Having an online portfolio is pretty much a no-brainer these days. But all too often it's the old story of the cobbler's children who have no shoes - or in our case the designer who has no time for their own portfolio. Whether it's because there's too much work on, or because you can't settle on a design, or because you're somewhere in the middle of building the "perfect" portfolio, sometimes you just need to get something together, and fast.
If that's the case, you'll be interested to see the fourteen neat portfolio templates listed below - some for WordPress, some just HTML - that with a pinch of customization, and filled with your own work will have you up and running in no time.
So I should point out that in case you hadn't noticed with all this Web Design Week stuff - that ThemeForest is owned by Psdtuts+, or Psdtuts+ is owned by ThemeForest ... whichever ... so yes this is Collis cross-marketing shamelessly!
Excellent Portfolio Articles to Read
Before we get to the templates, you might also like to check out these great articles about portfolios (that by a weird coincidence are all written by Psdtuts+ staff):
- Creating the Perfect Portfolio via Digital-Web
- Creating a Successful Online Portfolio via SmashingMagazine
- Build a Killer Online Portfolio in 9 Easy Steps via FreelanceSwitch
- The Secret to Getting a Lot of Web Design Work via FreelanceSwitch
WordPress Portfolio Themes
WordPress is not a bad option for a portfolio, because it means keeping it up to date won't be such a chore. If you're used to the interface you'll know how easy it is, and if you're not, check out this Getting Started with WordPress article. There's also lots of web hosts that provide 1-click installs of WordPress - check out WordPress's list (that way the affiliate payments go to the open source project).
So here are some of the best ThemeForest WordPress portfolios, they all go for about $25.
Folio Theme
A mixture of blog and portfolio, showcases your most recent work, includes five colour variants.
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
Sleek Slide Portfolio
Some seriously nice AJAX sliding effects, featured projects, blog posts, four variants
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
Your Folio
Big featured project with AJAX slider, five colour variants, pulls in Flickr feed and blog posts
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
W-PhotoStudio
Slideshow, multiple galleries, lightboxed images
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
Briefcase Theme
A mixture of blog and portfolio, showcases your most recent work, includes five colour variants.
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
HTML Portfolio Templates
If straight HTML templates are more your thing ...
Design Portfolio
A simple Javascript-y portfolio theme that slides out to reveal more info on a project.
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
CleanFolio
A simple, neat and tidy place to present your work.
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
Premium Photography Template
A neat jQuery photography portfolio
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
Your Portfolio
Clean, grid based design with a Javascript contact form slider.
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
Easy Portfolio
Simplicity at it's best, javascript slider combined with a nice clean, white layout.
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
Grunge Design Company
A lot more personality than some of the other templates, but if you like grungy design ...
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
Scrolling Portfolio Template
A nice blank work holder that scrolls across with jQuery.
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
Vintage Theme
A very full featured template married with a sweet layout!
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
Creative Portfolio
Awesome template that mixes in a bit of style and colour, from uber-author Joefrey
View a Demo and Purchase via ThemeForest
Part of Web Design Week
This week our sister site ThemeForest launched a whole new category of items to sell that are particularly relevant to Psdtuts+ readers - namely Photoshop Templates. The new category means you can now design and sell Photoshop designs, as well as regular Web Templates and WordPress themes to earn a side or even full income. And on the flip side if you're coming up short on inspiration, you can get a kickstart by grabbing a PSD design from ThemeForest. So to give the new category the launch it deserves, all this week I'll be bringing you articles and tutorials on web design as part of our Psdtuts+ Web Design Week.
