How Do I Make My First Graphic Design Portfolio?

How Do I Make My First Graphic Design Portfolio?

When it comes to seeking fresh jobs as a graphic designer, your portfolio is your most valuable commodity. Consider it similar to your resume! A great portfolio highlights your experience and previous work, giving new customers an indication about what they should benefit from partnering with you.

But what if you’re only starting out and don’t have any prior experience? Don’t be concerned! We all start anywhere, and the good news is that while a portfolio is required to book clients, you don’t need any clients to create a portfolio.
Without any design background, you will build a killer portfolio that attracts your dream clients. You can learn graphic design online through Blue Sky Graphics online graphic design course.
When you don’t have any design knowledge, it’s difficult to know where to begin creating a graphic design portfolio. Here are some ideas for creating a concept portfolio that you’ll enjoy working on so you can book your ideal customers!

Choose the dream customer.

First and foremost, in order to construct a portfolio, you must first find your perfect customer. (This would assist you with ensuring that you are performing jobs that you enjoy!)

Consider this for a moment. What kinds of individuals do you like to collaborate with? Whose firms do you aspire to work for? If you want to collaborate with big, well-established companies or with small businesses and startups? Are you involved with working in technology, or would you rather collaborate with other creatives? Make an effort to be as descriptive as practicable.

From there, you will decide which services your target customer may need from you, so you know what to include in your portfolio. A larger organisation, for example, might need advertisement materials such as brochures and pamphlets, while a smaller corporation may require assistance in determining their identity and creating a logo.

Alternatively, you should work backwards, then deciding what programmes you love developing and then determining who will use such facilities. Perhaps you enjoy creating sleek, minimalist websites. If that’s the case, you can fill your portfolio with many website templates that suit that aesthetic, and then look for clients who have similar branding and graphics.

Okay, now that you’ve identified your target group — and you know just what they’ll want from you — here are four ways to construct your portfolio!

Redesign current ventures

If you’ve decided who you want to work with or what ventures you want to make, it’s time to start building your portfolio. If you don’t have any previous work that matches your requirements, begin by redesigning a current project!

Is there a small company you admire that might profit from an upgrade? Take their current logo and grant it a facelift! Begin with the fundamentals of the company, and then progress to new business cards or even a website mockup.

Contact non-profits or foundations.

Many organisations and non-profit agencies may not have the money they need for publicity materials or artistic services. If you’re going to be wasting hours putting together portfolio items, try contacting a nearby nonprofit and seeing if you should donate your time and talents.

This is an excellent opportunity to contribute back to the society whilst earning valuable job experience!

Make contact with family and friends.

Is one of your friends getting married? Is your aunt starting a company? Is your mother in search of a one-of-a-kind present for a family member? Try contacting your personal network to see whether someone you meet might benefit from your services. There’s bound to be someone out there who would love to get some free design jobs!
This is a perfect, low-pressure opportunity to gain experience dealing with customers whilst still adding some interesting things to the portfolio.

Make your own bogus client project.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: you don’t really need a client to plan a project you’re passionate about; you can just make one up!
If you’re having trouble finding a company or customer whose needs match your design style, there’s no excuse you can’t start your own! This way, you will build something that looks authentic to your style but still speaking directly to your ideal customers.
In reality, creating a portfolio of projects you love (rather than client projects you don’t love) can help you book clients that are more compatible with your design style, and projects you’ll really enjoy working on!

Invest in the fund as a whole.

If you’re having trouble coming up with projects to have in your business, look no further than your portfolio. Use your imagination to build your own mini-websites that showcase your job.
Create a dashboard, personalised 404 pages, a communication form, subpages, navigation, and a blog. Consider interface flows, microscopy, and microinteractions, and incorporate the branding (see the next tip!).
If you’re feeling really adventurous, you may code the website yourself or recruit the assistance of a pal. Regardless of how you build the site, aim to simulate a real-world launch. Conduct consumer testing, create low- and high-fidelity samples, and validate them. This would not only provide you a taste of the actual work, but it will also provide you with additional tools to use in your portfolio.

Create your own brand.

What better customer will you get than yourself? Create a visual identity for yourself as a designer and use those tools to bring personality to your portfolio.
You may design your own emblem, font, colour scheme, graphics, animations, tagline, and other elements. Consider it as creating a strong identity that will help you get into the design community.
As an added benefit, including these enjoyable tasks in your portfolio highlights your personality (the human behind the designs). Don’t be scared to add your passions and desires into your branding.

Donate your abilities

Build your portfolio while still giving back to a small company, nonprofit, or startup. There are two simple approaches to do this: first, contact local companies you visit, or second, contact any contacts you have at growing startups. Offer your services for free and inquire whether they need design assistance for X amount of months. Alternatively, if you’re feeling optimistic, study their digital footprint and pitch a concept idea to fill in any gaps or holes.