Today: Caleb Wu

Sometimes a portfolio shows up in your feed and you immediately understand why it’s getting attention.

That’s exactly what happened with Caleb.

He posted his portfolio on LinkedIn recently and shared that this is his fifth iteration. The previous versions didn’t land interviews. This one did. Within a single day of posting it, he reported:

• Nine interview opportunities

• Three from top-tier companies in NYC and San Francisco

• Four from early-stage startups

• Two contract opportunities

The post itself exploded: nearly 2,000 likes and over 150 comments.

This doesn’t happen by accident.

And while the internet loves to frame moments like this as overnight success, the reality is much simpler: Caleb kept iterating until the craft caught up with the ambition.

He designed the portfolio in Figma, built it with a standard web stack, and refined parts of it with modern tooling like Claude Code, Figma Make, and Rive for animation work. Whether you call that coding or vibe coding doesn’t really matter — the point is that he used the tools intelligently.

More importantly: he cared about the details.

And when you look at the portfolio itself, that becomes obvious very quickly.

Let’s dive into why it works so well.

The Good

Radical simplicity executed with obsessive detail

On the surface, Caleb’s portfolio is almost shockingly simple.

Layout-wise, there’s barely anything going on.

It’s essentially four “slides”:

• An intro

• Two case studies

• A final slide with a small bonus interaction

That’s it.

There are only two case studies in total — one product design project and one brand design project.

And yet that was enough to generate nine interviews.

This alone should answer the question people ask constantly:

The answer is simple: one or two excellent ones.

Five average case studies won’t get you interviews.

Two exceptional ones absolutely can.

Caleb’s portfolio proves that.

But what makes it work isn’t complexity — it’s detail.

The intro slide is almost empty. His name sits at the top. At the bottom he lists where he currently works and where he previously worked.

And floating around the page are small, hand-drawn shapes that gently hover with low-gravity motion.

That’s it.

But those shapes, their movement, their spacing, their timing — all of it has been tuned until the page feels warm, human, and intentional.

It’s the exact meaning of the phrase he uses himself:

“Sweating the visual details.”

Even the case study cards show this mindset.

Instead of embedding a standard video preview, Caleb creates a floating card where the product demo plays softly in the background. The lower part of the card is slightly blurred to make room for the overlay text.

It’s a tiny implementation detail.

But it instantly makes the whole thing feel more premium.

These are the kinds of micro-decisions that compound.

And then there’s the final slide.

When you reach the end of the portfolio, Caleb thanks you for stopping by — and gives you a sticker.

One of those hand-drawn shapes from the intro appears as a collectible. Each time you return to the portfolio, you get another one.

It’s a tiny retention mechanism.

Completely unnecessary.

But it makes you smile. And apparently it worked — I came back enough times to collect four stickers.

This is what people often misunderstand about craft. It’s not about adding more things. It’s about making small things matter more.

Caleb’s portfolio is a great example of that.

A case study that shows how modern storytelling actually works

The product case study — Revision Dojo — is where Caleb really shows how he thinks.

Again, the layout is extremely simple. A wide content column, large visuals, minimal text.

But the storytelling is precise.

As you scroll, a subtle side navigation appears that anchors the sections without being visually dominant.

Instead of relying on long paragraphs, Caleb structures the case study around two levels of headings:

• Small section labels like “The Mission” for navigation

• Larger narrative headings that actually tell the story

This allows you to skim the entire case study by reading just the headings — and still understand the full arc of the project.

That’s excellent narrative design.

The body text is intentionally short. One or two sentences per section. The font is large. The visuals dominate the page.

If you’re busy, you can skim.

If you’re curious, you can dive deeper.

The ratio is roughly four parts visuals, one part text — and the two always appear together in the viewport so that the explanation and the artifact reinforce each other.

Even design decisions are explained visually.

Instead of writing long explanations, Caleb isolates UI components and annotates them directly. The component is pulled out of the interface, placed on a neutral background with a soft shadow, and labeled with simple hierarchy notes.

You don’t read his reasoning.

You see it.

The same applies when he shows the illustration system for the product. Instead of dumping assets in a grid — which many portfolios do — he animates them into view. The animation is simple and subtle, but it instantly elevates the presentation.

Even the research section, which often becomes the weakest part of a case study, is handled cleverly.

He does something I usually advise people not to do: showing lots of sticky notes with user feedback.

But instead of presenting a static FigJam screenshot, he turns it into a visual moment. Sticky notes animate into place over a background video of a session. The effect is clear:

There was a lot of feedback.

The point isn’t to read every note — the point is to feel the density of the input and the complexity of the problem space.

From there he transitions into the solution and closes the case study with a short video showing the team reacting to the final product.

It’s personal, authentic, and a satisfying narrative ending.

From start to finish, the case study feels deliberate.

Not flashy.

Just very, very well crafted.

The Potential

The navigation hides some of the best work

For a portfolio that focuses so heavily on detail, the one area where those details could be pushed a bit further is the top navigation. I would love to see the details sweated more here ;).

Caleb has some excellent content almost hidden there.

The About section is already strong. It contains a playful “outside of design” expansion where you can reveal personal interests and details, followed by a very authentic photo gallery.

But the real hidden gem is the Playground.

This section contains:

• Motion experiments from the Dojo project

• Game assets and pixel art

• Various small explorations and older pieces

Some of the work here is slightly rougher than the main projects — and that’s perfectly fine. In fact, it shows growth. You can see where he was years ago compared to the level he’s at now.

But the problem is simple: it’s very easy to miss entirely.

Because the portfolio is so focused on the center column, the navigation doesn’t draw much attention to itself. Many people will scroll through the main slides and leave without ever discovering the Playground.

Given how much effort Caleb clearly puts into visual details, the navigation could benefit from a similar level of care.

Small touches like subtle icons, slightly stronger visual cues, or micro-interactions could help signal that there are valuable sections to explore up there.

The same applies to the resume link, which currently opens a traditional PDF. This works, of course, but it feels slightly disconnected from the otherwise polished experience. An embedded or web-based resume with an optional PDF download could bring that piece in line with the rest of the portfolio.

None of these things are major issues.

But when the rest of the portfolio is so detail-driven, they become noticeable.

The Verdict

Caleb’s portfolio is a fantastic example of something that many designers underestimate:

You don’t need complexity to impress.

You need:

• Clear taste

• Careful execution

• Strong storytelling

• And a willingness to iterate until the details feel right

Caleb’s own story proves that point.

This portfolio didn’t appear out of nowhere. It’s the result of multiple failed versions, continuous refinement, and an obvious dedication to improving craft.

If you look at some of the artwork in his Playground from years ago compared to what he produces today, the progression is obvious.

And that’s the real takeaway here.

Talent helps. Taste helps. But at the end of the day, the biggest difference between the portfolios that get ignored and the ones that generate interviews is often simple:

Someone sat down and did the work.

Caleb did.

And it shows.

If he keeps pushing his craft the way he has over the past few years, I’m very confident this portfolio won’t be the last thing from him that gets attention.

If you’d like to craft a similarly impressive portfolio Framer is likely your best choice.

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.

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.

• Free if you are a student: Although Framer already offers a generous free plan for everyone, if you are an enrolled student you can get Framer Pro completely for free!

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.

How I can help YOU

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