How to Make a Graphic Design Portfolio [What to Include & Examples]

How to Make a Graphic Design Portfolio
Created by CakeResume

As the world begins to grow, a professional online presence is a crucial thing to have for prospective employees. Whether you are a full-time graphic designer or even a freelancer, a graphic design portfolio is valuable in the current job market, if not significantly more than a traditional CV or resume. In the digital age, having a graphic design online portfolio will establish your personal brand on the internet for millions of people to access. 

An online graphic design portfolio will showcase a collection of past work experiences that portrays your accomplishments, skills, and tangible results of your efforts - such as projects you have done or products you have created. Not only that, employers could get a glimpse of your personality and unique voice through a graphic design portfolio. 

In this article, we will guide you on how to make a graphic design digital portfolio.

Graphic Design Portfolio Examples - Ideas & Inspiration

Before you start your journey on making your graphic design portfolio, take a look at some examples of online graphic design portfolios.

Here are some graphic design portfolio examples that might inspire you.

1. Neda Mamo

2. Brenda Gallego Jáuregui 

3. Malika Favre

4. Lisa Maltby

5. Leslie David

6. Rron Berisha

7. Surbhi Nagari

8. Ana Stoica

9. Mr.Bingo

10. Studio Chen Chen

11. Mazda Kziezak

12. Yuki Dca

13. David Milan

14. Nathalie Lete

15. June Digan

16. Hollie Fuller

17. Rafael Varona

18. Justin Lemmon

19. Ana Leovy

20. Pilgrim Creative

How to Make a Graphic Design Portfolio

Starting your graphic design portfolio website is going to be a challenge.

1. Gather ideas and inspiration.

The very first step before showcasing your work through a graphic design portfolio is to do some visual research. Doing your visual research would help you generate ideas and provide you with plenty of inspiration before starting your online graphic design portfolio.

📝 Tip: It is a good idea to observe online graphic design portfolio examples from other people to see the navigation and designs of others and gather your personal aesthetics from them. 

2. Decide the theme / style / design.

As you are looking through these graphic design portfolio websites, visualize the elements and schemes you want your graphic design portfolio to be like. Think about how you want to convey your graphic design portfolio and your aim through it. 

Your graphic design portfolio should represent who you are. Showcasing your design style and mood would be a crucial representation of you. Choosing a color scheme, vibes, and typography are details that encapsulated your whole graphic design portfolio. Making a mood board surrounding the vibe and aesthetics you aim for could help you further on curating your graphic design portfolio.

3. Choose the right platform for your online graphic design portfolio.

There are various online portfolio sites and platforms for graphic designers to showcase their talent skills. Curating your graphic design portfolio based on your specialty could be one of the takeaways in deciding the perfect platform for you.

Nowadays, people won’t expect your graphic design portfolio to be physical, having a digital graphic design portfolio could be the best way to showcase your work as there are no limitations to it. 

There are a lot of platform options available for your graphic design portfolio projects. You can select a web page or series of web pages, online creative platforms, or social media. Choose the platform that is best for you and how you envisioned your online graphic design portfolio to be. 

4. Select your best work to showcase.

As you gain experiences in life, you have completed diverse tasks, created notable works, or even some personal projects. As you collect all the life work you have done, select the best work that makes others get a sense of what you are working on within your graphic design portfolio. 

Including every little project you have done is the most common mistake people make when making their online graphic design portfolio. It is not about the quantity, or how much work you have done in the span of your life, but the quality speaks for itself. 

Showcasing only your best work in your graphic design portfolio could be the wisest decision as it is best for you to put various projects you have worked with to show off your creative diversity and cater to different needs. 

5. Add necessary information.

As an online graphic design portfolio is the modern-day version of a business card and CV/resume, you need to add various information to introduce yourself. With additional information, people can understand and get a scope of who you are. We are going to further discuss what to include in your graphic design portfolio in the next section of this article. 

6. Improve the UI and UX.

After choosing the best platform you want your online graphic design portfolio to be, make sure that the experience clients get from looking at your graphic design portfolio is how you envisioned them to have. 

Identifying the elements to be included in each page of your graphic design portfolio could come in handy. Listing the items on each page would make you come up with a fitting layout for your graphic design portfolio and prioritize the information.

Once you know the layout of your digital graphic design portfolio, you can decide on the navigation of the pages. How do you want your visitors to experience your portfolio, the transitions, the buttons, and anything else you want to customize.

7. Ensure its responsive on a different device.

After setting up your online graphic design portfolio the way you want them to be, ensuring that it is compatible with different browsers and devices is needed. 

You never know what kind of device people are using to take a look at your graphic design portfolio. Some would be using a web browser, mobile phones, or even tablets.

📝 Reminder: Making your digital graphic design portfolio responsive to devices would be ideal. You wouldn’t want your online graphic design portfolio to ruin your chances of working with potential clients. 

8. Keep it up-to-date.

As the years go by, you gain more experience by taking on more projects, your graphic design portfolio would be outdated. This is not a problem for you that just started making your first graphic design portfolio. 

However, as the months or years go by, you will have many more projects up your sleeves that you want to show to people. Keeping the graphic design projects for your portfolio updated would show that you are still relevant in the area of work you are in.

What to Include in a Graphic Design Portfolio

Including information is crucial in your graphic design portfolio. However, you have to include the right and correct information needed.

1. Introduction

You can introduce yourself by presenting what you are currently doing and how your background makes you unique. Briefly describe aspects you are most passionate about and share what you love most about what you do in your graphic design portfolio. 

Showcasing some of your biggest professional and personal accomplishments as well as how your attributes contribute to those accomplishments. Convey what you are looking for currently; either job seeking, a career change, or freelance. 

The graphic designer profile section of your portfolio would give your future clients or employers a glimpse of who you are to set up an impression. 

2. Resume / CV

Including a CV or Resume into your online graphic design portfolio could give potential clients or recruiters access to your educational and professional experience. By inserting your CV or Resume into your online graphic design portfolio, visitors could have the impression of who you are and what you have to offer.

3. Contact Information

Making sure your online graphic design portfolio’s visitors can easily contact you could be a crucial thing. You wouldn’t want to make your potential clients lose interest in you only because there’s no way in contacting you. The ideal way to reach you should be easy to find. 

4. Projects

With your personal information put in the way, it is time to let your work shine. This is the deciding factor for a client to hire you. As aforementioned, you only want to showcase the best work as your graphic design portfolio projects. It is not about the quantity, or how much work you have done in the span of your life, but the quality speaks for itself. 

5. Context for Each Project

By providing context for each project you put in an online graphic design portfolio, you can catch people’s attention to the work, and by adding background information, you can showcase the work itself and the aspects surrounding it. 

6. Key Achievements

Now that you have all of that information covered, list out your key achievements. There are numerous ways in how you can present your key achievements in your online graphic design portfolio. 

📝 Reminder: For starters, you can compile a list of your achievements. You can also integrate the theme and design elements of your graphic design portfolio into your key achievement page making it easy to grasp. 

7. Services / Employment Status

You shouldn’t rely too heavily on people reading what you offer through your graphic design portfolio. If you offer services or want something from your graphic design portfolio visitors, you need to say it openly. 

If you are looking for your next job or a freelancer looking for your next clients, convey it clearly in your graphic design portfolio to help people offer something that you want. Sometimes people are oblivious if you don't put the information needed straight. 

8. Testimonials or Case Studies

Testimonials could be a powerful tool to prove that the achievements and value you bring to the job are real. You can add clients’ or employers’ names and a simple text on why they enjoyed your work and working with you in your graphic design portfolio. Those testimonials would impress future clients or employers, which allows you to demonstrate a level of professionalism. 

📝 Tip: Don’t worry if you don’t have testimonials. You can always reach out to former clients or employers and simply ask them for testimonials directly. They wouldn’t mind writing you a simple text on how they love working with you.

Tips on Creating the Best Graphic Design Portfolio

Finally, you’ve got your online graphic design portfolio settled in. You’ve showcased your skills and best work out there in your graphic design portfolio.

Before publishing it, pay attention to these tips to ensure that you have the best of the best online graphic design portfolio. 

💡 Tip 1: Highlight your personality. 

Be genuine in showcasing your personality and uniqueness. Potential clients or employers could see your personality through your online graphic design portfolio. 

📝  Note: Don’t go overboard with how you showcase your personality. The little details you put into your online graphic design portfolio is worth considering since it encapsulated your personality and you!

💡 Tip 2: Focus more on the creative process, not just the finished work.

Each designer has a different creative process when it comes to working with clients. Inserting your creative process into your graphic design portfolio could be an important aspect for potential clients or employers to know more about your contributions to a certain project, the challenges you faced when working with the projects mentioned, and how you overcame the problems.

Including a description of your creative process could help clients envision how they want to work with you. 

💡 Tip 3: Keeping up with design trends.

You wouldn’t want someone you work with giving irrelevant design themes to you. Keeping up to date with what is relevant to the design industry nowadays is important. Adjusting your graphic design portfolio to the current design trends could give you some additional points to potential clients or employers. 

💡 Tip 4: Include the kind of work you want to attract.

Including the kind of work you want to attract in your graphic design portfolio would give potential employers an idea of what work you are looking for. 

💡 Tip 5: Ask for feedback and critiques.

Sometimes we get too immersed in your work until we lose sight of the big picture. You should get feedback and critiques on your graphic design portfolio. You can ask your colleagues, friends in the related profession, mentor, or anyone to give you feedback on your graphic design portfolio. Having another set of eyes to see your portfolio would give you an idea of how other people would see you through your graphic design portfolio. 

🖋   That sums up the steps to making your online graphic design portfolio. The great thing about making an online graphic design portfolio is that you can easily come back to it and update it regularly. Now you are ready to set off and find your perfect job!

--- Originally written by Elsa Djohan ---

Resume Builder

Build your resume only in minutes!

あなたが関心のありそうな記事

Latest relevant articles
Resume & CV
3月 6日 2024

What to Write in an Email When Sending a Resume [+ Examples & Tips]

Looking for guidance on writing an effective email to send resume? Discover expert tips and email examples to maximize your chances of landing that dream job!