Case Study - A Personal Portfolio That Reflects 15+ Years of Design Expertise

The Opportunity

Vanessa came to us with a clear objective: to build a professional digital presence that could house her extensive experience and showcase her diverse work across top-tier apparel brands.

The goal was to create a clean, minimalist portfolio site that reflected her attention to detail and elevated her personal brand.

Why It Mattered

With over 15 years in the apparel industry, Vanessa had led projects that put her designs on the world’s biggest stages—yet had no digital hub to showcase her work.

Key Challenges:

• No existing portfolio site: Everything was offline or scattered across PDF documents and private folders.
• Highly visual work: Needed to present images, sketches, and technical breakdowns in a clean, digestible layout.
• Balancing breadth and focus: Her experience spanned categories (sportswear, performance, streetwear) and functions (design, technical development, sourcing).
• Industry expectations: Recruiters and collaborators expect a polished online presence that’s easy to navigate and mobile-friendly.

We focused on building a website that elevated her work, not just displayed it.

The Goal

• Craft a clean, modern digital portfolio that positions Vanessa as a senior-level product expert.
• Make it effortless to browse key projects, visuals, and outcomes.
• Optimize for mobile, recruiter traffic, and future-proof updates.

Our Process

1. Information Architecture & Wireframing

We started by mapping her work history and project highlights into clear categories: case studies, experience, and a bio.

Wireframes focused on scannability and flexibility—prioritizing key visuals with expandable details for deeper insights.

2. Brand & Visual Direction

We aligned on a minimal, editorial-style aesthetic:

• Clean typography with intentional whitespace
• Neutral color palette to let her work stand out
• Grid layout optimized for apparel visuals and responsive scaling

3. Full-Stack Web Development

We built the site using:

• Next.js for performance and SEO optimization
• Tailwind CSS for flexible, utility-first styling
• Contentlayer for easy content editing and future expansion
• Vercel for fast, reliable hosting

This stack gave Vanessa a fast-loading, future-proof site that’s easy to maintain.

The Result: Vanessa Aragon

Vanessa’s new site launched as a polished portfolio that reflects the depth and caliber of her work.

Highlights

• Mobile-first responsive design
• Case study–style project pages with visual storytelling
• Editable CMS structure for future updates
• Fast loading and optimized for recruiter SEO

From Legacy to Lead

“This site finally feels like me. It’s clean, professional, and lets my work speak for itself. I’ve already had new leads come in who found me through it.”
— Vanessa Aragon

What’s Next

Vanessa now has a platform she can build on—adding new projects, speaking engagements, and design insights as her brand grows. We’re exploring additional case study templates and potential integration with a private project viewer for selective access.

See it in Action

Visit Vanessa's Portfolio

What we did