- Shelly Peleg
- 8 minutes ago
- 9 min read
This time of year is always special for us here at Wix Design. As we say goodbye to the summer, October also means we have recently celebrated the conclusion of yet another Wix Playground Academy cohort. With so many of those already under our belt, it might sound cheesy or contrived to share this news with such enthusiasm each time. But this is what sits at the heart of this program: the perpetual fascination with fresh talent, the never-ending desire to help them thrive, and the utmost thrill when they achieve their creative goals.
So it is with a proud heart that we share their wonderful creations - the twelve stunning portfolios of the best upcoming design talent of the moment. Let’s hear it from the graduates:
Describe your website in 3 words Discovery, floating, documentary
Favorite detail in your website The little mouse effect on my home page.
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your website To create a consistent, shared language across the website- one that would allow both the discovery of my works and of myself as a personality. I solved this by using blur as a unifying element across different images, and by incorporating a floating effect where visuals appear and disappear randomly on the screen. My intention was for these elements together to create a soft, slightly amorphous atmosphere for the viewer.
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom? The best reaction I received was about my Très Bobo page, a hover on the home page. I was told that it feels intriguing to enter my world that way, and to keep discovering more and more images and situations I captured, thanks to the database that constantly replaces the visuals within the site’s system. It was described as curious and engaging- something that allows people to get to know me better. I got it from Felix PfäfflI, the founder of studio Feixen in Switzerland, who gave us feedback during part of the program.
Describe your website in 3 words Typographic, Archival, Emotional
Favorite detail in your website My favorite detail is the childhood video that appears on hover over my name. It’s a small personal touch inside an otherwise archival and rigid design, and I love the contrast it creates.
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your website The biggest challenge was designing the homepage in a way that communicates my focus on typography right from the start, while keeping the presentation elegant and not too literal. It was about creating a visual hierarchy that highlights my typographic work, but still allows space for the projects to reveal themselves gradually and keep a sense of curiosity.
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom? The best reaction I received was actually from my father. Even though he’s not a designer and doesn’t really understand websites, he described the site in the exact way I hoped people would experience it. For me, that was very meaningful and showed that the concept worked clearly, even for someone outside the design field.
Describe your website in 3 words Layered, intimacy, depth
Favorite detail in your website My favorite detail is that the images and texts sit on the grid, and there’s this moment when the edge of the text touches the edge of the image — just like in a book.
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your website The grid I created, which holds the entire website and all the project pages, is something I decided never to break. It was very challenging at certain moments to stick to this rule while still managing to create a layout that feels both engaging and readable.
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom? The best feedback I received was from Felix, who immediately felt as if he were inside a book and was really moved by the homepage.
Describe your website in 3 words Grid-based / Minimal / Refined
Favorite detail in your website One of my favorite aspects of the website is the connection between grid and imagery. The attention to small details aligned with the grid reflects my identity as a designer and serves as a consistent design concept throughout the site.
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your website Creating the grid at the right scale and making it fully responsive was one of the most challenging parts of building the website. As a designer attentive to detail, I often insisted on perfecting the grid until it felt just right. Eventually, this resulted in a well-structured system across the entire site which, after much effort, gave me a consistent and precise design concept that truly reflects my identity as a designer.
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom? The reaction I’ll never forget came from my mentor during the final week of the program. Throughout the process, I felt I knew how the site should look, but others didn’t always fully understand it. In the final week, when everything came together, I presented the site to my mentor. At first, she noticed the grid, but when I hovered over the project title and the animated project space was revealed, she said: “This is a site at the level of inspiration I usually save from the biggest design websites.” That was the moment I realized I had created the exact effect I was aiming for — connecting all my worlds between graphic and spatial design.
Describe your website in 3 words Brutalism, data visualisation, minimalism
Favorite detail in your website My favorite detail is the custom Hebrew logotype I designed for my name. That logotype becomes the grid rule-set behind the site—turning typography into structure.
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your website For me, the hardest part was narrating complex projects on the project pages—establishing a clear hierarchy between idea, process, and outcomes.
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom? The best reaction came from a well-known Swiss designer on our review panel; he praised the fine details and minimalism and drew a direct parallel to Swiss design.
Describe your website in 3 words
Materiality, Surprising, Playful
Favorite detail in your website My scanned face (: A hidden Easter egg for curious scrollers — leading to the About page and revealing that every object in the homepage was scanned.
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your website The biggest challenge was finding a way to present all of my works together. At first, I tried to invent a common thread, until I realized it already existed — and it is the essence of the site: all of my projects are composed of multiple objects, packaging, merchandise, and all that fun, and they never boil down to a poster or a brochure.
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom? I approached the website like any other project — developing a concept, telling a story, and shaping a brand with its own character. When Hagit Kaufman and Felix Pfäffli said it looked like a project in itself rather than just a frame for works, it felt like the greatest compliment — exactly what I hoped to achieve: not only a showcase of projects, but also a way to reveal another side of myself and branding myself.
Describe your website in 3 words Playful, Layered, Colorful
Favorite detail in your website The hidden visual mode behind the word ״Texture״ on the homepage
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your website The biggest challenge for me was to find a way to show my projects in the best, clear way, while also reflecting my personality and what inspires me as a designer
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom? The best reaction I received was watching users enjoy playing with the different visual modes in my portfolio
Describe your website in 3 words Mystic, Classic, Cultural
Favorite detail in your website The homepage header, where I chose to highlight one of my most treasured skills and interests which is ancient languages and the connection between words and pictograms, and how they are loaded with meaning. To me it’s the epitome of the website and my unique added value.
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your website Honestly it was dealing with past documentation of works I wanted to showcase, which was hard to do when the quality of them wasn’t consistent. That took a lot of energy and time. Now I know better - you should really pay attention to that part of the creative process and document your works appropriately.
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom? The most memorable reaction was from Hagit, VP design in Wix, who said the site is full of character and personal identity, and that it feels like you actually know the person behind the website just by scrolling through.
Describe your website in 3 words Visual Data, Curiosity, Coding
Favorite detail in your website I love the little machine I created on the About page, the behind-the-scenes joke really made me laugh :)
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your website The biggest challenge was to unify my very diverse projects: typography, branding, motion design, coding, and even a short film. Each project had a different visual language, so I looked for a system that could connect them. I decided to create one representative image for each project, generated through code and processed into visual data, so they all share one coherent and minimal language.
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom? One of the nicest reactions came from a designer at Wix, who wrote after the presentation that she really loved my portfolio and found the design refreshing and unique. A few designers also reached out to ask how I created the visuals and interactions on the site, and I loved the curiosity it sparked.
Describe your website in 3 words Asymmetric, collage, contemporary
Favorite detail in your website My favorite detail is a series of logos who act as category tags for the projects. Each tag provides information about the creative discipline of the project: illustration, typography, branding and more. They appear on the top of each project page, and on hover they reveal their meaning. It’s a small yet impactful detail, as it allows the viewer to understand the project intuitively, as well as adding a playful layer to the design.
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your website The biggest challenge was actively bringing to life the vision I had in my imagination. The website’s concept is based on a frame with interchangeable content. It was very challenging to create a responsive frame which adjusts itself to the content, especially with diagonal text - not a very standard choice when it comes to web design. Technically, it required a lot of trial-and-error, until I was able to reach a solution that worked both visually and functionally.
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom? The most memorable reaction I received was during the process of working on the website. We were working with experienced mentors who provided valuable feedback. One of the comments addresses the visual language I chose, saying it feels coherent and natural, and that it works well with my projects, adding to them and not feeling foreign. They also said my design choices feel confident and unapologetic. I was very glad to hear this, because it showed that I was able to create a consistent experience, blending my work and the way I think and design.
Describe your website in 3 words Fun, cute and unusual
Favorite detail in your website The moving tail of the cat in the footer
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your website The biggest challenge was deciding on the hero's appearance — it took four rounds of revisions before I finally found the perfect combination of design and illustration.
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom?
The best reaction came from Hagit Kauffman, VP of Design at Wix, and Felix from Studio Feixen. It was the first time someone saw my portfolio without having followed the process, and I was so glad their reaction was so positive.
Describe your website in 3 wordsMinimal – Typography – Focused
Favorite detail in your websiteThe Hero Section
The biggest challenge you encountered in the process of creating your websiteThe process of refining the concept started out complex and eventually became minimalist and relatively simple compared to the elaborate ideas that came up at first.
What was the best reaction you received about your portfolio, and from whom?That it looks like a fashion brand (:
