Which Portfolio Project Should You Put Into Words First?
Your portfolio photos show what you created. But can someone looking at the images tell what the client needed, what you had to figure out, or why you made those design choices?
A beautiful photo might make a future client pause. The words beside it can help them understand the thinking behind the design. Those words also give them a better sense of what it might be like to work with you.
Of course, once you decide to add those words, a new problem appears: which project do you start with?
You’ve got the renovation you loved working on. The beautiful home with the tricky site. The project whose photos still make you stop and smile. They all have stories, but trying to write about every one at once is enough to send the writing straight to the bottom of your to-do list.
You know what they say: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
So start with one project.
Choose the work you’d love to do again
Your first instinct might be to pick the biggest project or the one with the most impressive photos. But imagine a future client finding that project on your website and saying, “I want something like this.”
Would you be excited to have that conversation?
Think about the projects where you felt that magical spark. Maybe you loved the kind of space you were creating. Maybe the client trusted your judgment, asked good questions, and made the process a pleasure. Or maybe you got to solve exactly the kind of design problem you’d happily take on again.
Put that project on the list, even if it wasn’t your largest or most profitable.
I wrote a story for Patricia, an architect who transformed an outdated mountain-top ranch into a home for a busy family. The finished rooms are lovely, but the heart of the story is in the decisions behind them: restoring the original cedar paneling, making room for family gatherings around a custom kitchen island, and creating a quiet prayer room for the homeowner.
If you love designing homes around the way a family actually lives, which project in your portfolio would let you show that?
Choose a problem your future client recognizes
Not every compelling project begins with a client who knows exactly what’s possible.
Perhaps someone comes to you with a narrow lot by a lake and worries that they’ll have to give up space, views, or the way they hoped to live. They may be looking at your portfolio for proof that you understand the problem before they ever contact you.
For Mark, a luxury custom home architect, I wrote about a lakeside home on a narrow lot. That article showed how the slope created room for a three-story home. Mark designed flexible living areas that could accommodate both quiet evenings and bigger gatherings. He also used the garage to solve a practical problem without using up the property's width.
A photo could show the beautiful lake view. The words could answer a prospective client’s question: Could an architect make a site like mine work?
When you look through your own projects, consider what worries your ideal clients bring to the first conversation. Is there a finished project that helps you answer one of those worries?
Choose a challenge that reveals your thinking
You might want to show the complexity you dealt with. There was a steep site and a small buildable area. Regulations, access, and construction logistics all demanded careful decisions.
That doesn’t make it a story to hide. It might be the story that best shows what you bring to the table.
In a story I wrote for Caitlin, a custom home architect, a small, steep site above the water came with easements, height restrictions, difficult construction access, and a long approval process. The finished house had privacy and sweeping views, but those qualities didn’t appear by magic. They grew out of decisions about where the house could sit, how it could step with the slope, and where its windows should face.
Please don’t provide a detailed account of every permit or delay. Your magic is in the challenges that shaped the design. Explain the decision that moved the project forward. That’s where a future client gets a glimpse of how you work.
How to pick your first project
Look through your portfolio and notice which projects you’d be excited to talk about again. Then ask yourself:
Would I be happy if this project brought me more inquiries like it?
What did I do here that someone can’t see in the photos?
Does the story answer a question or concern a future client might have?
Do I have photos I’m comfortable sharing?
You don’t need a dramatic challenge or a perfect answer to every question. A quieter project can be just as interesting if it shows what you noticed, what you asked, or why a choice mattered.
Try talking through each project out loud. Which one makes you lean forward and say, “Oh, you should hear what happened with this one”?
Start there.
Your portfolio photos let people see what you’ve created. The words beside them can help people understand why you made it that way and what it might be like to work with you.
If you’re ready to explore how to turn that first project into a story, I’ve written more about what makes a portfolio project story connect with future clients.
And if you’ve already chosen the project but the writing keeps slipping off your to-do list, reach out and book a FREE 30-minute intro call.
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