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Insights · Design practice

# Notes on making creative work clearer and more useful.

Three concise articles on portfolio selection, campaign systems and dependable production handoff.

Topics Portfolio · Campaigns · Production
Author Adesoye Mathew O.
Format Practical field notes

Portfolio strategy · 5 min

## Why showing less work can make a portfolio feel more senior

A portfolio is not an archive of everything a designer has made. It is a guided argument about judgement, range and the kind of work the designer should be hired to do next. When every project has the same size and emphasis, visitors must do the difficult work of deciding what matters.

### Lead with proof, not volume

The opening projects should demonstrate different strengths: a strong identity, a campaign system, a business-facing design and a digital experience. Repetition can make a large portfolio feel narrower than it really is.

### Add context where it changes the meaning

A final image becomes more persuasive when visitors understand the challenge, the design decision and the deliverables. Context should be concise, specific and honest. Unsupported results weaken trust.

### Keep the archive available

Curating the first view does not mean deleting older work. A secondary, filterable archive gives interested visitors more depth without forcing every visitor through the same volume of content.

Campaign systems · 4 min

## How to keep social media designs consistent without becoming repetitive

Consistency does not require using the same layout every day. It requires a recognisable set of rules. Those rules might include colour relationships, logo position, headline scale, image treatment, spacing and the way calls to action are presented.

### Separate fixed rules from flexible elements

Keep the strongest brand signals stable while allowing photography, message tone and composition to change. This balance creates recognition without making the feed feel mechanical.

### Design for a series, not a single post

A useful campaign template should survive several types of content: promotion, education, celebration and community messages. Testing the system with multiple messages reveals weaknesses before launch.

### Protect hierarchy

Every post should answer three questions quickly: what is this, why should I care and what should I do next? Visual effects should support those answers rather than compete with them.

Production · 4 min

## The difference between a beautiful file and a production-ready deliverable

A design can look excellent on one screen and still fail when it reaches a printer, developer or internal marketing team. Production-ready work anticipates the conditions in which the design will be used.

### Prepare the correct formats

Print files require correct dimensions, bleed, colour handling and export settings. Digital assets need suitable compression, dimensions and naming. Logos should be supplied in formats that cover both raster and vector use.

### Organise the handoff

Clear folders, version names and a simple usage note reduce mistakes. The recipient should not have to guess which file is final or how it should be applied.

### Test before delivery

Preview files at actual size, check small text, inspect mobile layouts and confirm that links, downloads and interactions work. Quality assurance is part of design, not an optional final step.

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