Today I’d like to share with you how to build a graphic design portfolio. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably pulled your hair out over trying to get your work to look decent on display. You’ve probably dealt with finicky websites as well as inconsistent photography that is either blurry, too dark, or something else on the long list of undesirables.
Follow this video and I’ll teach you all of my tips and tricks to having a graphic design portfolio that really shines and gives your work the credit it deserves!
Transcript
Hey guys this is Alyssa with Bright Mind Marketing, and today I thought I’d share with you how to make an awesome online graphic design portfolio. This is something that I’ve always struggled with as a designer and I’ve found that even though I thought my work looked pretty good, I wasn’t able to display it online, or in print for that matter, in a way that made me feel confident about what I was doing. That is, until recently. I stumbled upon a few tips and tricks I would love to share with you and hopefully you can take your graphic design portfolio to the next level.
What We Will Cover
- My secret to making your work look AWESOME. Like I said, in my past, this has been very challenging. I found that my work looked pretty good online in PDF format, but I’d have to get it professionally printed, and then photograph it, and then edit the photos, and a lot of times the photos might come out blurry, or too dark, and I really wasn’t happy with it. I’m not a professional photographer and didn’t have the desire to learn or purchase photography equipment. So this really wasn’t working for me. It was very time consuming so when I’d have a new project I wouldn’t add it to my portfolio.
- How to implement this secret. I’ll give you all the details step-by-step on how to make your portfolio look awesome.
- Where to create your portfolio. Do you put it on your own website? Are there other platforms you can put it on? Or both?
1. My Big Secret
So what is the big secret to making your work look awesome?
The answer, my friends, is Photoshop product mockups. Now some of you might be aware of what these are but if you’re like me, you had no idea these existed. So basically, someone else created these gorgeous files and all you need to do is upload your files and they will be dropped in for you. No longer do you need to professionally print all of your pieces and hope to photograph them just right and that all your work looks consistent year after year.
What can you use these Photoshop product mockups for? You can use them for brochures, newsletters, folders, vehicles, business cards. You name it and there’s a Photoshop product mockup for it. This allows you to get really creative with how you display your work. For example, if you just show a plain logo, viewers may not understand its potential. However, if you’re able to show it on stationary, the side of a vehicle or on a building, then people can really see the potential of the logo you designed.
2. How Do You Do This Exactly?
- Free stuff: I highly recommend finding free stuff where you can. One way you can go about doing this is to search “free photoshop mockups” or “free psd mockups”. If you’re trying to find something really specific or in a certain size this can be more difficult, but you should be able to find a lot of mockups this way for things like brochures, business cards and logos. My problem with a lot of these is that they provided a very inconsistent look to my portfolio and while the variety in the beginning was nice, my portfolio looked pretty messy. However, I was able to find a few free gems. I also found files that were advertised well but they were extremely difficult to work with in Photoshop. I spent a day playing with free files and then I headed on over to GraphicRiver to fill in the gaps.
- GraphicRiver: This is really where I found the gems. If you search for “product mockups”, you will find a large variety and people sell these files for $5-$12 a piece. It could sound expensive but in my mind it’s a great deal. You can even use these files to show clients what their products will look like in real life. It allows you to show them the design in a way that they wouldn’t otherwise see. So far I’ve purchased 3 mockups total that I wasn’t able to find for free and I still use them frequently. $30 bucks was worth it because otherwise, I’d be spending a lot of time and a lot of money trying to do it all myself or hiring someone to help.
3. Platforms to Use to Build Your Portfolio
- Your own website: The first option that many people go with is their own website. I recommend using WordPress. There are a lot of themes that are portfolio-friendly. I like Divi by Elegant Themes because it’s downright sexy and it’s very user friendly. It’s what I use on this website you’re on! Head on over to my portfolio to check it out!
- LinkedIn: The next option is to use LinkedIn. While you might not want this to be your only portfolio, you can upload your work here to make your profile look much nicer. You can upload work that you’ve done in any given position you have listed. Honestly, I’m not sure how many people look at this or have seen this but if anyone does find it, it does make your profile look a little more interesting. Also, it’s an easy way to share your work and your resume all at once.
- Behance: Behance is a place to “showcase and discover the latest work from top online portfolios by creative professionals across industries.” You can have a profile, list your job position, your employer or business, location, website, your design skills, an “about me” section, and more. I did actually get a lead through Behance. I’d consider it a weak lead. I’m pretty sure the person sent off a bulk email to dozens of designers, but it was a lead that I spoke with nonetheless.
A Few Other Helpful Tidbits
- Create descriptions for your work. You might want to tell someone looking at your work a little more about the project or goals that they wouldn’t know just by looking at the photo. Include whatever you feel is appropriate.
- Think about who the audience of your portfolio will be. Are you trying to get a job with a design agency? If this is the case, you’ll really want to showcase all of the skills that you know. You might want to heavily talk about the design process if you’re talking to another designer. Are you trying to get your own clients? If this is true, they might not care about the same details that a fellow designer would care about. Instead, they might like to know what goal this design piece accomplished and how you might be able to help them as well.
- Know that you now have this tool in your toolbox. If you’re anything like me, in my past, people would ask me for samples of my work when I’d least expect it. This caused me anxiety because I didn’t have something readily available to show. I’d end up having to browse through a bunch of files on my computer and trying to hack something together that looked halfway decent. Then, I’d panic when I’d hit the “send” button. Now when someone asks for samples of my work, I can easily copy/paste a link and have a lot of confidence that what I’m giving them is my best.
Conclusion
So there you have it. You now have all my tips and tricks on how to build a graphic design portfolio. If you’re interested in hearing more tips and tricks about graphic design, web design or marketing, then subscribe to my channel and I’ll see you next time. Thanks for watching!