Table of Contents
What Should Be Included In A Student Portfolio?
If you want to work for a design firm, you should know what to put on your resume. Your failure to include the required details in this document could result in employers rejecting your application entirely.
We recommend that you have two kinds of portfolios. The first should be a condensed version of your crucial folio and be included in your CV/Portfolio mix folder. This is referred to as a ‘teaser,’ and it should be crafted to entice the viewer. The second portfolio form should be reserved for face-to-face presentations and should have a much more detailed ‘look and sound.’ Blue Sky Graphics can help you put together a portfolio if you study graphic design.
Here are a few examples of what employers look for:
Great product portfolios must demonstrate a convincing ‘design phase’ from project inception to completion. This ensures that you can provide details on how you produced each graphic design in your portfolio. What programme or tools did you use to build this graphic design? Where did you get your ideas? Were there any difficulties encountered during the production process? Answering these questions will provide the clients with insight into how you create graphic templates and deal with problems along the way.
It should hopefully reveal rich stories about people. The human being, not the ‘user.’ Consider the vocabulary used by the world’s best thinkers and how they use architecture to change the world.
Learn How to Enhance Your Graphic Design Portfolio
1. Selecting a Portfolio Case
The first step in designing your graphic design portfolio should be to choose a case for your work. What is inside can be determined by the style of the case and the height of the case. It is unnecessary to have the most expensive portfolio in the world, but it should be cool, modern, and competent. And be sure you consider the page size and see if it would be a suitable size for displaying your work. E.g., if you create a lot of poster designs, you would like a larger case so that you can print them at a larger scale.
2. Background Paper for Your Portfolio
In your case, the background paper should be a neutral colour, most preferably white or light grey, which should be used throughout your portfolio. Switching backdrop colours can be avoided because it can distract the viewer and throw off the balance of your portfolio.
3. Resilience
The job and location of your work, including your document use, should be consistent. If you focus all of the designs on each page, make sure they are all centred. Maintain even spacing along the edges as well. Your portfolio would represent what your design work will be like if you show mistakes inaccuracy.
4. Including the Appropriate Designs
You should devote a significant amount of time to selecting appropriate work for your portfolio. If you are in design school, make sure to ask your professors for assistance or ask your artist peers for advice. Your jobs should be recent, and the style of work in your portfolio should be tailored to the position you are applying for.
If you are applying for a position at a publication, consider assignments related to this field. Do not arrive with a slew of CD covers and poster sketches but no paper covers or spreads.
5. A Good Start
You want to “wow” the audience as they open your portfolio, but the trick is to keep them “wowed” during the show. Choose one of the best bits for the first page, typically a single page rather than a spread. It is preferable to store your resume and all other paperwork in the back of the room or a different folder.
6. Stable Finish
Ending strong is just as critical as beginning strong, if not more so, because you want to leave the audience with a clear visual memory. In the end, you should add another powerful piece. Your portfolio should get better over time, not smaller!
7. Workplace Placement
Your work should be neatly cut with no rough edges and securely put on each page. It would help if you used sticky tack or removable double-sided tape to save the job from shifting around on the paper. The last thing you want to do is open up your portfolio for an interview and see all of your work jumbled up and slipping out of the page slips!
8. Identifying Your Work
Interviewers will sometimes ask you to leave a portfolio at the workplace for potential viewing, so marking your work with a title and a short overview will help refresh their mind as they are searching through your portfolio again. Labels will also act as reminders for you as you discuss your work. Maintain consistency in the placement, scale, and fonts of the marks.
9. Discussing Your Work
It is important to talk for at least a few minutes about and piece of your portfolio. Know who it was for, what the mission specifics were, what you did, what the idea was, what style you used, why you used it, and so on!
10. Perfection comes with practise
You may know what there is to know about your job, but being able to talk openly about it is an entirely different ballgame. Practice in front of friends, families, and even strangers to overcome those awkward emotions as quickly as possible. The more work you put in, the better your presentation will be! Only try not to go on and on about each project for too long.
11. Collaboration and networking
Networking is an essential part of every job, and the more designers and art directors you meet, the better. It is fantastic to be able to present your portfolio to trustworthy professionals in the industry. Most designers and art directors are used to providing candid, no-nonsense feedback, so their insights can be beneficial!
12. Portfolio Maintenance and Updating
Keeping your portfolio up to date is critical so that you could be or your dream career could appear out of nowhere! It would be best if you were prepared at all times, so refresh your portfolio regularly, removing any broken or torn bits of work and wiping fingerprints and smudges from the plain page slips.
