One case study beats five. Every time.

A designer I worked with recently went through a multi-round interview process for a role she really wanted.

She didn't have multiple case studies covering every type of project. She had only three, with one exceptional case study placed first on her homepage that she knew it inside and out.

By the second round the entire conversation had shifted. The hiring team had her to go deeper on that one project. Her design strategy. How she collaborated across functions. How she approached the problem when the original direction stopped working. How she measured the success of the project.

She had an answer for every question. Specific, confident, very detailed answers to each because she knew that project completely.

She got the role.

Why designers do the opposite

When most designers build or look to improve their portfolio the instinct is to do everything at once. Add another case study. Refine the ones that feel weak. Fill the project gaps. Cover more ground.

I completely understand why. It's what I did earlier in my career. My portfolio had a dozen projects that, looking back on them now were half baked. I felt that more projects meant more proof.

But that's not how hiring managers experience it.

A hiring manager moving quickly through portfolios isn't looking for quantity. They're looking for a reason to stop. One project that clearly demonstrates how you think, what you own, and what you deliver gives them that reason.

A portfolio full of mediocre case studies shows a designer who spreads themselves thin. One exceptional case study signals a designer who knows what great work looks like and can produce it.

That's a completely different impression. And it's the one that gets you in the room.

What I teach at Pratt

In my portfolio class at Pratt Institute, I give my students a constraint: we spend the semester on one case study.

Not five. Not three. One.

At first there's resistance. Students want to work on three or four case studies at once. But I push them to focus on their strongest project.

By the end of the semester there's a change. They know that one project so completely, the decisions, the tradeoffs, the process, the outcome that they can talk about it from any angle, answer any question, and use it to demonstrate every skill a hiring manager is looking for.

This is the goal. A case study you know deeply is a tool you can use. A case study you threw together to fill a slot can be a liability in an interview.

What one exceptional case study actually does

It gives a hiring manager something to remember. Portfolios blur together. A single project that tells a clear, specific, compelling story of how you solved a real problem doesn't.

It gives you something to anchor every interview conversation. The designer I mentioned earlier didn't need to scramble for examples when a hiring manager asked about collaboration or problem solving. The answer was always the same project, told from a different angle.

It shows confidence.

It shows you understand what great looks like. At mid-level, that judgment is exactly what hiring managers are evaluating. A designer who can identify their strongest work and present it exceptionally well.

The question to consider

Look at your portfolio right now and ask:

Which one of these case studies, if someone read only this would make them want to hire me?

If you know the answer, that's the one to invest in. Go deeper. Tighten the story. Make sure the problem, your role, your decisions, and the outcome are all crystal clear.

If you're not sure which one it is that's important information too.

If your portfolio isn't getting the traction you expect and you want help identifying which case study to lead with and exactly what to strengthen that's what a portfolio review is for. I'll go through your work and show you which project has the most potential, what's working, and what to fix before your next application.

→ Book your portfolio review — $95"My callback rate doubled after Anthony's audit."

Talk soon, Anthony

P.S. I'm putting the finishing touches on a guide specifically for mid-level designers on how to reframe your existing case studies so hiring managers see exactly the level you're at. It's almost ready. More very soon.