portfolio example feel high-end and luxurious. The scrolling animations as you explore the website are awesome!

• Slick menu design
• Bold design
• Nice scrolling animations

31. Michiel de Graaf

URL: https://www.michieldegraaf.com/

Michiel de Graaf is a designer based in the Netherlands. I love the way he showcases his portfolio projects in a minimalistic and funky way. Very inspiring portfolio example!

• Fun copywriting
• Nice portfolio examples
• Clean design

32. More Air

URL: http://moreair.co/

More Air is an agency that designs digital products. I love the typography and the amount of whitespace which was used in this portfolio. Well done!

• Nice images
• Lots of whitespace
• Great value proposition

33. Mixd

URL: https://www.mixd.co.uk/

Mixd is a web design agency based in the United Kingdom. And let’s face it, this color scheme rocks! Definitely have a look at this portfolio if you want to create a professional website.

• Nice images
• Unique design
• Great value proposition

34. Made Together

URL: https://www.madetogether.com.au/

Made Together is an agency based in Australia. I like how this portfolio example uses small animations to make the website come ‘alive’. Well designed!

• Clean design
• Lots of whitespace
• Cool animations

35. Jacky Winter

URL: https://jackywinter.com/

Jacky Winter is an agency based in Collingwood, Australia. This is definitely one of the more unique portfolio websites which will bring you lots of inspiration. Love it!

• Epic way to show your creativity
• Cool animations
• Very unique web design

36. Yuri Magoori

URL: https://yurimagoori.com/

Yuri Magoori is an actor, musician, and multiple other things. His website features a simple and short layout and immensely powerful images, which combine to form an amazing portfolio. Very inspiring!

• Stunning images
• Clean and simple yet impactful
• Great balanced design

BONUS – Here is my favorite template

URL: https://mycodelesswebsite.com/try-theme/actor-cv

Why this is such a great template

• Clean design, great to turn visitors into customers
• WordPress compatible, easy to customize
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Get started in 2 steps

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BONUS: Elegant Themes

URL: https://elegantthemes.com/

Although this one officially shouldn't be in this list - I couldn't keep this one from you. Elegant themes has amazing website themes and leads by example. Their own homepage looks stunning.

What you can learn from this great  website

• Playful design
• Clear call to actions
• Great user experience

Portfolio website hosting

After trying many hosting services we found 2 which stand out.

#1 Bluehost [learn more]

✓ Great for hosting a single website
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#2 WPX Hosting [learn more]

✓ Great for hosting multiple websites
✓ Free migrations

Portfolio Website Best Practices

#1 Claim the right domain before it’s gone

#2 Spend your money wisely

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Portfolio Website FAQ