Design is not a Four-Letter Word?
Creating a portfolio has always felt like a bit of a contradiction for me. Part of me sees its value, while another part feels it may not quite fit my work’s essence.
Over time, the title of “Designer” has shifted in meaning. My passion has gravitated toward strategy—uncovering insights, solving problems, and building things that create value. I was never just about the “look” of a product. The aesthetics, when guided by a strong Design System (DSM), often fall into place naturally. Design tools today are so advanced they streamline visuals almost automatically. But strategy, insight, and intentional design choices? Sorry AI, those still take human experience.
I see myself as a strategic thinker, a builder. Whether it’s imagining digital solutions, carpentry, growing a garden, or customizing my motorcycle, I focus on creating something meaningful. I believe collaboration amplifies the best ideas, and I love empowering others, especially designers, to make full use of the DSM while keeping the end goal in mind—solving a problem that brings value to the enterprise. To some, this still falls under the word, Design. To others, the word Design means someone who can pick out great curtains. Isn’t it about time marketing creates a new buzz word? If I could suggest one, I’d submit “Innovator” for consideration.
Creating Online Pages
I’m comfortable with content management systems. I have been using WordPress personally for a very long time, and I’ve worked on large IT projects using everything Fortune 500 companies use from AWS to Salesforce. My web presence was out of date and maybe a little abandoned. It was time to scrap it all and rebuild. I decided to start from scratch and stood up three new WP sites, Charlonis.com, BigBadBrian.com, and BigBadBrewery.com. These are fun sites I have on the side, and the experience gave me the confidence to start planning a portfolio site.
The Portfolio Page
My portfolio site is Charlonis.com/portfolio, and is password protected. Connect with me on LinkedIn if you’re interested to look under the hood.
I’m using a WordPress feature called Themes to control the look and feel, similar to leveraging a DSM. The page building system native to WordPress is similar to Figma, in terms of aligning objects and controlling the layout.
Of course it has to be RWD. When you view the portfolio, resize your browser to see it work. Or visit with your phone and laptop.
Shaping My Portfolio
What would my portfolio look like?
I’m not out to claim all the credit for every design or interaction. My portfolio will highlight my role, the challenge, the process, and the results in a way that honors the team’s contributions and the project’s context. My focus has always been on the user journey—building out an experience, refining it, and iterating over time.
- I’m a bridge, aligning different stakeholders ranging from executives, Business, design and technology teams to an idea.
- I’m a collaborator to formally define an idea. And to get it done.
- I create napkin sketches and low fidelity concepts for validating and testing.
- I creative direct design teams.
- I create analysis documents to identify gaps for information gathering.
- I can plan and conduct Design Thinking workshops, and stakeholder interviews.
- I create clickable prototypes in Figma to guide collaboration across teams.
- I’m comfortable working with or without a DSM. We can extend or make a new one.
- I have that skill they talk about, I can capture requirements and translate into actionable scope for stakeholders, design, and technology teams.
- I can manage large IT projects with many teams, and across time zones.
- I make roadmaps, and fill backlogs.
- I like to say to colleagues, “We do the impossible regularly” and “You can’t build something ‘Better-than-Great’ in one release”.
Introducing: My Profile
To give my portfolio some context, I created a professional profile page on Charlonis.com. This introduction answers key questions a hiring manager might have.
This page is open to the public, with no password. It’s a doorway page to bring a visitor to my portfolio, or to connect with me on Linkedin.com if they want the password to the portfolio.
- What’s his story?
- What’s his professional experience?
- What’s he good at?
- What’s his approach?
- Who’s he worked for?
- What does he do for fun?
Client List: A Peek into My Portfolio
For the first version of my portfolio, I included a page with logos of notable clients and a sentence or two about each project. Organized by industry—Banking and Financial Services, Healthcare, Insurance, Retail—this Minimal Viable Product (MVP) Portfolio Page serves as a foundation. My plan has been to develop detailed case studies over time, with a password-protected structure for privacy. My MVP approach creates a foundation to see everything at once.
I’ve worked on a lot of projects, across many industries. This has exposed me to many best-practices, and I’ve collected even more insights along the way.
Case Studies: A Thoughtful Approach
Creating case studies takes a thoughtful approach, especially since many of my projects can’t be fully shared due to confidentiality. Starting with the clients and images I can legally showcase, I’m building out three or four initial case studies. For projects where I lack visuals, I’m using storytelling to highlight the challenge, my role, the solution, and the results without needing screenshots.
After exploring designer portfolios, I decided to explore agency portfolios. I was inspired by how agencies balance storytelling with confidentiality of their clients. My portfolio will need more than logos and brief descriptions. I’m crafted some content models and refining to prioritize what hiring managers want—clear, concise storytelling with insights into my approach and impact.
First Case Studies
Boom! A first draft, ready for review. I’m defining my messaging strategies and constantly refining to include more details. I’ve learned a lot making the first set of case studies. I wish I made them sooner.
- American Tire Distributors
- The Coca-Cola Company
- AvalonBay Communities
- Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
Reflections and Refinement
Iterating on my portfolio content has been an exercise in clarity. After working through redundant drafts, I’ve refined the narrative to make my first case study as straightforward as possible. Using Figma for layout and AI to improve clarity, I’m stripping each story down to the essentials: my role, the challenge, the solution, and the results. This process has reminded me of the value of storytelling in demonstrating the strategic thinking that defines my work.
I have more case studies to build.
