Utah State University students studying Outdoor Product Design and Development learned how critical a good portfolio is to communicating ideas from ICON Health and Fitness industrial designer, Chris Nascimento. Speaking to a large classroom of students in the OPDD program, Nascimento emphasized the need for designers, through their portfolios, to communicate solutions to problems. Designers are storytellers, using the portfolio to guide viewers from problem to solution.

A portfolio is the place for a designer to display technical skill and proficiency including an understanding of human problems and how to solve them. While it is important to learn how to sketch and how to communicate designs digitally, Nascimento made it clear that not all designers are masters at sketching, however, all of them have mastered a tool in order to communicate their ideas such as sketching, digital design, or hands on prototyping.

The former employee of Nike and Columbia Sportswear challenged the students to find real problems to solve and challenge the status quo, while also remaining grounded in the reality that products need to sell and need to rely on some sense of rationality.