Note to self: keep the portfolio and resume current. Everyone knows this. Many are diligent about it; to my chagrin, I’m not one of them. So here I am, needing to update my portfolio.

A design portfolio represents the designer’s problem-solving abilities within a series of constraints. In my case, I’ve solved many similar problems, resulting in a portfolio heavy on the web application and platform side. That I’ve been assigned to similar projects again and again means I’m very good at solving those kinds of problems. Yet I’m also very good at solving different kinds of design problems.

The trick with a design portfolio is using it to communicate that exact idea. That one’s work history is an indicator of problem-solving ability that can be applied in many, many different design situations.

Updating your portfolio is a lot like looking at an old photo album. You pick it up intending to do something rather simple, for instance, find that photo of you and your brother at the beach. Instead you find yourself looking at all the photos, awash in nostalgia and memory. And you sometimes cringe at old work. Things change, taste changes, you become a better designer.

Anyway, it’s a nice opportunity to re-live some of the high (and low) points of a career. It’s also hard work. What goes in, what makes the point best, and most important, who do I want to be in this next iteration of my career, what kind of job or workplace am I looking for, what sort of projects do I want to work on? Parsing the answers to these questions takes time.

All in all, I’m pretty satisfied with what I’ve crafted in the past week or so. Not quite thrilled, but satisfied. The portfolio makes sense to me. And I think it represents both my work and my approach to problem solving reasonably well. Tomorrow is another day for improvement. And the website. And job hunting.

Moseley Baths is part of a series of photos by Gigi Cifali entitled “Absence of Water.” The series explores abandoned pools built during the 1930s in the U.K. I’ve grayscaled the image.