Making Your Portfolio Stand Out: Brand Yourself
Coleen Sallot | Inkk Academy
Skill isn't enough anymore. Judgment is.
Not a portfolio course: dig in, direct AI, and build something uniquely yours
Something broke when design and development split into separate disciplines. Instead of building things, designers pixel-pushed Figma prototypes, then handed them off to someone else. Design systems replaced craft. Portfolios became presentation decks focused on process instead of proof.
AI changes that. Someone with strong instincts and genuine craft knowledge can now go from an idea to a live, deployed website without a development team or a template. Anyone can build a site now, but not everyone can defend why it looks the way it does. AI is only as good as the judgment directing it. The craft isn't obsolete. It's the differentiator.
This isn't just a portfolio course. It's proof you can dig in and direct AI toward professional-grade work: the evidence employers are currently asking for.
You leave with a complete brand identity (archetype, palette, typography, logo, mood board), a strategy that makes a real case for you, and a refined site design in Figma. Every decision follows the same process you'd use on a client engagement — except the client is you.
What you’ll learn
You leave with a complete brand identity and a refined Figma design: proof you can direct AI with real design judgment.
Learn the vocabulary first: elements like line and color, principles like balance and hierarchy
Practice on real portfolios and brands: name the specific principles doing the actual work
Apply what you can now identify deliberately in your own design decisions
Learn the vocabulary first: the Jung/Aaker framework behind twelve brand personalities
Practice on real brands, their websites and logos and name the archetype at work
Apply it to identify your own archetype with confidence, using the BrandForge personality assessment
Develop a color palette that expresses your archetype, grounded in color theory, not guesswork
Select and pair typography that visually communicates the same personality
Define an imagery style that doesn't just look nice but portrays your archetype consistently
Build your imagery from your own artwork, or generate it with MidJourney or Nano Banana.
Design a logo mark appropriate for a professional portfolio
Assemble a mood board using real generated assets, not placeholders
A structured ChatGPT conversation that digs into who you are, how you tick, what makes you unique
Turn that self-understanding into a site map and wireframe: structure follows what you discovered
Apply layout and gestalt principles so the structure actually communicates that meaning
Convert your strategy and site map into a Lovable build prompt
Use Lovable for structural ideation and know when to stop and export
Export a Lovable design into Figma and refine until it's right
Learn directly from Coleen
Coleen Sallot | Inkk Academy
Design education founded by Coleen Sallot. 30 years of practice, not theory.
Who this course is for
Designers, developers, engineers, and game professionals with real work who need to prove, not just claim, what makes them different.
Strategists and researchers with strong thinking, but a portfolio that doesn't yet argue their case as sharply as their real work does.
Students and early-career professionals with thesis, studio, or project work that deserves better than a Behance page or a template.
Prerequisites
Prerequisites
None. This is the entry point to the two-course series, just a willingness to dig into what makes you tick.
What's included
Live sessions
Learn directly from Coleen Sallot | Inkk Academy in a real-time, interactive format.
Lifetime access
Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.
Community of peers
Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
Group roundtable & feedback
Real-time critique each session
19 real skills, one portfolio
Brand strategy, archetype theory, typography, imagery, color theory, layout, logo design, and many more
Real world tool guidance
BrandForge, ChatGPT, MidJourney/Nano Banana, Lovable, Figma
Maven Guarantee
Your purchase is backed by the Maven Guarantee.
Course syllabus
42 lessons • 4 projects
Week 1
Module 1.1: What Makes a Great Design?
Module 1.2: What's Your Brand Personality?
Module 1.3: Homework and Deliverables
Module 2.1: Design Fundamentals
Module 2.2: What Makes You Uniquely You?
Module 2.3: Bringing It to Life with AI
Module 2.4: Homework and Deliverables
WEEK 1 RESOURCES
Week 2
Module 3.1: Content Strategy and Structure
Module 3.2: Wireframing
Module 3.3: Using AI to Put It All Together
Module 3.4: Homework and Deliverables
Module 4.1: Understanding Page Design
Module 4.2 Creating a Professional Portfolio
Module 4.3: Designing your Home Page
WEEK 2 RESOURCES
Final Project
Schedule
Live sessions
3 hrs / week
75 minutes of structured content + 15 minutes of office hours
Projects
4-8 hrs / week
The real production work happens as homework between sessions. Your final project consists of your home page mockup built in Lovable and exported into Figma, with your generated images and content
Extra content
1 hr / week
The BrandForge archetype assessment, plus pre-work guides on visual design principles, brand personality, and other topics.
Frequently asked questions
Maven for Teams
Reimbursement
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Everything L&D needs: email template, receipts, and certificate of completion.
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