How to create a portfolio for a beginning designer. How to make the perfect graphic designer portfolio? Complete test tasks

One of the most important questions for a beginning designer is how to fill out your portfolio? Where to get your first clients? How to get your first projects?

There are different ways to start a career in design. Starting from working as an intern in a design studio to creating your own studio. One of the easiest ways to start a career is to seek assignments as a freelancer. For all its shortcomings, freelancing seems like a very attractive option to many. But in order to receive orders, you must show your work to a potential client. Few people would agree to give an order to a designer whose portfolio is completely empty. It turns out to be a vicious circle: no orders → no portfolio, no portfolio → no orders.

First you need to realize that the first projects in the portfolio (cases) are a very, very important step. The quality of the first work determines which clients will come to you, and, in fact, the entire further path of the designer. Therefore, in the first cases it is important to demonstrate yourself, your knowledge, and modest (for now) skills as much as possible. Yes, you may not be able to wow clients with sophisticated technology and super-creative techniques, but you can demonstrate your approach and thinking. If you have good projects in your initial portfolio, this will give you a serious boost, because such work tends to spread across design blogs and raise your ranking on freelance exchanges.

And, of course, you can’t fill your portfolio with mediocre work. What your first jobs will be like, so will your subsequent clients.

So, let's move on to ways to fill out a portfolio.

1. Design for yourself

The most obvious way to get a portfolio case is to design it for yourself or your company. This could be a website, corporate identity or something like that. The difficulty here is that you will have to come up with restrictions yourself, because design without restrictions is not design, but pure creativity. But if you do a good job, this project will become not only a case in your portfolio, but also your business tool.

2. Design for friends or acquaintances

You can offer relatives, friends or good acquaintances a job for a symbolic reward. But be very careful with this option. You have little experience working with clients (otherwise, you would not be reading this text). Most likely, something will go wrong and you risk ruining the relationship. Think 10 times before trying this option.

3. Design for a fictitious client

This is how Artemy Lebedev, in particular, started. You can independently come up with a client with its tasks and limitations, and then solve these design problems. Here it is important to invent a client as close to reality as possible. Don't design for a brain transplant company. Better yet, design for a fictional PR agency. The simpler the better.

If you're starting a career in web design or mobile app design, you can come up with a useful service that you think is in demand, and then create a design for it. Just try not to make it just another mobile weather app ;)

4. Design for a famous brand or website

5. Competitions

There are many design competitions. Personally, I am skeptical of them, because most often they offer to work for free, for the chance of a remuneration that does not exceed the average cost of such a contract on the market. But for starters it will do.

Some competitions can be found on social networks and blogs, but the bulk are on specialized sites like 99designs and GoDesigner, as well as on freelance exchanges. The good thing about this method is that you don’t need to invent a task, it already exists. And if successful, you will not only get the job done, but also earn some money.

By the way, there are also very good competitions, for example, VKontakte competitions for the development of mobile applications with a prize fund of millions of rubles. Even though they are already completed, there is nothing stopping you from making a solution and placing it in your portfolio.

6. Free work (“for a portfolio”)

I categorically do not advise looking for a customer who will agree for you to work for him for free. Firstly, any work must be paid. Even a beginner's work costs money. Secondly, the chance of finding a normal client in this way tends to zero.

7. Project by a famous studio or designer

You can take a problem that your colleagues have already solved. Look at the work of famous designers and studios, choose what you think was done poorly and make it better. In addition to experience and a good case, you can also count on some resonance in the design environment (wow, the student did better than Studio X!).

8. Own project

A very useful method both from the point of view of practice and from the point of view of social benefit. By creating a thematic collection, web service, design framework, set of free icons, or PSD templates, you not only fill your portfolio, but also help other people. In addition, if your project turns out to be good, over time it can become a source of income.

For example, the service for taking notes Enotus Artyom Nosenko (Artyom, of course, is not a beginner, but an excellent example):

9. Solving a real problem

In my opinion, the best way to show the world and potential clients what you are capable of is to find a real problem in the real world and solve it using designer methods and tools. This will develop you as a real designer and show you the range of tasks that are interesting to you.

Designer Digest". This is the editor-in-chief's weekly newsletter with the best links for graphic designers.

The best way to market yourself well is to create the perfect portfolio. A portfolio is a reflection of the results of your work, your work. A good portfolio is very important to attract clients. And a designer simply must have a portfolio.

And, if you agree with this, ask yourself a few questions. How much time are you willing to spend improving your portfolio? Are you sure you're using your best work? One thing I can say for sure.

It doesn’t matter in what form your portfolio is made - digital or on paper. The main thing is to keep improving it.

As your career progresses, you will realize that nothing is more important than presenting the best of your work in a clear and compelling manner. This article will help you do this.

We will present to your attention 20 tips and examples of creating the perfect designer portfolio. These tips are divided into tips for paper and online portfolios. If you want to become a leader in this matter, keep these tips in mind.

And yes. Your opinion is important to us. Your comments are welcome.

Paper portfolios

20. Volume

When working on a design portfolio, the first question to answer is how much work it should contain.

For a comprehensive portfolio, you'll need at least 20 of your best works to make the right impression.

19. Suitable examples

If you are applying for a full-time employee position, it is better to include suitable examples of work in your portfolio. You must be sure that the examples are relevant to the position for which you are applying.

If you are an applicant for a digital artist position, you must submit digital drawings. Sketches made in pencil will not work here:

18. Context

Whether you are a designer or an artist is not so important. Because in any case, you will have to create graphics based on briefs from creatives. You will need to be able to interpret the brief carefully.

If your portfolio contains scattered images, that's not enough. You need to provide them in context. Where did these paintings come from? How did the idea come about? What is the chain of thought?

Anything that can help develop the concept of the images should be included in the portfolio.

17. Work for pleasure

Even if you're in the process of creating a portfolio for a specific contract or position, include more than just commissioned work. After all, a designer is not only a job, but also a hobby, isn’t it?

You can include any work in your portfolio. If, for example, you're an illustrator looking for freelance work, having projects you've done that haven't been commissioned will certainly help.

16. Expiration date

As you gain new experience over time, your work will also change. This does not mean that new works should be placed on top of old ones.

Depending on how much new work you're doing, it may be worth cleaning out and updating your portfolio occasionally.

A portfolio is not just a collection of your design work. It is worth highlighting some recommendations in bold. Place them directly on top of your work. Moreover, recommendations in real life will help even more.

All this shows your capabilities. It doesn't matter where or when you left your job. Make sure you have excellent relationships with your colleagues and ask them for recommendations. Recommendations always help.

14. Step back

You can view your portfolio from a third party. Surely you have already had experience when more experienced employees looked at your portfolio, and you expected their criticism.

It is very important that you know your strengths and weaknesses. Based on this, you can prioritize growth and practice with graphics.

13. Showcase yourself in all your glory

Think of your portfolio as your creative biography. This doesn't mean you should only show your designs. You need to give the impression that you are a professional.

Emphasize that you are a professional in everything. Both in communication skills and meeting deadlines.

12. Sell yourself

What other talents do you have? Maybe you are a good photographer? Or a singer? Let your future employer know about all your creative opportunities, not just the basic ones:

11. Portfolio with indexes

When you read or skim a book, or browse a website, you mark or bookmark pages that interest you.

Imagine your employer doing the same. Make it easier for people by numbering the pages.

Online portfolio

10. Platform

There are several options for publishing your online portfolio. When you need a clean, personalized space for your portfolio, you simply buy a domain and ask someone to create a website for you.

Or install WordPress and customize it for yourself. If the above is beyond your capabilities, IM Creator is at your service.

9. Set goals

You should make sure that you understand the need for creating an online portfolio. What is the purpose of your portfolio? Feedback? Or employment?

Answering these questions will help you better set up your portfolio and increase your chances of success.

8. Be selective

Don't post most of your work online. Be selective. Choose the best of your works. Make sure they reflect the most of your capabilities. You shouldn't show everything at once.

Make people want to see more of your work. This is exactly what you should do with your online portfolio:

7. Edit

Malika Favre, an illustrator from London, says: " Supervise your work. An online portfolio should follow the same rhythm as a printed portfolio: you must tell a story.

Arrange your projects so that they flow from each other, complement each other. If the old project has to be deleted to fit the new story, then so be it."

6. Don't tell - show

A website is like a business card - it says a lot about you. And to be more precise, it shows. Therefore, you must be sure that visitors to your site will first see what you have to say, rather than read it.

5. Update

An important task in developing a portfolio is to regularly update it with your latest works. If you leave your site without updating for even a few months, people will not buy what you have already posted.

4. Possibility of quick updates

You need a site design that will allow you to quickly, in two or three clicks, add new works and delete old ones. If updates take too long, you will get tired of doing them regularly, as you will be overwhelmed with your current work.

Whatever audience your website is designed for, you must understand that people’s time is limited. Employers manage to view dozens of portfolios in a few minutes. This means your portfolio should attract attention even faster.

However, it’s worth understanding and feeling the line between madness (in our case, it’s overdoing it with visual effects to the detriment of your actual work) and a good website. Here are 8 examples of portfolio websites from 2017 that remain both visually appealing and interesting in content.

1. Rafael Kfouri

Rafael has a whole bag of awards and experience behind him, projects for Nike, Coca-Cola and others. Now he works in Wieden+Kennedy in Portland. Not many people make good one-page pages, but Kfuri did a great job.

2. Jennifer Heintz

Jennifer is a designer and illustrator based in Boston. Among other things, she is still studying at the university. When you're a student, you don't have a lot of work in your portfolio, so you need to make the most of what you have.

3. Pavel Kedzich

Graphic designer from Riga – specialist in various kinds of web projects. So he approached his portfolio with all his heart.

4. Mat Weller

Mat Weller is a freelance graphic designer from the UK who has worked with BBC Radio 1, J Brand Jeans, BSkyB and Vodafone.

5. Ade Mills

Another graphic designer from the UK. His portfolio with a bluish tint reminds us of old photographs. Small but very nice looking site.

6. Ben David Sandhu

A minimalist portfolio, which is a slideshow of the designer’s best projects. By the way, Ben has worked with Honda, Speedo, Bottega Veneta and Shangri-La during his career.

7. Jean-Loïc Antunes

The website of the illustrator and graphic designer from France contains many of his works, and the visual effects of the letters feel an atmosphere of cordiality and fun.

8. Alex Coven

Coven, a Chicago-based freelancer, uses subtle pops of color throughout his portfolio to give his portfolio a varied look and appeal to the viewer.

What to include in your portfolio? How many projects should there be? What if I haven't completed any projects yet? Iti and many other questions will be discussed in this article.

This post is for both aspiring interior designers and those who want to add something new and interesting to their portfolio. Let's talk about the semantic content, the technical side and the aesthetics of the portfolio, and I will also share my secrets of a successful interior designer portfolio.

These tips are suitable not only if you want to collect and organize your projects for the first time, but also if you are planning to update your electronic or printed portfolio.

I warn you right away, this post will be long, there’s a lot to say, so make yourself some tea/coffee or hot chocolate and spend 30 minutes on this article. Enjoy reading! Also watch this short video where I briefly discuss this topic.

"data-provider-name="YouTube">

Firstly, I want to divide the topic of an interior designer’s portfolio into 3 semantic topics, since depending on what stage the interior designer is at and to whom he plans to show these works, the content of the portfolio will depend:

Portfolio of a beginner interior designer

Portfolio of an already established designer

Portfolio for admission to the Interior Design program

The bulk of the article will be devoted to these three points. In my opinion, an interior designer, both a beginner and an experienced one, should have several portfolios in different directions and themes, these are like different dresses for different occasions: cocktail, floor-length evening, summer for walking, etc.

At the end of the article I will touch on the following topics:

Portfolio theft

Technical side

Filling

Aesthetics

Final tips

Useful resources, books and portfolio examples

1. Portfolio of a beginner interior designer

I conventionally call it a “student portfolio” and the largest part of my blog post will be devoted to this type of portfolio. The following tips are suitable for both “freshly graduated” designers and students of the “Interior Design” direction, who, as a rule, do not have experience in completed projects.

A newly graduated designer usually, when starting to create his portfolio, makes it somewhat abstract and general, “all in a bunch,” as they say, including different projects and areas of design. This is a good option to start with, the main thing is to select the best and clean out the unnecessary.

Such a portfolio may contain the following blocks:

The first block is educational projects, which contain high-quality working drawings (which is highly valued when applying for vacancies in design studios), 3D renderings, interior sketches. This will demonstrate your professionalism. In this block it would be good to show the development of an idea from concept to final visualization. You can break this section down into residential and public spaces;

The second block is to be competitive projects, not everyone can boast of them, but they show your ambition, creativity and boldness of idea;

The third block is private projects, if they have already happened and you consider them successful (perhaps this is a project for your studio or friends’ apartment). As a rule, beginners do not yet have “live” projects, or they have not been implemented (this often happens in interior design: the client orders a project, the designer prepares everything: an idea, drawings and pictures, and then, for example, the client runs out of money and the project “freezes” or is implemented without author’s supervision with all the ensuing consequences; sometimes the original project is simply unrecognizable in what happened). In any case, if you have experience of real practice, then it is useful to include it, as they say, “for one beaten, they give two unbeaten”;

The fourth block is academic work and hobbies. Here you can place your painting and drawing works, or professional photographs if you are interested in photography; Perhaps your hobby is graphic design or logo development, I suggest including several examples of such “pure creativity” in your portfolio, this will better reveal you as a person, an individual for an employer or client.

Who do we show our portfolio to?

The content of a beginning designer’s portfolio depends on who it will be shown to: a potential employer or a future client.

Let's consider a popular option - when a novice designer wants to work for himself, on private projects, and not join a company (sometimes called a “private interior designer”). What would be the most winning portfolio in this case?

First of all, it is important to decide what projects you most want to work on. What exactly is this? Options:

Small economy apartments (the most common topic to start with)

Beauty Salons

Cafes, restaurants

Country houses

Kindergartens

Hotels, water parks, some large public spaces (still in the realm of fantasy for a beginner; it’s unlikely that anyone will trust a “freshly-baked” designer to carry out such projects alone; but if you have a design bureau in the team, then this is certainly possible).

The content of an interior designer’s portfolio depends on who it will be shown to: a potential employer or a future client. \

It is clear that most graduates want to work on interesting large projects, this is what they dream of when they study to become a designer, but often they have to start small, usually with small apartments with a modest budget. When I studied at St. Petersburg State Academy of Art and Industry named after. Stieglitz at the Department of Interior (6 years of study, master's degree), we had a variety of topics for educational projects: an aqua club, a restaurant with 60 seats, an apartment, a house for a family of 3-5 people (we ourselves came up with a portrait and hobbies of the customer), exhibition space, bookstore, amusement park.

Two ways

Essentially, you, as a beginner, have two options: either get a job in a design firm and work on large and interesting projects, there are “big fish” here, but here, most likely, you will first play the role of a draftsman or 3D visualizer, so As usual, in such studios, everyone already has plenty of brilliant ideas; they just need good performers. It’s unlikely that you will be allowed to communicate personally with the customer, at least in the first years of work (you never know, you’ll “steal away” the client, so the manager thinks), so get ready to do a lot of drawing and rendering, to be a “workhorse”.

It is very easy to get stuck in this position for many years, especially if you are not too ambitious, and perhaps this is exactly what you wanted, in general, have a plan in mind and think about developing your career. You can make a deal with yourself and work in similar companies for a couple of years to gain experience, see how large projects are carried out, rise to the level of project manager, see this whole “kitchen” from the inside, understand how the design industry works, all its insides. After this, you can go free, open your own design bureau, sometimes even taking some clients and colleagues with you, this is often the reality in design firms.

The second option: work for yourself right away, but don’t expect “big fish” and “rich” orders, you are still inexperienced, here you will most likely “fish” for economy class apartments, beauty salons and cafes at most. Of course, as you grow and accumulate experience, knowledge and skill, your orders will “grow” and more and more wealthy clients will come with more and more interesting tasks.

Convince the client with your portfolio

It is important to understand that the client of a small apartment and the client of a first-class restaurant in the Alps are completely different clients, but both the first and the second need to be convinced with your portfolio that you can successfully complete the project for them, on budget and on time. Here, with your incredible, too bright, futuristic and bold educational and competitive projects, you can only scare away the client. “Crazy creative person caught! He’ll also make black ceilings and concrete walls for me, it’s better to stay away from that!” - the customer may be thinking here and, in principle, he will be right, put yourself in his place. According to statistics, 80 percent of customers in St. Petersburg and Moscow prefer classic or modern, but calm, neutral interiors.

According to statistics, 80% of customers in St. Petersburg and Moscow prefer classic or modern, but calm, neutral interiors.

Bright ideas and spectacular project concepts from novice designers work better if you want to get a job in a design bureau, plus, they look at the quality and professionalism of your drawings - this way the head of the company can see your potential and understand that you can do a lot of things from a technical point of view vision and can hire you.

In cases with private customers, your work should be on a specific topic; ideally, your portfolio should contain high-quality photos of completed projects. Yes, this is not easy for a beginner, but you need to strive for this, discuss the possibility of photography with the customer at the beginning of work, and as soon as you are in the final stages of the project, even if it’s a small one, immediately invite a photographer you know and shoot the interior until it becomes “overgrown with everyday life.” " It is important to take high-quality photographs that will look good in a portfolio or framed on the wall of your office. Think about it, in fact, a photo is your only artifact and your strongest trump card.

For example, this could be an emphasis on the design of studio apartments. Even 2 rented apartments will serve you well and will inspire the trust of new clients. Often, novice designers do not yet have a significant baggage of completed interiors, then you can put in your portfolio a project of your “one-room apartment” or a relative’s/friend’s apartment, making it through all the stages of real design. Another idea: take your full-fledged completed project on a similar topic from the educational ones, if it is good enough and well-developed. Here it would be appropriate to add mood boards (design boards), visualizations, and some drawings. Focus on the visual component so that everything is clear to the customer.

Once again I want to draw your attention: if you have high-quality implemented projects, focus on them when creating a portfolio for the customer and be sure to include photos of the completed interiors.

Sometimes you need to slightly deform your portfolio for each client. For example, if you need a cafe design, then, accordingly, try to show at least one or two cafe/restaurant projects in your portfolio and present them advantageously at the very beginning. In the case when a customer comes to you for the design of a public space, you should not oversaturate your portfolio with apartment projects. If they came to you for a project for an apartment or a country house, then the idea is the same. Show him what the client needs.

Show him what the client needs. \

In a situation where there are no completed projects, you can take something from educational projects or, if there is nothing suitable there, make a new concept on a given topic. Let me remind you that while studying at St. Petersburg State Academy of Art and Industry named after. Stieglitz, we were given different tasks: country houses, apartments, a water park, an exhibition space, a store, so that we could train on different topics and understand the features and specifics of each of them, this is very helpful in further practice.

As you grow as a designer, weed out training and not the best first projects from your portfolio, leaving only the “juice”, the most successful ones. Don’t overload your portfolio, be selective in what you show, weed out the unnecessary, clean out and polish your portfolio, preferably every year and a half.

Don’t overload your portfolio, be selective in what you show, weed out the unnecessary.

Portfolio for the client VS portfolio for the company. Main difference

So, the main difference in the content of a beginner designer’s portfolio for design studios and for private clients is that in the first case, a package of drawings is important, showing that you are a professional draftsman, 3D visualizer, designer artist, emphasize knowledge of graphic editors, in general, everything needs to be taken into account here , which demonstrates your skills and proficiency in computer programs and sketching. If your sketching is still “lame”, welcome to my video courses, see the program and sketches for more details.

A portfolio for design studios is a good way to demonstrate your potential through student and competition projects or simply bold ideas. Show everything you are capable of; employers also love it when you can see the development of a specific idea: how it originated in sketches and then appeared in drawings and final pictures, from the series “from a handwritten sketch to a beautiful visualization.”

Show in your portfolio the development of an idea: how it originated in sketches and then appeared in drawings and final pictures, this is always interesting and captivating.

In the case of a portfolio for private clients, it is best to show the results of already completed projects (photos of interiors), color drawings, sketches, 3D renderings that clearly show your experience and skills. Maximum “visuals”, because the client “loves” with his eyes! Surely you have leafed through magazines on interiors and architecture: “AD”, “Salon”, “Best Interiors”, etc. Do you remember how projects are presented there? A maximum of beautiful photos and just a few drawings, usually a clean and clear plan with the arrangement of furniture, and that’s all, there is no other “drawing”.

Competition projects are good for a company’s portfolio; such projects also work in a portfolio for customers, but only if you actually won something, for example, a competition for the best restaurant design project (as I did in 2008 in the “IDEA. Restaurant” competition). or the best project in the “Architecture” category like my project for an ecology center: . Include photos or interviews, and if photos of your projects are published in an interiors magazine (such as Salon or AD), this will create a certain halo of “stardom,” “super talent,” and creative personality around you. Many customers will really like it! They will be pleased and flattered that such a talented designer, perhaps a future star, is taking on their project and at such a reasonable price compared to large design bureaus.

A great idea would be to make a couple of projects specifically for your portfolio and put in there what you like and want to do in terms of style, theme, even room area. In these projects you can reveal yourself 100%. Yes, this is more time-consuming, but remember that the first meeting with the customer and showing your portfolio literally determines whether you will place this order or not.

The first meeting with the customer and demonstration of your portfolio literally determines whether you will place this order or not.

2. Portfolio of a more experienced or established interior designer

Here everything is much simpler, you have work experience behind you, several dozen completed projects. It can be helpful to include testimonials and recommendations from past clients, this works great when meeting new clients! Reviews and photographs of completed projects are your main trump card over novice designers.

Review your portfolio a couple of times a year and weed out outdated projects, replacing them with fresh and successful ones. Don’t overload your portfolio, wanting to add everything you’ve accumulated over the years, it’s very tiring. It is enough to show 5-6 projects, focus on 15-20 sheets in the portfolio.

It is enough to show 5-6 projects, focus on 15-20 sheets in the portfolio. \

Add sketches by hand, this will greatly “revive” the overall impression. For more information about interior sketching with markers and my most popular sketching video courses, see.

If you are an experienced interior designer with ambitions, then you probably already have several publications of your projects in magazines. Be sure to add them to your portfolio and website, for example, in the “Press about us” section. You may also have some design awards, include mentions of them, trust me, clients will love it.

It would also be a great idea to include your photos from leading interior design exhibitions: Maison&Objet or Isaloni, this will show the customer that you follow trends, that you are “on the wave.” Look at an example of my photos from the Maison&Objet exhibition.

The main idea here is not to overload your portfolio, but it’s better to even have two or three on different topics, focusing on each individual client: if they came to you with an order for a country house, then 80% of the portfolio should be devoted to your home projects, if restaurant - the interiors of cafes, restaurants, public spaces, the idea is clear.

If they came to you with an order for a country house, then 80% of the portfolio should be devoted to your home projects, if a restaurant - then to the interiors of cafes, restaurants, public spaces.

It is also important to try to bring all your projects to the final shooting, because this is your main trump card as an experienced designer over a beginner - to show photographs of completed interiors in your portfolio.

If you want to expand and hire more employees, you can show projects in different styles, this will attract more clients. Or, on the contrary, you can focus on your signature style if you are aiming at world-class stars like Kelly Hopen or Karim Rashid. Think about which approach appeals to you more?

It is important to show in such a portfolio that you have a good sense of color and composition, have drawing skills and, possibly, the basics of computer programs. Colorism can be demonstrated even by the example of abstractions or analysis of the works of such artists as, for example, Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Morandi, Mondrian. Drawing - using the example of drawing architectural details and sketches. You can include some still lifes and plaster heads. Demonstrate your artistic abilities, show that you are suitable for this university or design school. If you're into photography, include some good photos. Here it is important to show your real works, sometimes by the way they are not even asked to put them in a portfolio, you just need to bring a folder with drawings.

I invite you to take my online video courses on interior sketching and perspective drawing:

Technical side of the portfolio

Portfolios come in electronic form (most often in PDF) and in printed album format. Lately, more and more often, a PDF version is sufficient; you can simply flip through it on your iPad or laptop at a meeting, or send it in advance as a file by email.

An electronic portfolio has many advantages: the colors are much brighter and more beautiful compared to a printed one, it is compact, portable and environmentally friendly, in Europe and America they are very positive about the ideas of “eco-friendly” and “zero waste”, not a single tree was harmed during the process. creating your portfolio. Plus, an electronic portfolio is of course easier to modify and update.

A PDF portfolio has many advantages: the colors are much brighter and more beautiful compared to a printed one, it is compact, portable and environmentally friendly.

If you plan to print your portfolio, then focus on the horizontal A3 format (or, in extreme cases, A4). Be careful with the square format, it is more difficult to successfully arrange projects and fit into 15 sheets (let me remind you, 15-20 sheets is the ideal portfolio volume to show all your best projects, impress the customer and not tire him).

A common problem with printed portfolios is that the colors do not appear correctly; sometimes you have to print several times to achieve the desired result. You can file the printed version in different ways: as a spring album, as a hardcover book, or simply print the portfolio sheets individually and insert them into an office folder with clear pockets.

It is advisable to have printed portfolios in your studio, if you have already matured as a designer, this is considered good form. The printed version is obviously not the most economical, since once every year or two you will need to re-print an updated version with fresh projects and cleaned out old ones. Remember that design is everything here, the quality and texture of the paper, the brightness of the colors, fonts, layout, tactile sensations - all these factors greatly influence the perception of you as a professional.

It is advisable to have printed portfolios in your studio, if you have already matured as a designer, this is considered good form.

If you are a beginner and you don’t need to print your portfolio, or you are “for environmental friendliness”, choose the electronic version, you can upload it to your website or Google Drive, you can simply send it as a link in an email, it’s very convenient. Focus on the PDF file size not exceeding 5 Mb. Designers often bring an iPad to meetings and the client scrolls through the portfolio on the device. This e-portfolio can also be uploaded to sites like issue.com and Behance.net and get a lot of views from other creatives or even potential clients. In any case, you can receive feedback and maybe orders.

People often ask, what programs are best for creating a portfolio? It depends on what you can work with: you can put together a portfolio in Photoshop, Corel Draw, InDesign, a very simple version of Keynote, Apple Pages or PowerPoint.

GET MY PDF PRESENTATION

"HOW TO CREATE A SKETCH PLAN IN 10 STEPS"

AND THE THREE MOST POPULAR BLOG POSTS!

TO DO THIS, INDICATE YOUR NAME AND EMAIL:

Portfolio content

In addition to thinking about how to most beautifully and effectively show your sketches, renderings, drawings and collages in one portfolio, think about your resume. Include your photo there (choose the most “professional-looking” one, not the one where you did best), add brief information about yourself, your education, diplomas, competitions, awards and regalia, list the programs in which you work ( for example, AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, 3DS MAX, Sketch up, Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel Draw), mention your drawing skills, ability to draw sketches by hand, fluency in English. Be sure to include your contacts and website in your resume.

It is also a good idea to make a portfolio of contents, especially if it turns out to be more than 15 sheets.

Look on the Internet for resume design templates (type “resume templates” into the search), let your resume be memorable and look beautiful, and not just look like a banal printout from Word. People are judged by their clothes, don’t forget (read: a portfolio is judged by its design). This brings us to the topic of portfolio aesthetics.

Portfolio aesthetics

It is important to pay close attention to your portfolio not only from a semantic, but also from an aesthetic point of view, because the design of your portfolio itself already says a lot and carries many meanings. In some architectural firms, just by looking at the cover and font of your portfolio, they can immediately, from the first second, conclude whether you are suitable for them or not.

Some architecture firms can immediately judge from the cover and font of your portfolio whether you are a good fit for them or not. \

If the fonts in your portfolio are like comic sans, with squiggles, too refined, and even slanted, and at the same time all the photos in the portfolio are on a black background and surrounded by “refined” frames or shadows are cast from them in Photoshop, that’s it! In this case, you can’t even hope to get a job in a decent architectural firm. Most likely, the one who looks at your portfolio will internally shudder and try to get rid of you as quickly as possible. If this is your case, then know that I am writing this not to offend you or laugh, but so that you understand that architects and designers have a keen sense of style and all this “embellishment” seems vulgar and in bad taste to us. It is important for you to train a sense of beauty in yourself, no matter how pretentious it may sound.

I recommend that you look at books on graphic design, and preferably buy one or two for personal use, such as the book “Graphic design for architects“. Cultivate taste.

Think about the overall impression, do not overload the picture, remember that the printed portfolio is perceived by its spreads. There should be air, white space, do not overcrowd the sheets with numerous signatures and fancy fonts! Minimalism, a consistent style, a white background and a designer font of one or two types (my favorite is Helvetica) work best here. No one reads voluminous texts in small print in a portfolio at all, so no need for sheets of essays, work on the visual component.

Portfolio theft.

Please do not do this, your reputation among colleagues, once damaged, will not be cleared. Now, when you are still a beginner, this may seem like nonsense and you want to take pictures from the Internet, but 5-10 years will pass and you will understand what an irreparable mistake it was. Unfortunately, both I and my designer friends have encountered cases where work was openly stolen and put on their website or portfolio. Believe me, the world of interior designers is small, at a certain level everyone knows each other.

Include your best projects at the beginning and end of the portfolio, the first and last sheets should be the strongest for maximum effect, such is the nature of our psyche as people: we draw the main conclusions from the first impression of the portfolio and from the beautiful project at the end of it.

Once again on the topic of backgrounds: be careful with dark, especially black backgrounds, beginners are very guilty of them, thinking that their work looks better, it’s better to make white backgrounds - it will be simpler and clearer.

Show how a specific idea developed: from the initial concept and quick sketches and then how it turned into a mood board, plans, drawings, visualizations.

Also, do not overload your portfolio in volume, this will only tire you; up to 15-20 pages of horizontally oriented (for better perception) photos, renderings, drawings or drawings are often enough. Your portfolio should be structured and understandable. You will see how quickly and successfully your work will go!

Use of materials is possible only with an active link to the site.