Why I'm using contra for my portfolio (and why you should too)

I was introduced to Contra a couple of months back. Contra believes that "the future of work is independent," and is first and foremost a portfolio tool.

The Problem with Product Design Portfolios

If I look over the past 10 years, my portfolio as a Product Designer has had many twists and turns. I've rolled my own WordPress portfolio, then used Behance, Dribbble, Dunked and in more recent years: Medium (here's an example on Sprint Stories).

The truth is, over time, your portfolio can be stretched out across the internet. If you work for an agency, you've probably been told not to create portfolio or case study examples outside of the company website.

What's great about Contra, is that that isn't a problem.

Complements Your Existing Portfolio

What Contra is good at is creating a contents page for your portfolio. Got a press release showing the return on investment of one of your features? Put that in. Or you participated in a webinar somewhere on the web? If there's a URL, add that there too.

The advantage here is speed. Grab a tonne of links, write a context setter and you're done!

No Design, No Delay

I'll talk about this briefly here, but I'm sure there's an opportunity to talk more on this subject.

I love No Design platforms. What I mean by that is that the best design is no design. I can't count the times I've designed a portfolio rather than design the content within a portfolio. Obsessing about colours, font combinations, line height - yuck!

With a platform like Contra, having no control on the design, for me, is an absolute benefit.

Super Easy Portfolio

As a hiring manager, the number of times I've heard "oh, my portfolio isn't that up to date at the moment" is one of the biggest bugbears I experience. I honestly think it'll take you 5-15 minutes to setup, and all you need to up date it is by adding a link.

Check out mine here: https://contra.com/rosschapman

What I like about it (by the way reader, this isn't an ad), is that over time, as your design role changes, so can your portfolio. Mine now features more workshops and press releases rather than case studies for example.

Much more than just a Portfolio

I haven't even unlocked the potential of Contra yet. You can "explore the new independent community that connects you with flexible, commission-free opportunities" with access to clients and paid projects.

Setup your profile on Contra here: https://contra.com/