In recent years, conceptual projects gained a bad reputation. They were seen as fake, not real work, and lacking business context. Designers were often told to find freelance clients or design for NGOs instead, to simulate “real” constraints.

That narrative is quietly dying. With AI, no-code tools, and fast prototyping, the line between concept and real work has blurred. Designers are already shipping tiny AI apps to the App Store. And honestly, you don’t even need to ship. You don’t need permission, a brief, or approval to show strong thinking.

Conceptual projects will matter more than ever in an AI-driven industry. But the main question for your job search is this: How do you create conceptual projects that give you an advantage, instead of just filling space in your portfolio?

Level 01

Conceptual projects used to be about showing that you could follow a design process as someone just starting out. Designers learned the Double Diamond in bootcamps, used brief generators, and presented everything as a long report style case study on Medium.

That time is over. Today, conceptual projects are for any designer. They’re about showing innovation, problem thinking, building skills, and business mindset.

A simple, built app that a hiring manager can actually use beats a polished case study with zero ownership every time.

Level 02

Most designers start conceptual projects from screens or random ideas. They either build for fun, which is fine, or jump into solving problems that aren’t important or well defined.

Think about starting from business and strategy. Founders don’t ask “what should this look like?”. They ask what problem is worth solving and why.

If you want to target a specific company, lean into strategic constraints, not visuals. Examples:

This is exactly what Yutong and Yunan did. They didn’t redesign Airbnb for fun. They localized it for the Chinese travel context, adapting flows, expectations, and behavior. That’s not just design thinking, but a founder mindset. Even though this example is older, this strategy is still relevant in today’s market.

Level 03

Brief generators are fine for practice. But if you want to show real passion and mirror how products are actually built, think like a scientist, not a student.

Don’t focus on the UI, like a cluttered checkout. That’s not the problem, it’s a trigger. The real problem is that users can’t complete a payment and, as a result, abandon their shopping carts.

Level 04

Creating products by copying existing patterns is easy, and with AI it will only get easier. That’s exactly why companies will care more about innovation. When everything looks the same, businesses compete on price. Innovation is how they stand out.

Conceptual projects give you something rare: freedom
No legacy systems, roadmap, internal politics. Unless you define constraints yourself, you can explore anything. And yet, most conceptual projects still show obvious solutions we’ve seen many times: Spotify redesigns. These projects don’t prove that you can handle ambiguity or lead a complex problem.

As the VP of Design at Perplexity put it: Doing homework is easy. Doing something on your own is rare. That’s why, when hiring juniors or interns, he looks specifically for conceptual projects that show original thinking.

Once you understand the problem space:

Then go one step further. Strong conceptual projects feel slightly uncomfortable:

Level 05

Your goal is not a perfect case study story. We’re past portfolios that describe every step from research to delivery. Businesses care about speed, value, and leverage. With AI available to everyone, the bar is higher.

Companies don’t just look for designers who can design. They look for designers who can build, prototype real experiences, and use new tools to create value for users and the business.

Conceptual projects feel real when people can actually use them.

Level 06

With AI, the limits are smaller and the time to build is shorter. Anyone can now create a basic mockup or prototype. PMs, developers, founders. Give them a decent prompt and an AI tool and they’ll ship something usable.

Visual judgment, craft, contextual taste

If anyone can build something, designers need to build something better. That’s where outstanding visuals still matter:

A well-designed conceptual project is easier to notice in a quick portfolio review. Hiring managers skim first. Long paragraphs come later, if at all. Visuals create the first hook. It’s aesthetic bias so use it intentionally.

🫶 Together with Framer

I’ve been thinking a lot about where web design tools are heading.

Framer sits right in the middle of that shift.

You design, write, iterate, add motion, and publish from one place. No exporting, no rebuilding, no waiting for someone else to make it real.

That’s why I keep coming back to Framer. It aligns with how designers actually work today.

Explore Framer here