Impress Employers with Your Best Work
In addition to an impressive CV, and an interesting cover letter, a designer needs a stunning portfolio. This is your chance to show your work and impress people with your talent and creativity. Make the most of it! Your design work is your greatest asset.
Because in the design industry, your work speaks for itself.
You might have the longest resume in the world, the coolest credentials, the slickest identity kit. None of that matters if your portfolio is weak. Clients and employers will evaluate you primarily on the basis of what they can see in your portfolio.
What if you haven’t done much work?
Building a strong portfolio is essential to launching your career as a designer. But what if you’re just getting started and don’t have much work to show?
Every time you work on a project, even if it’s only a school assignment, you have an opportunity to show your talent. Make everything as perfect as you can. A piece that clearly shows your ability with typography, color, composition, and computer applications will say a lot about you. Even a small classroom project can be turned into a portfolio piece if you use your creativity.
Things to avoid
Your portfolio must allow your work to shine – and make you look professional. That’s why you want to avoid doing anything that will frustrate or annoy the viewer, or distract from your work.
Flash-based portfolios are a prime example. Designers love all the things they can do in Adobe Flash, like animations and crazy menus. But these things make your website slow to load, and have no purpose. They just make it more difficult for people to see your portfolio work.
So unless you actually are a Flash designer, then people are not interested in your amazing Flash skills. They just want to look at your work. Show them that you understand the basic principles of good design by helping them get to your work quickly and easily.
This applies to portfolios in other mediums, too. Avoid distracting graphics and colors. It’s better to keep your portfolio simple and easy to understand. That means you create a portfolio design that shows you understand the needs of your audience, and communicates to them in an appropriate manner.
Because that’s what good designers do.
Choose the right number of samples
Decide on 8 to 12 pieces that you are happy with for your portfolio: Seven that demonstrate your specialty, and three or more that provide a slightly broader perspective of your talents and interests.
Organize your work
Corporate clients often want to see work specifically targeted to their market, while other companies like to see a variety of media, or a more contemporary flavor.
Call the client or the recruitment agency beforehand to find out how they would prefer your portfolio to be organized. If in doubt, order chronologically as this will demonstrate your development as a designer.
Keep it fresh
Everything in your portfolio should be fairly recent. Anything more than three years old is too dated to show off your passion for design. Trends change quickly and you have to acknowledge their importance in the design world.
Invest in presentation
Show that you care about your work. If you have an old portfolio case that looks exceptional – because it’s made from fine leather, for example – use it. Otherwise, it’s better to use a binder or case that is new and clean.
Make your work look the best it possibly can. If you are sloppy and careless about your own work, an employer will assume that you are careless about the work you do for their clients. Employers want to see that you care about making a good impression.
Use lamination and overlays
Your work can start to look a little ragged after various potential employers review your work. So protect your work and extend its lifespan by laminating your portfolio mounts. Overlays are great too, as they can enhance a page and give your work a nice, glossy sheen.
Label your work with the important information
Create a label for each piece with some key information:
- The name of the client
- Your specific role
- The software you used
- A sentence or two explaining why the project was important for your development
Demonstrate your expertise
Display your ability to see a job through. For example, if they have asked for a graphic designer that can handle a job from start to finish, then try and show that you can develop a concept from the ideas stage right through to the final print.
Embrace the Electronic Age
The internet is the most valuable tool you have at your disposal. It can be accessed by thousands of employers and people who can help you. So you should have an online portfolio that people can easily see and link to.
Leave a lasting impression
You have to find a way to stay at the front of what is probably a very large and talented group of people. So be inventive and creative!
Remember, Commercialism sells!
Finally, make sure your work has a commercial slant. Being off-the-wall and arty is okay for one or two pages of your portfolio, but employers want to make money from your designs, so commercialism and salability are critical for them.
