4 Key Components of an Effective Portfolio: The Ultimate Checklist for Creatives (Pandemic Edition)
Pursuing a creative profession inevitably leads to a fast, feast, or famine type of lifestyle.
Unfortunately 2020 has been brutal for creatives with the ongoing pandemic greatly affecting the industry and longterm impacts still unknown—nonetheless, we can all agree: job searching this year sucks.
As a Design Coach and Mentor, it pains me to see talented graduates and creative professionals struggling to land a new job—it’s not you, trust. Many industries are affected by the pandemic so not a lot of companies are actively hiring for full-time roles, especially during the holiday season.
On the bright side, Q1 2021 is just around the corner and companies are actively budgeting head count for the new year and even seeking candidates now, so be prepared! As the saying goes, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
Okay, now for the meat and potatoes…
After nearly a decade of reviewing creative work and portfolios ranging from Branding and Illustration to Product and Service Design, I’ve identified 4 key components that — when addressed and done well — make a killer portfolio.
The following checklist is applicable to nearly all creative professions and was meant to tackle FAQs that I would get from aspiring creatives and those looking to pivot into a new role or land a new job.
The 4 Key Components of an Effective Portfolio
№ 1 : UX
What I mean by UX is the overall experience of viewing the content within your portfolio.
Is your portfolio easy to navigate and browse?
- Be sure to have consistent navigation that is visible and accessible across all pages — your site shouldn’t be like Ikea, avoid disorienting confusion that leads the viewer to a dead end.
- Avoid parallax scrolling — it may result in cool transitions but studies show it may also induce nausea and not be the best experience for showcasing your work.
- Check your site’s performance. Ensure images load fast without compromising rich media quality.
Fact: No one spends more than a minute looking at a person’s portfolio unless they are trying to copy it. Portfolios are like a teaser to get your foot in the door. My friend Doug Alves identified a recent trend of video reels and single scroll portfolios that showcase one’s work because they require less effort (clicks) to navigate and view the work — cuz ain’t nobody got time to click.
№ 2 : Profile
No—not links to your social handles but an intro to who you are!
Did you provide a brief introduction about yourself that highlights
who you are, your unique skill sets, and what you want to be hired as?
- Tip: Make it personal — it makes you memorable in a sea of cool kids.
- Be your own hype man! Focus on valuable skills you’ve honed
and be explicit with what role you want to be known for. - If you’re planning on pivoting or transitioning into a new role, explain why your past experience makes you the perfect candidate to do what you wanna do; connect the dots.
Is your email information readily available to copy+paste?
If you want potential employers to contact you, don’t rely solely on an in-page form. Recruiters and hiring managers typically won’t use an inline “Contact Me” form—they’ve got their own methods to tracking who they’ve reached out to—so if you want to potentially be invited to a fancy recruiting dinner, make it easier to get added by explicitly sharing your email.
If applicable, is your previous work experience showcased?
It’s nice to paint a picture of your history—you’ve got less than a minute to impress someone who likely doesn’t have the time to Google your Linkedin or download your resume. Make your experience scannable.
Q: To include a photo or not to include a photo?
It’s really up to you—just be aware that if you decide to include a photo of yourself, you inevitably add a layer of unconscious bias to the viewer. Choose a photo that best represents how you want to be seen.
№ 3: Context
Sharing work with little to no information makes your portfolio borderline useless (unless you plan on talking through it every time). As my friend Brooks Solveig says when it comes to context, “It’s about adding just the right amount. Many new designers will go on and on. Ain’t nobody got time for that. I tell folks, what’s the least amount of context you need to give so that I know you’re right?”
Did you provide a project description?
The goal is to clearly define the brief and identify what the problem you were trying to solve is before showing off any work. Background context is key.
Did you clearly state your role?
Employers want to gauge the scope of work you are capable of taking on independently but most projects takes a village so be sure to give credit where it’s due. There has been times where I’ve seen duplicate projects and was not sure who did what which caused skepticism about the person’s work.
Did you share your process? Behind-the-scenes shots?
- If applicable, have a robust case study that shows off your process with before and afters complete with self reflections/learnings.
- Viewing the final deliverable is sexy and all but the interesting bits are really discovering what your process was that got you to your final result—storytelling y’all.
and last but not least…
№ 4: Craft
By craft I’m talking about execution of the work itself. I truly believe skill, ability, and talent, can be trained and developed—I often joke that “people learn 10% from school, 30% from talking to people, and 60% on the job through experience,” that being said, I’m still a tough critic and current employers are too so keep the following in mind…
Did you select your greatest hits?
- Your portfolio should showcase projects that you’re proud of and want to do more of. Your weakest project might be your downfall and you might end up getting hired to do more of that type of soul-crushing unfulfilling work all because you decided you needed a “filler” project.
- Although it may be tempting to show everything you’ve ever done, don’t. I’ve seen many amazing portfolios that only had 3 pieces of work in them and still got hired. Less is more. Quality over quantity.
Does your work showcase diverse styles and skills?
Unless you want to be known for a particularly thing, it may benefit you to present diversity in your skillsets (eg. different illustration styles, various methodologies, motion, prototyping, etc.)
Disclaimer: Your work should generally have a theme and be somewhat consistent / semi-related (eg. photography + video and not illustration + wedding cakes). If you want to show-off a completely different side hustle, maybe link out to it rather than juxtaposing it alongside work that requires a completely different skill.
Are your projects visually appealing at a glance?
- You should spend as much time and effort designing how your work is presented within your portfolio. Think large full bleed imagery, layout, rhythm, consistency, etc.
- Tiny pixelated photos? No room for pixelated images here my friend. Back to the drawing board. Polish and refine—you want them to notice your work, not question their screen resolution.
Are you practicing good design?
By good design, I’m not talking subjective preferences—I’m talking practical implementation and execution.
- Is the font you chose legible within your layout?
- Are your color choices accessible for those with visual impairments?
- Does your mobile design take into account a minimum tap target size of 44px for all UI elements?
- Truly examine what makes your end result the best result—I love seeing things that have shipped, are live, and in-production but sometimes the best options never made the cut—your portfolio allows you to curate and choose what work speaks for you so take advantage of it.
All in all, I hope this checklist outlining 4 key components to making an effective portfolio was helpful and inspires you to check yo-self before you wreck yo-self as you prepare for a new adventure. I know times are tough at the moment but hang in there—the best has yet to come!
Good luck 🤞🏼
