Once you’ve finally mustered up the courage to put together your own online portfolio, you’re probably going to want to implement a theme.  The last thing you want is to stop your forward momentum in setting up your portfolio by getting stuck sifting through wordpress portfolio themes.  There are TONS of themes and it’s easy to get lost in the abyss.  I’ve sifted through the junk on the envato marketplace for you and come out on the other side with the top 5 wordpress themes for designers.

As a forewarning, the below themes are premium (that means you have to pay for them).  They run about around $50 each.  Trust me, it’ll be money well spent.  But in the case that you just want to try free…

I’ve packaged up the 5 best free wordpress portfolio themes for you here.

The 5 Best WordPress Portfolio Themes

In order to quickly narrow down the tons of portfolio themes I looked at to develop this list, I used three major criteria for evaluation.  I first looked at the initial impression of the website (how compelling is it).   Then I looked at the gallery page to determine how a catalog of projects would be displayed (how easy is it to navigate and does it allow for depth of information).  Lastly, I checked to make sure that the site is responsive (how does it function on browsers of different sizes and on mobile).

5. Story

I love that the main idea behind this theme is storytelling.  The theme really lends itself to telling beautiful stories (large images with short text overlays). I can see this theme being really effective if you want to weave your personality into your site.  It could be a great way to have people get connected with both you and your work.[/two_third] [one_third_last]
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4. Brooklyn

I like this theme because it comes features that make it easy to build out your portfolio into an in-depth catalog.  The design is sleek.  The mobile site is just unique enough to make someone remember you, but not confuse or distract them. [/two_third] [one_third_last]

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3. X Theme

The X Theme really touts it’s versatility.  If you check out their demo… there’s pretty much endless possibilities.  Which is why I love this theme cautiously.  While it’s great to get the best bang for your buck, I can see the endless possibilities leading to change after change.  I recommend this one with a dose of self control ;).[/two_third] [one_third_last]

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2. Wowway

Simple and to the point.  A nice grid of your work is the default home page on this one.  Great for a quick overview of your work so anyone can dive into what they love right away.  Clicking on an image displays a window with a blurb and some side scrolling images.  That’s my favorite part.  It’s nice to provide quick information whenever possible.[/two_third] [one_third_last]

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1. The Bridge

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Have any of your own suggestions for the best wordpress portfolio themes?  Leave them in the comments below.

And don’t forget to pickup your download for 5 free portfolio themes.