In my blog
The market is coming back. Most designers don't know it — and even if they did, their portfolio still isn't ready. Here's what the research showed me, and why I decided to build something about it.
Read my post →Why I'm building this
The design job market is hard right now. Not impossible — but genuinely hard. Hiring managers are spending about 12 seconds on each portfolio. Roles are competitive. And most designers are getting rejected without ever knowing why. Not because their work isn't good enough. Because no one ever told them what to change.
That's the problem I kept seeing.
According to Figma's 2026 design hiring study, demand for designers is actually on the rise — 47% of hiring managers say their need for designers has increased, and 40% plan to open new headcount in the next six months. Design job postings were up roughly 60% in 2025 compared to 2024. The market is recovering. Opportunities are opening up.
But here's the gap: designers aren't hearing that. And even if they were, a recovering market doesn't help if your portfolio isn't ready for it.
Most designers have never gotten honest, specific feedback on their portfolio — not from someone who's actually sat in hiring meetings and made decisions. The options are peer feedback that's too kind, blog posts that are too generic, or a $999 video audit that takes a week.
The tool I'm building will use AI because it's the only way to deliver personalized feedback at scale — specific to your role, level, and target companies. Trained on real hiring criteria and two decades of my own experience, it gives every designer access to the kind of feedback that used to require knowing the right people.
And despite what you might expect, this isn't AI replacing the creative process. It's AI joining it — as the thinking partner most designers have never had access to.
And yes — I'm aware of the irony of using AI to help designers in a market AI is reshaping. But the feedback gap existed long before AI did.
I want to build something better.
Take survey to help me →90%
of designers have never received honest, specific feedback on their portfolio.
