A fantastic graphic design portfolio can’t move mountains however it can change your life with a new job or opportunity. AI – together with other factors – are impacting graphic design hiring which makes your portfolio more important than ever before.
And while some graphic designers still carry a physical book of printed design examples, most portfolios take the form of graphic designer websites. These sites demonstrate to audiences much more than design skills such as logo design or typography.
If you’re a full-time graphic designer or are merely dabbling in design as a side project in your free time, it’s vital that you create a sleek graphic design portfolio to showcase your work to potential clients.
The Nuts And Bolts
With the assistance of website-building software or professional web development, you have the ability to create something really unique out of your online design portfolio. It’s another opportunity to show off your skills as a creative person.
While there’s loads of freedom in what you can do, it’s good to follow some best practices for creating a design portfolio. Here are some of them.
Have High Quality Images of Your Graphic Design Work
Have a design series for a recent client that you think is your best work yet but the quality of the images is poor or hard to see on a screen?
Don’t fill your online portfolio with poor images – that have weird cropping – which will turn off potential clients. Make sure that you use high-quality images which will not appear pixelated or blurry on a screen.
Ensure that you process images of your graphic design work properly utilising Adobe Photoshop or other editing tools so these are web quality, with good resolution and quick load time. This will make sure that they look their best in your portfolio and show you care about the quality of your work.
Make Your Portfolio User-Friendly
Choose a layout that shows your work with ease and simplicity. When putting it together, you can use basic UX best practices and put yourself in the perspective of the potential client who will be visiting your profile.
Regularly Updated Content
A stale portfolio with old work isn’t going to attract potential clients or keep visitors to your site engaged. Ensure that your design portfolio is packed with current work that highlights a recent design commission by a client or a logo design which you made for a recent marketing campaign. Your portfolio website should be fresh and interesting, with regular updates of your latest and greatest work.
Go For Variety
Don’t include just one form of design such as website design or illustration. Although this doesn’t mean that everything shouldn’t work together. Ensure it all still looks like it’s one person’s work.
Give An Explanation
Every project deserves one! Share who the client was and the brief that was given to you. Think about including a timeline of your progress, explaining why you made some of the more important decisions, and ending with whether the client was happy with your first draft or if there were any tweaks that had to be made. These points not only add some insight as to exactly what the project was, but also allows readers to see your creative mind and your decision-making process.
Express Your Identity
This is your chance to showcase your originality as a graphic designer. Clients are always searching for something quite unique to bring to their brand or project in this competitive space, so it will be in your favour if you are able to show that you have something genuinely authentic or a signature style to contribute.
Link To Your Social Media
Your portfolio website is a great opportunity for you to highlight your online presence, from your recent projects to your social media accounts, so visitors and other graphic designers can connect with you and keep track of your latest work.
Your online accounts are a great space to highlight the most personal side of your design work and provide regular updates to your followers. This can then help to boost your online profile and increase traffic to your website.
Most website builders will have a spot for links to your social media at the header and footer of your portfolio website so visitors are able to navigate to them easily.
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