How work is organised.
Taxonomy is how visitors find proof that matches their project. Poor taxonomy forces everyone through the same generic grid. Good taxonomy helps a homeowner, a developer, and a hospitality client each see themselves in your work within seconds.
- Start with how clients search, not how you file.Clients rarely arrive asking for "Project 2019-04". They arrive with property type, scope, style or mood, location, and an implied budget band.
- Primary — project type or sector.Residential, commercial, hospitality, staging, consultation-only. Keep the top level small.
- Secondary — scope or service.Full interior architecture, furnishing and styling, kitchen and bath, commercial fit-out.
- Tertiary — optional tags.Style descriptors, square-footage band, year, location. Use tags for filtering, not primary navigation unless your audience demands it.
- Case study depth tiers.Flagship — best-fit future work, with hero imagery, brief, constraint, approach, outcome narrative, material detail. Standard — strong cover image, short context, 3–5 supporting images. Archive — thumbnail, title, location, year — link out only if imagery still represents you.
The real homepage.
On a portfolio site, photography is not decoration. It is evidence, tone, and pricing signal combined.
- Hero-worthy establishing shots.Spatial clarity, natural light, honest proportions.
- Detail shots that prove craft.Joinery, stone, hardware, texture.
- Human-scale context.Dining set, bedside, desk height — not only wide angles.
- Before context where ethical and useful.Constraint stories sell expertise.
- Consistency beats volume.Fifteen excellent projects outperform forty uneven ones.
- Colour truth matters.Over-edited images create expectation gaps. Calibrate for web; do not fantasy-grade.
- Aspect ratios planned intentionally.Hero, grid, and detail crops should be art-directed — not accidental centre crops.
- Rights cleared before publish.Confirm photographer licence, client permission, and staging credits.
- Alt text written for humans."Warm minimal living room with lime-washed walls and oak shelving" — not "IMG_4821".
- Stock is acceptable as a stopgap.If used, label concept imagery clearly and replace with real work as soon as possible.
Attract the right project.
A portfolio site should not treat every enquiry equally. Design the path so visitors self-qualify before they ever hit send.
- Minimum project scope or budget signals.Direct language or implied through case study calibre.
- Geography served.City, region, travel policy.
- Process overview.Discovery, concept, documentation, procurement, install.
- Timeline realism.How far ahead you book.
- What you need from them.Plans, photos, "Pinterest is not a brief."
- Useful early fields.Name, email, project type and location, scope description, timeline, how they found you.
- Usually better later.Full budget breakdown, detailed room lists, extensive inspiration uploads.
- A two-step enquiry often outperforms.Light initial form, deeper follow-up after reply.
- Alternative paths for different intents.Full enquiry, consultation, press or trade, existing clients.
- Set expectations in advance.Typical reply time, what your first response includes, whether you charge for discovery, what happens if the project is not a fit.
Speed is part of taste.
A slow portfolio site undermines the impression of precision you sell. Large images are necessary; unnecessary weight is not.
- Image discipline.Serve WebP or AVIF where supported. Use responsive srcset. Do not load full-resolution files in the grid.
- Lazy loading with intent.Below-fold images lazy-load; hero and first visible row should not flash empty.
- Font restraint.One serif, one sans, one optional mono is usually enough. Subset the weights you use.
- Motion with restraint.Scroll reveals and hover effects should respect prefers-reduced-motion.
- Third-party audit.Analytics, chat widgets, and social embeds add weight. Load them deliberately.
- Core Web Vitals as design constraints.Reserve space for images so the page does not jump while loading.
- The mobile portfolio test.Does the first project grid load within a reasonable time? Can someone open a case study and return without losing place? Is the enquiry button reachable throughout?
Planning worksheet — answer before briefing a redesign.
Bring these answers to your first studio call. They turn the conversation from taste into strategy, which is what actually protects scope and timeline.
- Which three project types do you want more of?
The website should make those projects obvious within seconds.
- Which three existing projects best prove that capability?
Flagship case studies, not archive content.
- What enquiry do you want less of?
Often the answer is more useful than the projects you want.
- What must a visitor understand within five seconds?
One sentence — audience, service, and proof.
- What is the primary action — enquiry form, consultation booking, or download?
One action only. Everything else is secondary.
- Which projects need new photography before they go live?
Photography is often the actual scope risk.
- What performance or hosting constraints exist today?
These decide whether a redesign is even feasible this quarter.
What ClixFeed builds for interior practices.
Portfolio sites with a point of view: editorial structure, ownable visual systems, filterable work that qualifies the visitor, and performance-aware image delivery. We have explored this approach in concept work such as Vesper Studio — a fictional interior architecture studio demonstrating taxonomy, cinematic project storytelling, and enquiry flow without pretending to be a live client engagement.
Your work deserves a site that performs as well as the spaces you create.