Best Portfolio Website for
Design Students (2026)
Behance is dead. Dribbble shots don't get you hired. Notion looks like everyone else's. The design students who get hired at Linear, Razorpay, and Cred have a portfolio with their voice on it. Here are the 4 templates built for design students in India — Aurora, Bento, Magazine, and Notebook. From ₹99 one-time.
SitesPlaced has 4 portfolio templates built for design students: Aurora (mesh-gradient + glass), Bento (Apple-grid), Magazine (editorial), and Notebook (handwritten). Pick the one that matches your discipline and your year. Available with the Student plan from ₹99 one-time.
1. Aurora Portfolio
Mesh-gradient hero with motivated glass cards, parallax orbs, and Now-page widgets for current reading / building / listening.
Reads like the personal site of a designer at a top product team. Restraint, taste, and warmth. Best for product/UX students who want to signal taste before they signal experience.
Best for: UX / product design students applying to product roles at Linear, Vercel, Razorpay, Cred
2. Bento Portfolio
Apple-style bento grid: name tile, photo tile, location, GitHub stars, and now-building tile. Mixed-size cards.
Visually demonstrates information architecture before a recruiter even reads a word. The medium IS the message. Best for designer-engineers and makers.
Best for: Indie designers, makers, students who ship side projects
3. Magazine Portfolio
Editorial spread with masthead, drop-cap article, asymmetric project plates with page numbers, and a numbered index of skills.
Carries the byline. If your work is print, type, branding, or editorial, this template treats your portfolio like a published cover story. Best for NID Communication Design and similar programs.
Best for: Communication design / graphic design students; type designers; print-leaning work
4. Notebook Portfolio
Lined paper background, washi tape, sticky notes, hand-lettered headings, and tilted polaroid project cards.
Foregrounds process over polish. If your strongest work is in your sketchbook and your studio iterations, this template makes that legible. Best for Foundation-year and design-research applications.
Best for: First/second-year design students; process-forward portfolios; design-research tracks
Match the template to your discipline
UX / Product Design — pick Aurora or Bento
Aurora signals modern product taste. Bento signals craft and information architecture. Both convert at design-led product companies.
Graphic / Communication Design — pick Magazine
Editorial spread is the natural medium for type and graphic work. Drop-cap and asymmetric grid signal print fluency.
Industrial / Product Design — pick Bento or Magazine
Bento for object-led catalogues. Magazine for narrative-led case studies. Both work well for the IDC and IIT Guwahati design programs.
First-year / Foundation — pick Notebook
Most first-years don't have polished case studies yet. Notebook foregrounds process, sketchbook, and iteration — exactly what NID Foundation programs reward.
Animation / Motion — pick Aurora or Y2K
Aurora's parallax and gradient motion suit motion-design portfolios. Y2K (loud, sticker-bordered) suits creator-leaning motion students.
What design recruiters actually look at
1-2 case studies, deep
Better to have two strong case studies than ten one-screenshot projects. Recruiters at top companies want depth: research → ideation → ship.
Role on each project
If a project was a team project, name your role: 'Visual designer; Sara handled IA, Aman handled prototyping.' Honesty wins.
Process, not just outcomes
A wireframe and three iterations beats a single polished mockup. Show the thinking — that's what they're hiring for.
Outcome metrics where they exist
+18% conversion. 1,200 reviews in 6 weeks. 4.2k MAU. If your project shipped, name the impact.
A real availability line
'Available for summer 2026 internships' is a buying signal. Recruiters scan for it before reading anything else.
Now / currently / building
A 'Now' page or section signals ongoing curiosity. It's the difference between a static résumé and a living practice.
Behance / Dribbble vs portfolio website
Behance and Dribbble are great for discovery and exposure — keep using them. But your primary portfolio link, the one in your résumé header and on your LinkedIn, should be a custom domain you control.
- Behance/Dribbble shots are decontextualized. A polished mockup with no role attribution can hurt more than help.
- Recruiters visit your portfolio first, your shots second. A real website signals seriousness in a way a Dribbble grid doesn't.
- You own the URL. Behance can change its product (and has). Your portfolio URL is yours forever.
- SEO works for you. When someone Googles your name, your portfolio should appear before your social profiles.
Frequently asked questions
I'm a NID student. Which template do most NID students use?
We don't have hard data, but anecdotally Aurora and Bento are most popular among NID UX/IxD students, while Magazine works well for Communication Design students. Notebook is favored by first-years.
Can I host long-form case studies inline?
Yes. All 4 templates support multi-image, long-scroll case studies. The Magazine template specifically renders well for 5-10 minute deep reads.
Do I need a custom domain?
Not initially — the free plan gives you yourname.sitesplaced.com. But if you're applying for senior internships or grad school, a custom domain (yourname.com) signals professionalism. Student plan adds it for ₹99 one-time.
Can I switch templates during placement season?
Yes. Your case-study content is preserved when you switch — only the layout changes. Some students try Magazine for the first round, then switch to Aurora when applying to product companies.
What about Notion / Webflow / Framer?
Notion is too plain for design students — it screams 'I didn't bother.' Webflow and Framer are powerful but require 8-15 hours to set up properly. SitesPlaced is 5 minutes for a comparable result.
Will recruiters care about my portfolio's loading speed?
Yes. SitesPlaced auto-compresses images and ships only what's needed. Most student portfolios load in under 2 seconds globally — important for Indian / international application timelines.
Aurora, Bento, Magazine, or Notebook?
Pick a template, upload your case studies, and ship. AI fills your bio from your résumé. From ₹99 one-time.
2-day refund policy · No auto-renewal