Today: Emmi Wu

This week’s portfolio review is Emmi Wu, a design and consumer psychology student at University of Pennsylvania. Her work first came onto my radar through Michael Riddering — which, frankly, is already a strong quality signal — and from there it was immediately clear why. Emmi is also currently a design intern at Perplexity, which says a lot in itself: their design bar is exceptionally high, and you don’t land there by accident.

What makes Emmi’s portfolio special isn’t just that it’s polished or visually impressive — plenty of portfolios are. It’s that it’s deeply intentional, playful without being frivolous, and ambitious without becoming scattered. She calls herself an interdisciplinary designer, which is usually a phrase that makes me cautious — but in this case, it’s earned.

This is a portfolio that shows rare range without losing coherence.

As always, I’ll break this down into two strong positives, followed by two potential improvements, and then wrap it up.

The Good

Multidisciplinary work — done the right way

I don’t highlight this often because, honestly, most portfolios don’t pull it off well. Emmi’s does.

Multidisciplinary portfolios usually fail in one of two ways:

1. They dilute focus by throwing unrelated work together.

2. They show uneven quality — strong in one area, noticeably weaker in others.

Emmi avoids both.

Her portfolio opens with a teaser for an upcoming hardware-focused concept (the OpenAI project). Normally, I’d advise against teasing unfinished work — but here, the teaser itself is good enough to justify its place. It sets tone, signals ambition, and earns attention.

From there, she leads with product design case studies — the work she’s most likely applying with — before expanding into illustration, brand, editorial, and experimental projects. This sequencing matters. Product design is clearly the backbone, while everything else feels additive rather than distracting.

Crucially, the quality is consistent across disciplines. Nothing feels like filler. Nothing feels like “I tried this once.” Each project earns its slot.

This is how multidisciplinary portfolios should work:

• Clear primary discipline

• Supporting crafts that reinforce taste, range, and execution

• No visible drop in craft level

It’s rare. Emmi nails it.

A surface that shows extraordinary craft

The surface of this portfolio is exceptional.

Yes, it’s built in Framer — but it’s the judgment behind the interactions that makes it impressive. Nothing feels gimmicky. Nothing feels added “because it’s possible.”

The footer alone deserves a shoutout: watering the plants to make them grow is playful, delightful, and technically well executed. The playground section — with draggable illustrations — reinforces her range without overwhelming the core work. The hero section says a lot with very little.

What really stands out is that the portfolio itself feels like a designed product, not a container for projects. You can tell Emmi thought deeply about pacing, interaction density, and emotional tone.

And importantly: this surface doesn’t overshadow the work — it frames it. That’s a hard balance to strike, and she pulls it off.

This is one of those portfolios where you feel impressed before opening a case study — and then relieved when the work backs it up.

The Potential

More context around impact, data, and “why”

This is where the critique gets subtle — because the work itself is undeniably strong.

Emmi’s visual storytelling is excellent. Her use of headings, minimal text, and visual hierarchy is among the best I’ve seen. You can understand her projects quickly and clearly without being overwhelmed.

What’s missing — or rather, underexplored — is contextual depth.

Take the Figma competition case study. I understand what she designed, but I know very little about:

• The competition itself

• The criteria

• Why this problem mattered

• How she evaluated success

Similarly, Path@Penn is conceptually strong, but ends abruptly. I’d love to see:

• A clearer articulation of impact

• Some form of validation or outcome

• Even speculative metrics or testing insights

I want to be clear: this is not a storytelling problem. It’s a context and impact problem.

Given the nature of some projects — competitions, concepts, early-stage ideas — hard business metrics may not always exist. That’s fine. But interpretation, rationale, and intent can still be articulated.

I’d love to see Emmi lean a bit more into:

• Why this work mattered

• What success looked like

• How she thought about impact, even when data was limited

It’s an area she can grow into — and one that would make an already strong portfolio even more compelling.

Too many “coming soon” signals

This is a tricky one — and very understandable given Emmi’s current stage.

There are several places in the portfolio that signal unfinished or withheld work:

• The OpenAI project teaser (dated Fall 2025 — we’re now in 2026)

• The Figma case study explicitly saying more will be added

• Case studies that end abruptly

• Locked NDA work (T-Mobile) without much framing

Each of these is reasonable in isolation. Together, they create a sense that there’s a lot more coming — but not quite here yet.

The risk is simple: portfolios are rarely revisited. Most reviewers will open it once, make a decision, and move on. “Coming soon” rarely pays off unless the update is imminent.

My recommendation here is focus, not urgency:

• Pick one case study

• Finish it completely

• Let the others be quieter rather than explicitly unfinished

For NDA work, clearer framing helps — even a short disclaimer explaining what can’t be shown and why. For teased projects, either ship a lightweight version or reduce how prominently they’re positioned.

This isn’t about doing more — it’s about presenting the most complete version of the story you can right now.

The Verdict

This is an outstanding portfolio.

Emmi’s craft level — especially in interaction design and visual execution — is exceptional. Her multidisciplinary range is rare and well curated. Her surface design is genuinely inspiring. And her work already competes with, and in some cases surpasses, what many senior designers put out publicly.

The potential points here are not red flags — they’re refinement opportunities:

• More clarity around impact and context

• Tighter handling of unfinished work

Even without addressing them, this portfolio has already opened the right doors — and will continue to do so. With a bit more completeness and framing, it could easily become one of the strongest early-career portfolios out there.

Emmi pulled this off in Framer — which you can get for free as a student!

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.

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• 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.

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