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Getting your first paid job as a web designer seems like the most difficult task in this universe. It’s not because you are incompetent or lack any technical skills. Rather, employers feel a little hesitant to hire new talent.

But, every designer has to start somewhere. Right?

In this article, I will share some interesting project ideas to help you craft a great web design portfolio.

Now you might be wondering what the benefit of having a portfolio is. Basically, it’s used to display your skills to potential clients. In turn, it makes it very easy to land your first programming job.

Creative thinking

You don’t always have to design a traditional-looking website. Sometimes it’s better to think out of the box and use your web designing skills for creative innovation.

For example, let’s have a look at this Deep Sea project by Neal Agarwal .

Unlike most business websites, it has no monetary value. But, this kind of project will definitely attract a massive audience. Meaning you’ll have a greater chance to get hired.

I’m personally a big fan of Neal and learn from his projects. At the time of writing this article, he has released 20 fun and creative projects. “Spend Bill Gates’ Money,” “The Deep Sea,” and “The Size of Space” are some of my favorite. You can find all of his projects on the Nealun website .

There are many other frontend designers who took the time to show their creativity. For example, check out this interactive resume of Robby Leonardi .

So basically, the idea I want to convey is you should design something that will eventually bring a massive audience to your portfolio. The more eyeballs you grab, the better your chances are to get hired by potential clients and employers .

Apply trending web designs

Did you notice how every other tech giant (e.g. Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc.) is now offering a dark mode option in their apps?

In 2020, dark mode because the most popular concept in the web design field. As this is a relatively new concept, you have the opportunity to create a “toggle between light mode and dark mode” kind of project for your portfolio. If someone wants to add the dark mode setting on their website then you will be their preferred choice.

Similarly, these days, you will also see web pages with glowing and luminous color schemes. It makes a web page look more futuristic and attractive. Having a template with these color schemes will make your portfolio stand out from the rest of the web designers.

Look for what’s new out there, and make your own implementation of it.

Design a theme for WordPress

WordPress is no doubt the number one choice for setting up a website. According to an estimate , WordPress powers 38.2% of all websites on the World Wide Web. Meaning, it has a massive user base.

So, if you target this community and design a pixel-perfect theme for them then you will get more reach to an audience that is actually willing to buy a theme.

You can design a theme for anything like an eCommerce store, forum, or a simple blog. But, a point to be noted is your theme must be mobile-friendly and work seamlessly across all screen sizes.

Create a UI Kit

A User Interface (UI) kit is nothing but a collection of reusable design components. For example, tables, cards, graphs, and menus are some user interface elements that are required on many websites.

If you are somehow able to create a generic UI kit then I would highly recommend you to go for it. It will help you quickly design websites for your clients, sell it online, or even distribute it for free.

In the end, it may become your main product that generates multiple streams of income. One by attracting employers and another from selling the license.

To get started, you can make use of Bootstrap and Material Design .

Admin panel themes

Admin panel is a need for every dynamic website. It helps webmasters to moderate their website with ease.

An admin panel uses a lot of user interface components to bring life to data. For example, they frequently use graphs and charts to display progress. On the other hand, they also make use of data tables to add search and sort functionality in HTML table.

In my opinion, designing an admin panel theme will improve your skills as well as help you land a relevant job more easily.

Enhance web designs of big websites

Did you know about UpLabs ?

It is one of the most popular websites where graphic designers share their designs with the community. Many tech companies like Google, Airbnb, and Fitbit regularly announce contests to pick great talent for their team.

If you are familiar with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator then you can participate in these contests. Most of the time, you have to redesign their existing apps. But, in case you don’t know these tools than I would suggest you redesign popular websites (e.g. YouTube, Facebook) with coding and display them on your portfolio.

Now, people who visit your portfolio are probably familiar with popular websites, so if you improve their design than the employer will be able to compare your work with an existing design to evaluate your skills.

No matter whether you’re a web designer, app developer, or content creator, portfolio plays an important role to build trust in the eyes of a client or an employer. You must display some past projects and reviews to gain a freelancing project or land a permanent job.

This article was originally published on Live Code Stream by Juan Cruz Martinez (twitter: @bajcmartinez ), founder and publisher of Live Code Stream, entrepreneur, developer, author, speaker, and doer of things.

Live Code Stream is also available as a free weekly newsletter. Sign up for updates on everything related to programming, AI, and computer science in general.

6 tips on how to overcome the unique challenges of managing a fintech team

The fintech industry has grown immensely in the last few years, making up nearly half of all the venture capital invested in 2018. As a result of that investment and growth, regulations have been increasing, consumers are becoming dependent on fintech technologies and the fintech market, and fintech companies are maturing. But during this uncertain time, fintech companies must focus not only on establishing their name and securing funding, but also on sustaining their profitably and growth as much as possible.

One key factor that determines company success above everything else is your team.

I’ve found managing a fintech company is especially challenging because it requires two different management styles to address each side of the business: the ‘fin’ side and the ‘tech’ side.

Financial professionals typically use a bureaucratic leadership approach. Focusing on security and consistency is essential when dealing with client finances. A leader with a financial background tends to focus on following procedures, enforcing rules, and producing specific, predicted outcomes.

In a technical setting, however, operations tend to be less structured, with leaders adopting a more laissez-faire approach. On a technical team, everyone knows the end goal, but the process is still undetermined at the beginning of each project.

Technical teams often solve problems as they go, navigating the limitations and possibilities of reaching a goal each step of the way. Technical team leaders often assume that employees have the skills that they need to do their jobs, and so there is generally less supervision and more individual ownership.

As a relatively new industry, the regulations for fintech are continually changing. As a leader, you need a team that can follow existing rules while also adapting quickly as things are changing. Creating and leading a team that will be successful in this ever-shifting environment is crucial for success.

Below are a few challenges fintech leaders frequently face, and my tips for avoiding them.

Hiring strategically

Making hiring decisions is one of the most difficult processes for any business. Rather than taking on each hiring decision individually, make an overarching plan for hiring.

Your team is the backbone for everything your company does: propelling product development, raising capital, reaching your target market, and more. You should be putting as much thought and strategy into creating a hiring plan for different growth stages as you do other tasks, such as raising capital.

For an early-stage fintech company, the majority of your hiring budget should go towards engineering and product marketing talent because the focus is to build the product and get it out to your customers. One jack-of-all-trades business development person is also essential. This person can help you create a timeline for growth, which should coincide with a hiring plan for each phase.

A common mistake I’ve seen many fintech companies make is to hire an extensive marketing team before they have a product to promote. Instead, always hire for your current business needs, rather than projecting for next steps.

Look for local and remote talent

Like the dual-leadership approaches, hiring needs for fintech companies vary. Often, companies need people with a local understanding of compliance, markets, and partners to ensure success. However, the top engineering talent for technical needs could be located elsewhere.

Don’t be afraid to set up a distributed team and bring together the best fits for each role. A combination of local and distributed talent will help check all the boxes and create a model for scaling and working across borders from the beginning.

Prioritize your team expenses

To be competitive with fintech giants like Stripe or Monzo, many startups feel that they have to offer similar compensation packages or perks. For an early-stage startup, however, these are expenses you probably can’t afford.

Avoid overpromising perks and instead focus on factors that make the day-to-day work experience appealing and satisfying. For example, consider how you can offer your team members a flexible work-life balance.

Establish strict guidelines on intellectual property

Intellectual property is the backbone of any fintech company’s offering and needs to be treated as such. The team developing your technology knows it better than anyone, and they are in a position to take it. Though you hope that good hiring choices decrease this risk, it’s best not to take any chances.

Consulting with a legal professional to create airtight contracts about intellectual property for everyone in the company will help avoid legal problems later, especially when a majority of your team is working from home and possibly on less secure personal devices and networks.

Create a cross-functional understanding

Defining the responsibilities of your employees is necessary to ensure that you are getting the best out of each person and to avoid redundant work. However, letting different departments operate in silos can result in misalignment across the team.

Without cross-functional understanding, you could end up with a marketing strategy that misrepresents your product, or a product that is disconnected from what customers want.

To help everyone get and stay on the same page, organize regular interdepartmental meetings. I also recommend you implement cross-departmental reviews in your workflows to keep things on track.

Foster team unity

As in any early-stage company, fostering connections amongst your employees will make a stronger, more productive team. Feeling a personal connection to colleagues can make your employees happier and healthier, which will translate into their work and help keep everyone motivated and productive during sprints.

Additionally, when individuals feel comfortable with their colleagues, they are more open to asking questions, taking steps to increase cross-functional understanding on their own.

As discussed earlier, many fintech companies have distributed teams, whether organized that way from the beginning or put in place as they grow. To foster team connectedness, suggest activities you can do together and create spaces for non-work conversations.

Showing that you value your employees both in and out of work sets a precedent of care as part of the company culture and can help create a sense of unity.

Managing any team is always demanding, but with these challenges and tips in mind, you can make a plan of attack that will help your fintech business take on challenges and stay strong under any circumstance.

Stop giving your co-workers vapid compliments

Boris is the wise ol’ CEO of TNW who writes a weekly column on everything about being an entrepreneur in tech — from managing stress to embracing awkwardness. You can get his musings straight to your inbox by signing up for his newsletter!

A few weeks ago, I read a funny story about pick-up lines. I don’t remember the context or where I read it (maybe I’m getting old?), but one part in particular stuck with me. Out of all the lame pick-up lines out there, it argued that the standard and most unimaginative compliment a guy can give a girl is, “You’re so pretty.”

Apart from applying some make-up, your face is basically just your face. It’s like saying, “Congratulations on being born with that.” I found it funny as it showed just how ridiculous that statement really is, but I also thought how relevant it was to compliments in general.

Saying someone is pretty isn’t necessarily a negative, but it isn’t an open question that could lead to an interesting conversation. And wouldn’t that be the goal? To me, a slightly better compliment would be to say, “You have a strong presence” or maybe “You look like you could fight the biggest person in the room, and win. Is that correct?” But that’s assuming you know nothing about this person.

The best compliments are about something someone achieved. If you know a person put in a lot of effort and creativity into something — and that you can acknowledge it and give them proper credit — then talk about that.

These are the best compliments you can get, and they lead to interesting conversations — about what thinking went into it, what the learnings were, or what you would’ve done differently. And this is relevant in all aspects of your life, especially at work.

A “job well done” compliment isn’t necessarily negative, but it’s a closed compliment. There’s not much more you can do as the recipient of that compliment other than to smile awkwardly and say thanks. It’s seldom the start of an interesting discussion.

But complimenting someone on one particular detail or action shows interest and leads to an interesting conversation, and you might even learn something more in the process.

The compliment doesn’t even have to feel like a compliment to have the same effect. You don’t have to go into compliment mode to achieve the same result.

If you say “Why did you take that one specific action at that point?,” you start a conversation in which you can express your gratitude and admiration. That is much more valuable than a shallow compliment.

The goal of managers giving compliments isn’t just to make everybody happy. The ultimate goal is to make people feel appreciated and important, and to meaningfully reward good work. And it’s only when you drill down on their actions that you can make them feel like you truly appreciate them. Otherwise you might as well just tell them they look pretty.

Can’t get enough of Boris? Check out his older stories here , and sign up for TNW’s newsletters here .

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