Do Designers Create Their Own Site Anymore?

I was listening to a design podcast on the topic of creating a portfolio. The two hosts spent about forty minutes discussing typical-but-helpful tips such as what makes a great portfolio, what projects to include, and how to display the works. 

In the last few minutes of the episode, they recommended designers to invest in an online portfolio. They plugged their own sites as examples. Unfortunately, they both use a third-party service like Squarespace and Adobe Portfolio.

One of the two hosts stated that designers don’t need to design and code their portfolio because it is a waste of time.  Services like Squarespace already have well-designed templates with homogenized elements.

No wonder sites, particularly web portfolios, look so much the same these days. With these services available at their finger tips, have designers given up creating and coding their own site these days? If that’s the case than it is a shame. 

When designers code their own site they have total control. Because they only use the markups and CSS properties they need, they can easily optimize their site for fast performance. Furthermore, they can demonstrate their coding skills to potential employers. I encourage designers to create their own site because  HTML and CSS aren’t hard to learn and they give them tremendous power.