How to Create a Graphic Design Portfolio for Beginners
How to Create a Graphic Design Portfolio for Beginners
Today I Will Tell You About How to Create a Graphic Design Portfolio for Beginners in 2020. If you are a beginner and want to Design your Portfolio of Graphic Design and Don't Know How to Make a perfect Graphic Design Portfolio. Just follow these steps.
Top 6 Steps for Making a Portfolio:
- Curate your best work, and show a wide breadth of skill.
- Choose the right platform to showcase your work.
- Include a professional case study or client recommendations.
- Integrate your personality.
- Describe the creative process.
- Show non-client work, or side projects.
1. Curate your best work, and show a wide breadth of skill.
Lindsay Burke, a HubSpot Product Designer, emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity when it comes to curating a graphic design portfolio. She says, "I recommend selecting your strongest projects and making these the primary focus of your portfolio website."
Ideally, your portfolio will feature your sharpest, most impressive 10-20 designs -- undoubtedly, someone pursuing your portfolio won't have the time to look at more, and if your first couple projects are impressive enough, they shouldn't need to. However, it's equally critical you show potential clients your versatility. If you've dabbled in logo design as well as video animation, it's good to include both kinds of projects in your portfolio.
2. Choose the right platform to showcase your work.
Investing in a quality website with a custom domain URL will pay-off in the long run by demonstrating your professionalism to potential clients. Having your own website helps you organize your portfolio to suit all your business needs -- for instance, perhaps you'll include 'Projects', 'About Me', and 'Contact Me' sections, so visitors can peruse your content and then contact you without ever leaving the site.
Take a look at 7 of the Best Website Builders for 2019 if you need help choosing the best platform for your portfolio.
3. Include a professional case study or client recommendations.
Lindsay Burke told me it's incredibly valuable to write out a case study to complement any website visuals -- "Through a written case study, your site visitors can get a sense of your project's background, the problem you were aiming to solve through design, and the process you took to arrive at a final deliverable. A lot of time, effort and iteration goes into design solutions, and a written case study will help communicate your unique process."
To cultivate a strong case study, consider including the background of the project, the problem, the process, your deliverable, and any next steps. In the process section of your case study, Burke suggests including research, experience mapping, persona development, wire-framing, sketching, usability testing, and iteration.
For further inspiration, check out one of the case studies Lindsay Burke uses for her personal website.
Additionally, it will impress future clients if you can include recommendations from prior employers, which allows you to demonstrate a level of professionalism.
4. Integrate your personality.
As the examples above indicate, each portfolio is drastically different depending on the artist's unique style. Someone checking out Tobias van Schneider's portfolio will expect something vastly different than someone looking at Ling K's site. Ensure your portfolio -- including layout, background, and website title -- reflect who you are as a designer.
5. Describe the creative process.
Each designer has a unique process when working with clients -- and the sooner a potential client can learn about your process, the better. It's important you include context, so visitors can get a sense for how you handle challenges, and how your designs solve real-world problems.
Plus, including a description of your creative process can help a potential client determine whether you're capable of handling the scope of their project. For instance, they might be unsure of your ability to handle graphic designs for mobile until they read how you single-handedly brainstormed and created the designs for another client's mobile site. In this case, context is critical.
6. Show non-client work, or side projects.
Amanda Chong, a HubSpot Designer, says, "side projects are a great way to demonstrate your will to take initiative and your ability to balance multiple things at once. They're also a great way to show some of the more experimental, creative ideas that you might not be able to show through your day-to-day work."
If you're just starting out, it's acceptable to include side projects or non-client work so potential customers can get a sense of your ability and style. Consider incorporating school work, a logo you designed for your aunt's company, or an internal design you created for your current company -- ideally, your designs will negate any concerns potential clients have over your lack of career experience.
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