Mission Objectives:

To deliver design-related content, typography, and unique layouts that differ from entry to entry.
To create layouts that are not only beautiful, but also interactive; these features will not be used extraneously.
To inspire other designers and bloggers to use the blog’zine format.

Today, the most widely used format for online portfolios is the standard work-only approach. This style displays the finalized product (though sometimes some early wireframes are included) in large galleries that visitors can flip through. This allows a user or potential client to sample the designer’s aesthetic.

Personally, I hate it. True, the final product is the most important indicator to an audience that’s in the market for a new website or illustration. That said, showing the work alone is not enough.

Web design is first and foremost about communication, not just the way the site “looks.” Even more important to understanding a designer is seeing the how that precedes the what.

In short, the final product is very good to include... but as 99% of the design process takes place before the last upload, a good portfolio must highlight why a designer made certain decisions and what process he/she went through in making their choices.

Pros of Work-Only Portfolio	Pros of Blog’zine-style of Portfolio
Design should speak for itself; it should not need further explanation if it’s actually effective. It takes longer to update blog’zines. It is more obvious when updates dissipate on blog’zines; work-only portfolios can go longer without a refresh before looking abandoned.	We can explain choices, weigh options, and guide the visitor through the concept process. It’s easier to demonstrate interaction-based designs where the aesthetic is not the primary feature. It can demonstrate knowledge in multiple areas. Case studies and blog entries can be more interactive.
Far less work, easily maintained	More interesting, thoughtful entries

Any attempt at this would be incomplete without acknowledging and studying the work of inspirational designers who are already practicing this style in their blog entries: Dustin Curtis, Jason Santa Maria, and Gregory Wood are notable examples. Below is a small sampling of their finest layouts (in my opinion).

We’re designers... even when no one is paying us for it. Just because it’s not paid work doesn’t mean that we should be lazy. Designers have to approach their own work with the care and quality that they would extend to a potential client.
We have a blank slate. When it’s our website, it’s our choice. We can design whatever we want, however we want, and about what we want. Why waste such unlimited potential on writing something that reads and looks boring?
Great ideas != readable ideas. Anyone who’s ever picked up a dully physics textbook knows that good information alone isn't enough, especially online. Content has to be both interesting and well-presented... otherwise, no one will read it.

So I am beginning an experiment - it’s not a New Year’s resolution, nor an exercise, no an inconvenience. I’m trying to even the score; this is the way that designers should have been handling their personal websites and portfolios from the beginning.

Yes, because I have to devote more time per entry... there will be big gaps of time in between them. Frankly, if the by-product of that is more interesting and well-crafted pages, then I’m for it.

The experiment is easy: will it improve the content... or merely delay it? Will this new format help the content or obfuscate it? In short, will it all be worth it?

These are the questions to keep in mind this year. If I can create 20 good entries before December 31, 2011, I will be very pleased with my accomplishments. If I manage to convert a few more people to the “cause,” then so be it.