George Ivanov works as a graphic designer at an advertising agency in Bulgaria. He has a degree in graphic design and, separately, a degree in UX design. He is working hard to leave graphic design behind, because he sees more opportunity in UX: websites, apps, and more complex problems to solve.

A portfolio that wasn’t there yet

He had already built in Framer, and building that project showed him how much room there was to improve. He did not have the confidence to make sites that looked good, held their layout and responded properly across screens. When the masterclass came up, there was no way he was skipping it.

Building it right the first time

What he is proudest of is his portfolio. It is better laid out, it feels better between screen sizes, and it is the main way clients find him. Look at it a month earlier, he says, and it was not polished and did not look professional.

The biggest lesson was about time. He used to spend a lot of it fixing things after the fact.

“When you know how to do them the right way from scratch, you don’t have to spend time fixing things. If you build websites correctly, this will save you a lot of headaches.”

Fewer limits than he thought

He had assumed Framer was limited, and that shipping a real website for a client meant bringing in a developer. That turned out not to be true. Framer ships with integrations, and he can take a project all the way himself.

Invest in yourself

“You shouldn’t hesitate. You should invest in yourself, as much as you can. That’s the best mindset you can have.”