Today: Annabelle Wieland

Annabelle’s portfolio is a great example of a junior designer who isn’t afraid to go deep — and that alone makes it worth your time.

Based in London, Annabelle brings a strong sense of curiosity and rigour to her work. She doesn’t stop at surface-level observations — she digs into how products are used, where user pain points intersect with business impact, and how design can meaningfully address both.

That kind of mindset is already rare at the junior level. With a bit more polish and refinement in how her work is presented, this portfolio could really shine.

The Good

Deep Thinking and a Focus on Real Problems

Annabelle’s biggest strength is her willingness — and ability — to go deep into problem spaces.

In her MyTutor case study, for example, she spends real time understanding tutor workflows, identifying pain points not just for the user, but for the business, and framing the entire project around solving something that actually matters.

This isn’t just box-checking user research. It’s thoughtful, intentional work that clearly reflects a desire to uncover the “why” behind the “what.” That foundation shows up in every project she includes.

Purposeful Visuals (With Zero Fluff)

While Annabelle’s portfolio isn’t flashy, it’s purposeful — and that goes a long way.

Rather than flooding the page with oversized UI dumps or generic wireframes, she keeps her visuals targeted and relevant. She also makes use of animated overviews and flow videos to introduce key project work, which is far more useful than forcing someone to scroll through endless screen mockups.

There’s a clarity here in what she chooses to show — and that’s a good instinct. As her visual storytelling evolves further, this foundation will make it easy to build on.

The Potential

Too Much Content, Not Enough Structure

The biggest challenge with Annabelle’s portfolio is simply: it’s too much.

Her writing is thoughtful and detailed — but also long-winded, and at times overwhelming.

This starts with her intro. It’s three short paragraphs — not long on paper, but more than most visitors will read. While she highlights good qualities (like driving business success), they’re buried in a sea of generalities. A sharper, one-paragraph intro would likely have more impact — especially if it’s focused around her strengths in business-aligned UX and deep research.

The same issue shows up in her case studies. Key outcomes are there — but buried. It took a lot of scrolling and digging to even find the result of her MyTutor work, even though it was meaningful. A clearer visual structure, a consistent results section, or even a quick TL;DR block could help surface the most valuable parts of her work much faster.

Some of the content could also be condensed or cut. Yes, it’s good to see how thorough she is — but right now, it’s more likely to exhaust than impress.

Visual Hierarchy and Layout Could Use a Boost

While her minimalist layout works in theory, the visual execution is a bit undercooked in places.

A few areas to address:

• Typographic hierarchy: Headings often have the same spacing before and after, which makes it hard to know what belongs together. The contrast between text sections is too subtle to create rhythm or flow.

• Boxed sections: She uses light background containers to separate sections, but the contrast is so faint they don’t actually serve the purpose of helping readers navigate.

• Alignment & consistency: In places, there are padding inconsistencies, widows, and uneven type sizing that disrupt reading flow.

Even without a full redesign, applying a stronger typographic system, refining spacing, and improving contrast could drastically increase scannability. And that, in turn, would make her already solid thinking shine even more.

Final Thoughts

Annabelle’s portfolio shows a designer who is already asking the right questions — and thinking beyond the screen.

She’s curious, detail-oriented, and focused on outcomes that matter. If she can bring more clarity to how that work is structured and shown — especially through tighter writing and more polished layout — she’ll go from “has potential” to “ready to go” very quickly.

If you’re wondering how to tackle complex user and business problems as a junior designer — Annabelle’s case studies are a great place to start. Just be ready to scroll.

Annabelle’s portfolio was made with Framer

Still struggling to get your portfolio off the ground?

Don’t want to spend weeks learning yet another tool? Framer is my top recommendation for building your portfolio — fast, clean, and without the usual headaches.

Annabelle crafted her portfolio with Framer like many others. This enables her to move quickly on any iterations and changes—just like you would in Figma!

If you’re just starting out (or even if you’re not), I think Framer is a perfect fit. Here’s why:

• Flat learning curve: The interface feels familiar if you’ve used Figma — plus, there’s a plugin to bring your designs straight in.

• Plenty of learning support: Framer Academy is packed with free tutorials, videos, and guides to help you go from zero to published.

• A huge template library: Tons of high-quality (often free) templates in the marketplace to help you launch quickly without starting from scratch.

And that’s just scratching the surface. I wrote more about why I recommend Framer here—but honestly, the best way is to try it for yourself.

Affiliate disclaimer: I only recommend tools I personally believe in. Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you choose to purchase — at no extra cost to you.

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