Something is happening in the design industry right now that I can't stop thinking about. Junior designers are being laid off — not because their work is bad, not because they aren't talented, but because companies have decided that AI can do what they do. I want to talk about why that's wrong. And I want to talk to the junior designers who are navigating this, because they deserve more than a LinkedIn post telling them to "learn prompt engineering."

A designer portfolio isn't a gallery. It's not an archive. It's not proof that you've been busy. It's a pitch.

My case studies were good. They were detailed, well-structured, and told the story of each project clearly. The problem was they didn't talk to each other — and nobody could see the thread connecting them.

Most designers today learned on a screen. They've built beautiful things — websites, apps, interfaces — and never once held a physical proof in their hands. That's not a criticism. It's just the shape of the industry over the last decade.

For years, my portfolio homepage was a clean grid of client logos. No context. No story. Just names — and the assumption that visitors would connect the dots between a recognizable brand and what I actually did for them.