How to Create Your Freelance Graphic Design Portfolio
Once you decide to become a graphic designer, you will experience one of the joys — and one of the biggest anxieties — in creating your first graphic design portfolio. You can find many volumes of books about what to include, and what not to include, in your graphic design portfolio. Here are some tips to put together an outstanding graphic design portfolio.
Your main goal is to make sure you create a portfolio of your very best work. This point may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people create lackluster portfolios of mediocre work. In fact, many amateur graphic create a portfolio that is flashy, but not altogether substantive, to impress clients. To put together the best portfolio, you’ll want to use the best practices. This means classic good web design. Pay attention to the detail of your work and make sure your samples showcases your knowledge and craft. Ideally, you’ll want a portfolio that complies with the high standards of graphic design. This means using correct document type and standard markup throughout your work.
Also keep in mind the use of typography; i.e. your knowledge of setting words in graphics. If you are applying for a position as a web designer, make sure your portfolio reflects your skills to use and control type, especially in a Web environment. Remember that your graphic design portfolio is like a job audition. Your portfolio must prove to a potential client that you can design for web users. Many young graphic designers make the mistake of using a graphic design portfolio to impress rather than showcasing their skills .
Many amateur graphic designers fall prey to the instinct to innovate when they create their first graphic design portfolios. Although it is natural to put together the most innovative designs that we can, many young graphic designers often confused their portfolios as places to innovate and show off new designs. However, too much innovation can distract. Make sure you tailor your portfolio to the work you want. You will often want to show off your strengths, including your understanding and knowledge of basic and advanced design, rather than just your ability to experiment and innovate.
Don’t be afraid to show your work. Many young graphic designers believe they should protect their work, and they worry about copyright infringement. Although this is a concern, many graphic designers make the mistake of showing too little of their work. This is sometimes the case of showcasing websites — the graphic design shows a tiny image of the website, instead of enlarged images of various elements of the website. Make sure you include several full-sized screen shots. Nobody wants to have to squint to see what your work is all about.
Fill in your portfolio with your own non-commissioned designs. Although you should fill your graphic design portfolio with examples of work that you have done for clients, but you’ll also want to show what you have accomplished on your own. Show off your own designs. This could be anything from a new skin that you designed on your own, a Word Press page that you put together, or your personal graphic design blog. You want your graphic design portfolio to be unique and have a voice — and that voice should be yours, because there is not a second one like it in the whole world.
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