TL:DR: Should I bother adding website clones to my portfolio to prove that I know my HTML and CSS.
Will employers mark it against me if it’s a clone? Even if I change the logo and colors and do not say it’s a clone?
(I’m a programer, not a designer but I feal like good looking sites will be eye catchers for my portfolio)
As a senior software engineer that has been involved in hiring numerous candidates in the past I wouldn’t worry about creating clones. In my experience when looking for new hires it doesn’t really matter what it is the candidate has built so long as they have shown they are keen, dedicated to learning their chosen craft and have displayed knowledge and hard work.
All developers are always learning and we don’t expect anyone to be the finished article, it’s not possible. Chances are you are not being interviewed for your ability to devise a unique product idea on your own. What is far more important is your ability to communicate, explain what you have done and how you got there as well as show your passion for progressing and learning more.
What do you mean by ‘website clones’?
Thanks. I’m horrible at design so this is very reasuring.
It’s when you recreate a website from scratch but you don’t look at its HTML or CSS.
Like recreating Twitter for example. Not the whole website of course, but you focus on different things depending on what you want to showcase. You could focus on similar functionality, or a similar layout etc.
I think not too bad. Some of my clients also want to buy clone website from another site because their old website has been optimized. Moreover, the price is cheaper for them
I kind of already had the answer in my mind but I was really worried and needed a second opinion.
As rob212 put it, they’ll care more about how knowledgeable and skilled you are and not on how good you are at coming up with product ideas or you ‘eye for design’.
Sort of like, “It’s not what you make, it’s how you make it”
I’ll make a clone or 2 just to show my abilities with HTML and CSS but I wont worry about it much.
I think employers can care less if your portfolio includes clones. As long as you show the source code to your work you should be fine. If you were to make clones of complex applications/websites, that would definitely catch the eyes of employers.
With that said, I’ve been job hunting for almost one month now and my top 3 Projects are clones of other applications. I’ve been contacted by a few employers and they actually liked my work regardless of the fact that they were clones.
Best of luck 
How did you clone them?
I pretty much had the application to clone open in one tab and would constantly look at it while coding (going back and forth between app to clone, text editor, clone).
ty,
but I did not understand that.
Creating website clones is a fantastic way to practice and learn new stuff, and it won’t hurt if you add the best 1-2 clones to your portfolio.
[The post is 3-months old but I’m going to reply anyway! 
You’ve probably already found a job!]
I’m starting to work on some clones as well. I think it’s a very valuable thing to add them to your portfolio to showcase your skills!
That being said, you probably need more than HTML/CSS, even for a good front-end-only clone. Try to learn/include a front-end framework (React, Angular, jQuery…) to create a more accurate clone - 2 or 3 beautiful clones, and you’re good to go!