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How to set up a Squarespace portfolio in 5 steps

· 7 min read · by Renee Kiffin

You don't need to learn to code, host your own site, or wrestle with WordPress to launch a polished design portfolio. Squarespace gives you a modular section system built specifically for visual work, which makes it one of the fastest ways to get a professional portfolio in front of an interviewer or a potential client.

This is the rough outline I walk students through when they're putting their first portfolio site together.

Before you start

Have these things ready. It will save you backtracking once you're inside the editor:

  • The work itself. Six to ten of your strongest projects, exported as JPGs or PNGs at the largest size you'll display them.
  • Mockups for the work when relevant. We'll come back to this in step 5.
  • A short bio. Two or three sentences about who you are and what kind of design work you do.
  • A professional headshot or image if you have one. Optional, but it makes your About page feel more personal and easier to connect with.
  • Your brand colors. If you have a defined palette, great. If not, pick two or three colors you'll use consistently throughout the site.

Step 1: Pick a template

When you sign up for Squarespace (it's free to start), they'll show you a template gallery. Filter by Portfolio to see templates designed specifically for visual work. These come with built in project galleries, large hero sections, and grid layouts that are made to show off images.

A few things to look for in a portfolio template:

  • A featured project layout on the home page
  • A gallery or grid view of all your projects on the work page
  • Large, bold typography suited to creative work
  • Plenty of white space (your work needs room to breathe)

Don't agonize over the choice. In current Squarespace you can swap templates later, and the modular section system means most of the customization is the same regardless of which template you start with.

Step 2: Set up your global styling

Before you build any pages, set the global colors and fonts. Every section you build inherits the right styling automatically, which means you don't end up fixing the same headings on twelve different pages later.

Open Site Styles in the sidebar and set:

  • Color palette. Plug in your two or three brand colors. If you don't have brand colors yet, pick a primary (often a neutral like near black or warm gray), an accent (your personality color), and a background.
  • Heading and body fonts. Pick one heading font and one body font. Keep contrast high. A serif headline with a sans body, or the other way around.
  • Button styles. Set them once here and they're consistent everywhere.

This is the step most students skip. Don't skip it.

Step 3: Build your pages with the modular section system

Squarespace pages are built from sections, like building blocks. Each section is a different layout: a hero with text and an image, a gallery, a quote, a list of services, a contact form. You stack sections to build a page.

For a portfolio, the pages you almost always need:

  • Home. A hero introducing yourself, plus a few featured projects.
  • Work. The full portfolio gallery.
  • About. Your bio, your headshot if you have one, and a sentence about what you're looking for next (clients, internships, freelance work).
  • Contact. An email link or a contact form, plus your relevant social links.

For each section, click the + Add Section button between sections and Squarespace will show you preset layouts. Pick the one closest to what you want, then customize the text and images. Mix and match without worrying about breaking the layout.

Step 4: Add your projects (and rewrite the copy)

For each portfolio project, create a project page. On each one, include:

  1. A hero image (this is where mockups come in. See step 5.)
  2. A brief description of the project: what was the brief, who was the client, what was your role
  3. The work itself in detail: process shots, sketches, final deliverables
  4. A summary of the outcome if there is one (results, what the client said, what you learned)

Now the part students underestimate: rewrite every line of copy in your voice. Squarespace's default copy is generic ("Add some text to your hero") and won't sell your work. Replace every paragraph with copy that's specific to you, your projects, and the kind of work you want to attract more of.

If your personality is warm and conversational, write that way. If it's measured and professional, write that way. Either way, sound like a person, not a template. The portfolios that get remembered are the ones that feel like a real human made them.

Step 5: Use mockups (and your brand colors) to make the work shine

Flat JPGs of your designs are fine. Mockups elevate them. A logo on a real business card, a magazine spread inside a hand holding the magazine, a website on a laptop, a poster on a city wall: these are the images that make portfolio reviewers stop and look.

Two tips most students miss:

  1. Most mockups are PSDs with smart objects. Drop your design into the smart object once and it scales correctly across the whole mockup. If you're new to mockups, start with my post on where to find free mockups for places to download good ones.
  2. Customize the mockup colors to match your brand. Default mockup backgrounds and props are usually gray or beige. Fine, but unmemorable. In Photoshop you can change the background, paper color, or props on most mockups to match your brand palette. Suddenly your portfolio has a visual signature, and every project looks like it belongs to the same designer.

If your brand color is a warm coral, give every mockup a coral background. If your work has a deep navy theme, give every mockup navy details. Consistency across mockups makes a portfolio feel intentional, even when the projects underneath are wildly different.

Before you publish

A quick checklist:

  1. View your site on a phone. Squarespace previews mobile in the editor. Does every page work?
  2. Click every link and button. Anything go to a 404 or open a placeholder page?
  3. Read your copy out loud. Does it sound like you, or like a template?
  4. Fill in SEO Appearance for every page (title, description, social image) so your site previews properly when shared.
  5. Connect a custom domain if you have one. yourname.com looks more professional than yourname.squarespace.com.

Want help putting yours together?

Choosing the right template, photographing or mocking up your work, writing portfolio copy that actually represents you, or troubleshooting Squarespace's styling system can all be a tutoring session. Book a session and let me know "Squarespace portfolio" so I can come prepared with sample layouts to walk through.