What Should Go Inside? Creating a Graphic Design Portfolio for the First Time

By Lisa Kroulik © October 16, 2011

If you have never assembled a graphic design portfolio before, it can seem so intimidating that you are tempted to put it off indefinitely. As overwhelming as the task may seem, it must be done if you hope to even get a job interview, much less a job. If you’re feeling stuck about what to include in your portfolio, hopefully the following tips will help you to settle down, take a deep breath and get going on organizing your dazzling work.

Your presentation of your portfolio is just as important as what is inside, and it gives you the opportunity to show off you professional organizational skills. Your work may indeed be splendid, but if you hand the potential client or interviewer a bunch of loose designs in several different sizes and formats, he or she is not likely to be impressed. To avoid getting off on the wrong foot, determine the size of your biggest project and find a portfolio case to fit around it. You will be presenting your portfolio many times over the years, so consider your portfolio case to be an investment in your career.

Competition for graphic design jobs is fierce, and you definitely want your portfolio to be more memorable than the portfolios of other applicants. However, you want it to stand out for the right reasons and not because it was sloppily put together or inconsistent. You don’t want to have different font size or style, spacing or coloring on every other page. Creativity is good, but haphazard presentation could lead to wrong assumptions being made about the quality of your work.

If you are applying for a job as a website designer, you will want to bring print-outs of other websites that you have designed and not just write the link down on a piece of paper. Similarly, if your interview is with a book publisher, you should plan to bring a mock book cover that you have created and demonstrate how you went about doing the layout for the rest of the book. Your portfolio should always include work samples that are relevant to the type of business of your client or future employer.

Ideally, when your potential client or employer turns to the first page of your portfolio, he or she will be awestruck at your talent and want to see more of it, so put your very best piece in the front. How do you decide which one is the best? If you have a personal favorite and can articulate why it is your best piece, go with that. Otherwise, consider the feedback you have gotten from your instructors and fellow students and choose the piece that seemed to impress the greatest number of people.

It’s also important to end your portfolio well. Your design on the final page will be the last thing your potential client or employer sees, and he or she will likely use the association to remember you when it comes time to review all of the applicants for the position. You want your portfolio to end with the same “wow factor” that is started with. In between the first and last pages, organize your samples by the skills that you used to produce them, i.e. all freehand drawings in once section, animation clips in the next section and so forth.

When you are assembling your portfolio, consider how you will describe it to the person you are interviewing with. If you find a willing friend, present each piece of your portfolio to him or her and spend three to five minutes describing it. When it comes time for your real presentation, you should be able to explain the reason you created the project and why you chose the design concept and materials that you did. You want to project an air of confidence in your own abilities while you do this, yet make sure the your future client or employer knows you are not above correction and collaborating with others.

You should not assume that once you land your first job, you never have to worry about a portfolio again. Instead, plan to keep it continuously updated by adding your best work, even if you plan to stay with the same employer for a long time. In the uncertain economic times we live in, you should plan to have an updated portfolio to show on a moment’s notice. It will also come in handy for periodic side jobs.