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A great portfolio should tell your story. But how, you might ask, do you capture and present such a story?
Step one is to get clarity about who you are as a creative. Here a little self-reflection is in order. What past work are you proud of? What type of positions and industries are you open to? What’s your future ideal role? Answering these questions will be key to crafting and refining your portfolio over time.
Your audience of potential employers and marketing recruiting firms should be able to understand your work and what you’ve achieved without a verbal explanation. The flow and layout of the portfolio should make sense. Review your portfolio and ask yourself: is it easy to see what I’ve done? When was the project completed? What was its objective? If it was a big project with multiple players, is it clear what part I played?
Basically, be sure to briefly cover the “who, what, where, when, why, and how” for each project within your portfolio.
Regardless of your specific skillset or medium, you must find a way to show your work in action to effectively present yourself to hiring managers and marketing recruiting firms.
Copywriters: Though it shouldn’t, the written word sometimes takes a backseat to design. But many industry leaders and successful creatives across sectors recognize its importance. If you’re a writer refreshing your portfolio, you can link to bylines and pieces you’ve written or include screenshots of your work. Say you’ve written scripts for videos? Then include a link to the final product! Show the kind of copy you’ve done, whether it’s short or long form, and select the best of the best.
Designers: As a designer it can sometimes be a challenge to determine what to showcase in your portfolio. This is why it’s so important to reflect on your past projects and update your portfolio regularly. Ultimately, you should always include your best and most recent work. It should be obvious to anyone perusing your portfolio what your capabilities are and what you’ve recently created. Add information on what aspects you created if it was a group project. Remember the “who, what, where, why, and how” but aim to keep it brief. Let your skills speak for themselves.
Video / Multimedia Specialists / Producers: To efficiently present your skills, video, and other multimedia specialists should include a demo reel that showcases what you can do in different mediums. Include captions that show what tools you used (Autodesk Maya), your role (CGI artist), and the client name if appropriate.
There are a handful of fundamental principles when it comes to crafting your portfolio. Often candidates will overlook these simple rules, which in certain instances can affect their overall job opportunities. Don’t overlook the basics!
1. Consistent messaging: Consistency throughout your portfolio is essential for a positive first impression. This not only includes a general framework for organizing and presenting your work (the who, what, where, how, and why), but also things like typeface and visual layouts.
2. Alignment across your portfolio, resume, and LinkedIn profile: This tip is an extension of the first. To present yourself as professionally as possible, double and triple check that there are no discrepancies across your portfolio, resume, and social profiles. This doesn’t mean all the same info needs to be presented across each medium, just that there should be no conflicting information.
3. Focus on your audience: Always bear in mind your target audience and who you are trying to reach. This could be potential clients for freelance work, hiring teams for large organizations, marketing recruiting firms who can put you in touch with new opportunities, or even collaborators. This focus will help you refine the scope and messaging of your portfolio.
4. Practice a walkthrough: It’s not just about showing your work. You should be able to talk about it too! Find a colleague who will let you practice a walkthrough with them. That way you aren’t tripped up when you have to explain your process to hiring managers during interviews.
5. Prioritize organization and structure: UX and Information Architects will get this. But please make sure there is coherent, easy to understand structure for how your work is organized. This is just as important as what work you choose to present.
6. When in doubt, keep it simple: It can be difficult to decide what to include and what to leave out. It can also be a challenge to provide sufficient context for your work without compromising the overall feel of your portfolio. If you’re struggling with this, err on the side of simplicity, and prioritize ease of navigation and clarity.
7. Invest in a proper website: Spend a few dollars and invest in a proper domain and website. And make sure that your portfolio site represents and communicates your skillset. If you’re a UX Designer, for instance, you’ll want to go beyond the cookie-cutter Wix site.
8. Make sure it’s responsive: Many people will view your portfolio on mobile devices, so ensure your website has a responsive design that adapts to various screen sizes.
9. Present clear contact info for clients: Make it easy for potential clients, employers, and marketing recruiting firms to get in touch with you. Provide clear and visible contact information or include a dedicated contact page.
What advice would you give to younger designers?
If you don’t have a style yet, mimic something you admire, in time, you will have a multitude of experiences and ideas to choose from rather than starting from scratch. – Senior Copywriter
My advice to younger designers is to learn how to present your designs in a way that solves problems for development, marketing, and overall business goals. – Senior UX Designer
What do you prioritize in your portfolio above all else?
I prioritize stories about solving problems in my portfolio because employers are often looking for competency in candidates in addition to design skills. – Senior UX Designer
What’s the Number One Thing You Look for in a Portfolio?
“The number one thing I look for in a design portfolio is clarity. Is it clear within the first 5-10 seconds or less what area of design somebody specializes in? Or can I tell quickly if there is a cohesive style being used throughout the work that makes it feel branded? If someone says that they are a packaging designer, but I have to dig through other projects to find examples of packaging, to me that isn't clear enough. There should always be a clear and common through line for the work.” - Design Director in the Entertainment Industry
“I can spot when a candidate simply has a grasp of basic design principles in their work examples. A variety of types of mediums is good, but too many isn’t, in my opinion. I like to see when someone focuses on getting really good at a couple. On that same note, I’d rather see five really great pieces versus 10 average and don’t mix average with great. Clever creative is great when someone can pull it off. If you can’t be clever and original, don’t try. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I like to read what went into the problem-solving process behind the creative and what part the designer participated in that problem solving”. - Creative Director in the Financial and Insurance Industry
What Stands Out to You When Reviewing Sites?
"I would say that after the work itself, the way in which a designer presents their work on the portfolio website is something that can help it really stand out. Are there case studies with project descriptions? Are there mockups being used to help a client visualize how and where the designs are living? Are there intentional and deliberate font and / or color choices that tie back into the website? Anytime I see a site that has considered these things I believe it shows a higher level of design thinking." - Design Director in the Entertainment Industry
“The more interactive a website is, the more it gets my attention, even on a small scale. When someone adds micro-animations. Clean and logical relationships between content and architecture wins every time. Websites that look straight off the WordPress template line don’t interest me.” – Creative Director in the Financial and Insurance Industry
What Are Some of Your Portfolio Red Flags?
“In my opinion, the biggest red flags are when the interfaces are difficult to navigate. If the projects are outdated, and if the designer hasn't created the website thoughtfully by considering the look of their branding. If someone doesn't show that they are spending time on the details with their own sites, then how will they do it with real world projects and client work?” - Design Director in the Entertainment Industry
“When someone mixes sketching and photography with print work and web work. If you are applying to a graphic designer position, I don’t want to see your fun drawings. And I definitely don’t want to see local concert handouts you designed. These things just scream amateur.” - Creative Director in the Financial and Insurance Industry
In the creative world, recruiters are a combination of ally, coach, and cheerleader for your candidacy. Recruiters promote you, we tell the hiring manager why you’re a good fit for the job, and we use your portfolios to do that. We meet with the hiring teams and understand their specific needs, which can help you excel and shine when it comes time to interview. In this sense, your portfolio is a tool to communicate your value and get yourself a seat at the table.
But it’s also more than that, too. It’s also an expression of who you are as a creative. Crafting a compelling portfolio is truly an art form in itself, a medium where creativity and professionalism meet. The principles we have laid out here are a guide to crafting your message for hiring managers, clients, and colleagues. So, no matter what work you choose to present, embrace simplicity, offer a storytelling experience, and prioritize your audience's needs. Remember, your portfolio is more than the sum of its parts. It’s not just a collection of projects; it is a testament to your path as a creative.
Photo Credit: Unsplash
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