Today: Kate Nikles

Kate Nikles’ portfolio is a vibrant showcase of multidisciplinary craft with a strong pull toward product design.

An illustrator, animator, brand designer, and UI/UX designer, Kate brings a rare range of skills to the table. While her background and strengths clearly lie in visual design, branding, and illustration, her portfolio makes it equally clear that she’s moving with intent toward UX and UI work. What stands out most is how she carries her sense of style and craft across disciplines — whether in brand-heavy showcases, playful game UI, or more traditional product design projects.

For multidisciplinary designers (especially those moving into UX/UI from graphic, motion, or brand design), Kate’s portfolio is a strong example of how to balance breadth with focus. It’s not just a gallery of skills — it’s a curated surface that communicates personality, polish, and capability.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes this work — and where some tweaks could take it even further.

The Good

A consistent visual voice across disciplines

What immediately draws you in is Kate’s unmistakable visual style. Whether it’s branding and illustration showcased in I Don’t Mind, or playful game UI work in Love at the Milky Way Diner, the projects feel cohesive and professionally crafted. The work doesn’t just show skill — it shows personality, with a creative identity that ties everything together. For clients seeking branding, marketing, or illustrative work, this is convincing proof of quality and polish.

Smart breakdowns in her UI/UX case studies

In her UX/UI projects, Kate often breaks out individual UI elements and explains them in context. This approach works especially well on denser screens: by isolating and highlighting key parts of the interface, she makes it easy to understand both the intent and the craft behind her design decisions. It’s not just a storytelling technique — it’s a way to demonstrate clarity of thought and impact within the bigger product picture. Done in her signature style, these breakdowns are engaging, legible, and a clever bridge between her visual background and product-focused storytelling.

The Potential

Elevating the UX/UI case studies beyond the basics

While the multidisciplinary work shines, the longer UX/UI case studies (Big Smile and Chef’s Kiss) feel more conventional — closer to the “cookie-cutter” bootcamp style than the crafted visual storytelling Kate shows elsewhere. Linear structures with headings like “wireframes,” “style guide,” and “high-fidelity screens” flatten the story, and heavy screen-dumps dilute impact.

Kate has the tools to make this much stronger. More curated visuals, fewer redundant flows, and prototype recordings embedded in mockups would make the case studies both more engaging and more scannable. Headings could shift from generic labels (“Process,” “Wireframes”) to narrative cues that explain why each step mattered and what meaningful thing happened here. In short: apply the same creative energy she brings to branding and illustration to her UX/UI storytelling, and these case studies could really sing.

Sharpening positioning for clarity and focus

Right now, Kate leads with a list of disciplines — illustration, branding, UI/UX, animation, 3D, print — and lets the work speak for itself. While it’s clear she can do all these things, the risk is that recruiters won’t connect the dots. If Kate’s focus is on landing UX/UI roles (especially consumer-facing product design), that needs to be front and center.

A clearer positioning line — for example, “Product designer with deep multidisciplinary skills in branding, illustration, and animation” — would set expectations right away. Supporting disciplines can still be listed, but the emphasis should be on the role she’s targeting now. Similarly, reordering her project list so that UX/UI work leads (rather than starting with branding and game UI) would make the portfolio more relevant to product design recruiters at first glance. It’s not about losing her multidisciplinary identity — it’s about making sure the first impression matches the roles she wants.

Final Thoughts

Kate Nikles’ portfolio is a vivid, creative, and polished showcase of multidisciplinary design. From branding and illustration to game UI and product design, it demonstrates range, craft, and personality — the kind of versatility that makes her a natural fit for early-stage startups or consumer-facing teams looking for a designer who can wear multiple hats.

What will take it to the next level is sharpening the UX/UI storytelling and clarifying her positioning. With a stronger focus on how she frames her product design work — and a clearer signal of the roles she’s aiming for — Kate can turn an already impressive portfolio into one that resonates immediately with recruiters and hiring managers.

This is a portfolio worth studying for anyone bridging disciplines. It proves that you don’t have to leave your past behind to step into product design — you just need to tell the story in a way that makes your focus unmistakable.

Kate’s portfolio wasn’t done with Framer. But it very well could have been.

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.

Although Kate crafted her portfolio in a different way, Framer enables you to produce polished and clean outcomes like her portfolio in absolutely no time.

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.

How I can help YOU

Do you want your own portfolio reviewed in-depth with a 30-minute advice-packed video review? Or do you require mentoring to figure out a proper strategy for your job search?

I got you!

• Book an in-depth portfolio or resume review with me

• Book a mentoring session with me

• Book a quick 15 min chat to ask a question and see if we vibe