After teaching portfolio skills for quite a few years now I decided to put together a list of the most commonly asked questions. The thing you must never lose sight of is that YOU are the product. If you remember that you can never go wrong. The portfolio should show you as you want to be seen. If the consumer (the employer) doesn’t like it then it’s probably for the best, as you wouldn’t have enjoyed working there anyway.
Having said that often you will just need a job, whatever it is, whether it’s for experience or a money injection. In that case it’s best to find out what the employer wants and dress you portfolio to incorporate that.
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How many work samples should you include?
This a common question and much research has gone into it over the years. The obvious answer would be to say ‘all your good stuff’ – however being such talented people as you are, that would mean putting in all your work, and showing the prospective employer everything you did in the last 15 years could be seen as a cruel, if a tad unusual, punishment.
On the flip side you have to be careful we don’t show too little. Anything under six pieces, no matter how good they are, wont be sufficient to showcase the breadth of your talents or the range of clients you’ve served.
In a recent survey of studios and agencies, most Creative Directors said they expect to see an average of 11 pieces in a portfolio and typically know whether someone’s qualified after viewing 8 or 9 pieces. So if we say between 9 and 12 pieces we should be pretty much on track.
What do employers look for?
This is another one that has a lot of research behind it. Eye magazine probably did the most comprehensive survey and asked Creative Directors to list in order of importance what they looked for in graduate’s portfolios. Coming out clear winners were Creativity and Variety.
Two thirds said they wanted to see an overall creativity throughout the portfolio and were less concerned about neatness and computer skill if there was a solid idea or concept. A further concern was variety, to prove that the graduate had more in their toolbox than just one style or project.
Neatness and organization also rated quite high. Creative Directors cited that while a neat, well-organised portfolio might not be groundbreaking in it’s ideas, it did represent a certain amount of professionalism. Something that is needed more and more in today’s market.
©Emilie Mottet
What piece of work should you start with?
Again, the most obvious answer is not necessarily correct, and that would be – your best piece. While this sounds technically right it’s fraught with problems. What if they don’t like the client you did the work for, what if they don’t understand the brief straight away? A first impression is made after 3 seconds and it lasts for at least 3 minutes, do you want them to carry this impression with them through most of your portfolio?
Remember this idea that Design is all about control. You need to control how they are going to view your portfolio. So you need to control their impression of that first page, much like a movie title or TV ident does for their media. An intro page is a great way for you to get them in the mood you want them to be in.
©Daniel Barrett
Just to clear up any other opinions about this, I have heard people say that you should start with your 2nd best work and finish with your best piece…if we remember that most Creative Directors said they’d already made up their mind by the 8th piece then we potentially miss any impact that our best piece would’ve had. A lot of Creative Directors would also admit that they very rarely get to the end of people’s portfolios, due to time constraints… It would horrible to think they didn’t even see your best.
How many typefaces should you use?
Using as many as possible would show that you have a wide knowledge of fonts and how to use them…although it could also make you look like a kid in a candy store with $100 dollars in your pocket. More than anything it confirms that you are indecisive and unable to make decisions.
Equally, only using one typeface could demonstrate that you have a limited understanding of fonts and how they work together. Two or three is normally the best option. Keep in mind that each font should have its job (title, heading, body, descriptor etc.) and use hierarchy appropriately. Also worth remembering that each typeface normally has a family behind it (bold, light, italic etc.) and using to many variations from the same family can make it seem like you are using more than two or three fonts.
Lastly, choose you fonts wisely. Using Stencil, Sand, Comic Sans, Impact, Times, anything named after a city etc. is going to make you look like you graduated from a one week crash course in Graphic Arts. Remember the Creative Directors who will be looking over your portfolio has a lot of experience, has seen a lot of portfolios and knows what’s what. You should express in your typeface choice that you know stuff too.
Is it okay to swap between landscape and portrait layouts?
Yes, absolutely, it’s important to show the works as large as they can be… No, it’s important not to annoy the viewer. If they happen to knock their cup of coffee off the table as they are turning your portfolio around (for the 8th time) believe me they will be annoyed... and they will remember as they are trying to sponge the coffee out of the carpet. They’ll remember you every time they see the stain.
What you should do is decide on one way and tailor you work to fit that grid. If you let the grid do its job you shouldn’t have any trouble. What most people try and do is tailor the grid for each work…basically meaning they have a different grid on each spread, and therefore no grid. Remember just because it’s an A4 magazine cover you don’t have to show it as A4. Likewise letterheads don’t need to be full size. You wouldn’t do a billboard to actual size in your portfolio would you?
©Robin Ramsell
Should I use the same portfolio for every client/job and how often should I update it?
Putting a portfolio together is a pain. And it’s precisely this reason why designers normally only put a portfolio together once or update it rarely. How do you think an employer might view a piece of work that is a decade old… even if it was an award winner. People don’t want to see what you were doing then, they want to know what you can do now.
Likewise, a publishing house is not going to be overly interested in seeing all the packaging you’ve done. Sure it might be worth showing one or two pieces from another part of design, but you’re portfolio will be much more effective if it’s targeted towards the employers business and creative needs. Keep it relevant.
But does this mean we have to create a new portfolio every time you go out to see a studio or new client? No, that’s far too much work. If you create a strong template then it should be easy to add stuff or take out stuff when needed. Mix and match to suit the prospective employer.
If you think about it, doing your portfolio should be your most enjoyable job of your career; it’s pretty much an open brief, you have an understanding client (you) and you have amazing work to play with. In reality it’s normally the job that gets pushed back or done quickly and haphazardly. We need to break that mentality and not only get used to working on our portfolio but look forward to it. Imagine if we did half an hour a week on our portfolio? That’s not much time to spend each week but picture what your portfolio would look like after a couple of months…a year.
Single pages or spreads?
It’s really up to you; just make sure you keep it consistent. If you are going to use spreads than try and use spreads throughout. The same with single pages – don’t get the viewer used to one thing and then change things on them. Also bear in mind that the right hand page is normally the one people see first so make sure that has the impact.
I have some big projects, how many pages can I use to show them?
For most of you this relates directly to your major project. How many pages can you show it across? Again this is really up to you, but try and imagine how someone might feel looking through the 5th spread of an assignment that they didn’t really like on the first page…pretty bored probably.
Your portfolio should display you skills and abilities over a range of jobs…showing how you can tackle a variety of problems rather than just one. Also it’s worth remembering that your portfolio is supposed to be a preview of the amazing work you’ve done, not the actual work. If they are particularly interested in one of your jobs then you could suggest that you show it to them the following day, say 12ish, maybe over lunch? Or perhaps you have a separate bag next to you that just happens to contain the final project in its entirety.
People have very different tastes, so don’t assume they’ll love your major just because you put so much time and effort into it. It’s hard but you need to put your vested interests aside and imagine how others will view your work. In that case I suggest that you don’t spend much more than two pages per project.
What do I do with projects that don’t have commercial value or aren’t part of a campaign?
Firstly you have to decide where you’re trying to get a job. If it’s as an illustrator or artist then it’s probably fine having a bunch of one-shots that exhibit your skill and technique. If it’s in a design studio then it’s probably worth expanding the project a little to show how it might work if it was part of a campaign or client job.
©Lina Johansson
What I mean is if you have a nice oil painting you had done, it might be worth seeing what that looks like on a book cover, or a wine label, or a CD etc. Then, you not only show off what a brilliant artist you are, but you also display your layout, typography and finished art skills. More bang for your buck, of course the viewer is going to be impressed.
It’s also worth taking this approach if you have a nice ad, maybe it’s a bus shelter poster. How much more impressive would it be if it was part of a series, or if the idea was taken over to incorporate bus sides, billboards, newspaper pages etc.
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So to summarise what we talked about today.
Number of pieces in a portfolio?
9-12 pieces
What are employers looking for?
Creativity and variety, closely followed by neatness and organization.
What should you start with?
An intro page that introduces the portfolio.
How many typefaces?
Two or three and each should have their job.
Landscape or portrait?
Whichever…but only one, don’t change.
How should you update?
As often as possible and make it relevant for whom you’re showing it to.
Single pages or spreads?
Whichever…but only one, don’t change.
How pages/spreads per project?
Two should be enough to get the idea across.
One shots and non commercial work?
With a little extra work you can have all your work have the same weight.
