There are many design portfolios that attract zero to no clients, but learning how to create graphic design portfolio that charms clients is one sure way you land yourself a project in no time. Graphic Design portfolios are clever ways freelancers and graphic designers use to earn clients.
Creating a graphic design portfolio that will help put out your product or service in the limelight requires your skillful knowledge of graphic design. Whether it is a web design, ui/ux, publication design, brand identity design, animation etc,
Let’s assume you are a client on a portfolio site scrolling through millions of overwhelming projects, what would catch your attention? I believe that answer is when you see a stellar-looking portfolio. A portfolio that has been made by the user to meet the necessary prerequisites you are searching for is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and most importantly, impressive content.
Let’s save the details for later. Without much further ado, let’s see the various tips for creating a good-looking portfolio website that will land jobs and also how we can learn from exemplary portfolio pages created by various users.
Choose a niche
Doing everything at the same time is equal to not having any specialty. It’s. It is bad for a graphic designer to juggle various niches at once but it’s professionally advisable for one to have a particular niche to be known for. Amongst other niches that you may know, you should make one prominent and let customers or prospects know you for it.
A graphic designer can be good at logo design and Photoshop manipulation, which is totally normal. But it’s best to put it out there in your portfolio About Page that “Hey I can do this and that but I professionally specialize at designing logos, that’s my primary specialty”.
Choose unique touch and style
Just like choosing a design niche for your portfolio, having a style is also important if you want to stand out from your competitors. When you create a design portfolio, you should also create a unique design style to flow with it. This will pick you out from much noise in the crowd and will pace you in a unique spot.
As you work for clients choosing a style can be overwhelming because you tend to work according to how the already existing brand’s visual has been set up. But it’s not a bad idea if you still flex your creative uniqueness while adhering to their style guide.
Having your own unique touch in your design will help attract more clients who like your authentic design style. They will want to hire you for a project because your work gives a different look compared to the already existing tedious styles used by various designers.
If customers like your style, they will trust you to be authentic and they would want to hire you for design projects.
Target audience
Creating a graphic design portfolio that will earn you not just any client but clients that are in need of your service and also has so much value which earns you higher pay is what you must aim at.
Most clients know what they are looking for when they are scouting through millions of portfolios online, they know what resonates with their preferences, so when they see it they know that the designer who created that kind of content is targeting them.
On the designer’s end, the type of content you create should be funneled down to enthuse the particular group target audience that you have in mind. Are you creating content that resonates with people of class, age, ethnicity etc? It should be targeted at attracting those types of audiences.
For instance, a web design that was made for kids will resonate with the kids because of the elements that have put together to create a certain mood or theme for kids. With the mild color palette and the whimsical fonts used on the website, the page will only be making sense to only kids and not be suitable for judicial or e-commerce visitors
When you create graphic design portfolio for your audience, you have in mind that the content choice shouldn’t be made arbitrarily just to make your gallery look hefty. Clients will get bored and will begin feeling skeptical and finally, they bounce out from your portfolio page
Layout
We know layout to be one of the essential graphic design principles that graphic designers work with to help create an appealing appearance of a composition. The layout is how you arrange graphic and textual elements of your graphic design portfolio. It also creates relationships between various elements as they enhance the hierarchical sorting and overall visual appearance of your portfolio.
When you create graphic design portfolio it is advisable to make it very easy for the eyes of your viewers to easily interpret information and clearly absorb the message it carries.
Use High-quality images
Stellar looking portfolio goes along with big quality crystal clear images. Images can be of any type – illustration, graphics,3D model and so many others. But they must have a rich display that feels good to look at.
When you make use of high-definition images in your design portfolio, your portfolio appears professional and deluxe, clients will perceive your work to be authentic and clean and they would want to hire you for jobs.
On the other hand, when you make use of blurry or pixelated pictures for your design portfolio, it will reflect negatively on you.
Descriptive Case studies
As you work on a project whether personal or client, you should also hold your viewers by the hand and guide them through the process of how you arrived at your final result. Clients are curious to know the problem you are trying to solve, the processes and the final result.
Walking them through the descriptive process and steps you took before arriving at your final result. By doing this, you earn their trust.
When describing your portfolio case study, it is important and convincing to the clients by stating the problem, research, sketching, development, and delivery.
Personal projects are welcome
Who said personal projects can not be exhibited on your design portfolio? Practicing our personal project is how we are able to develop our skillfulness with the various principle and elements of design. The more we practice, the more we become better.
Going solo and not taking orders or instructions from your brand creative head, boss, or clients, or collaborating with colleagues is one way you can use to explore your unseen ability. Handling personal projects for your portfolio provides an opportunity to consolidate your learning and develop important skills you will need when a client hires you.
Show your best work
Sometimes clients might need extra proof to be convinced that you are the right person for the job. After a client is done viewing the content on your portfolio they might want to see the best jobs you have ever done. Creating a section for this is not a bad idea, personally, I recommend this.
Showing your best jobs from previous clients will help display skills to potential clients and also show that you have the skills that qualify you as a professional graphic designer.
Collab with other designers
Collaborating with other graphic designers can have so many advantages when you want to create graphic design portfolio. From meeting new people to landing potential graphic design jobs.
Here are some reasons why you should try to collab with other graphic designers for a better portfolio:
Diverse perspectives: Collaborating with other designers can bring fresh perspectives to a project. Different designers have different strengths, skill sets, and design sensibilities, so working together can lead to more creative and innovative ideas.
Skill sharing: Collaborating with other designers can be a great way to learn new skills and techniques for a design portfolio. For example, one designer might be an expert in typography, while another might excel at illustration. By working together, they can share their knowledge and learn from each other.
Increased efficiency: When multiple designers are working on a project together, tasks can be divided and completed more quickly. This can be particularly helpful for larger projects with tight deadlines.
Networking: Collaborating with other designers can also help you build your professional network. By working with other designers, you may have the opportunity to meet new clients or be introduced to new opportunities.
Request critiques
As a graphic designer, you should not always expect acclaim for every work you exhibit on your portfolio. You should grow a thick skin whenever people throw tomatoes at you just because they think your design isn’t good enough.
Nobody wants to get rejected after hours of sketching ideas and developing their concept and finally, you got turned down. Nobody likes that.
Rather, take it as an advantage to help improve and become better than the previous time. When people criticize your work, you stand a chance to develop and improve on those errors they think you have made, and trust me it works.
If you find it hard to accept the criticism thrown at you, unfortunately, there will be no improvements in your design because you can’t always be right when you shut your ears.
Practice
Practicing is how to make use of various elements and adhering to the principles that guide design is how you can improve your design skill and knowledge. To be able to create graphic design portfolio that enchants clients require consistent practical steps
Communication: Graphic design is all about visual communication. By practicing graphic design, you can learn how to convey complex ideas and messages using visual elements such as typography, color, and imagery. This skill can be applied to a wide range of industries, from marketing and advertising to publishing and web design.
Creativity: Graphic design is a highly creative field that allows you to explore your imagination and express your ideas in unique and visually appealing ways. Practicing graphic design can help you hone your creativity and develop your artistic skills.
Career opportunities: There is a growing demand for graphic designers in today’s digital age. Practicing graphic design can help you develop the skills and portfolio you need to pursue a career in this field.
Personal branding: Whether you’re a freelancer or a business owner, practicing graphic design can help you create a strong personal brand that sets you apart from the competition. By designing your own logos, websites, and marketing materials, you can establish a unique identity that resonates with your target audience.
Problem-solving: Graphic design is often about finding creative solutions to design problems. By practicing graphic design, you can learn how to approach design challenges from different angles and develop effective solutions that meet your client’s needs.
Practicing is how you can have an edge over competitors so that when you create graphic design portfolio that looks amazing, clients will be attracted to hire you for jobs.
Testimonials
Testimonials are important when you want to create graphic design portfolio that aims at catching clients very easily. Having past customer reviews that are good is essential because they can help to establish credibility and trust with potential clients or employers.
When someone is considering working with a designer, they want to know that the designer has a track record of delivering quality work and providing a positive experience for their clients.
Testimonials on your portfolio from previous clients can provide valuable social proof that the designer is capable of meeting the needs of their clients and producing great results.
They can also provide insight into the designer’s communication style, work process, and overall professionalism.
Additionally, testimonials can help to differentiate the designer from competitors who may have similar portfolios or experience.
By highlighting the positive experiences of previous clients, the designer can stand out as someone who not only produces great work but also prioritizes client satisfaction.
Behind the scenes
Beyond the scenes are fun moments you create to showcase the raw process that goes into your hard work.
Viewers will always think of the final product of your work as a simple task of putting various elements together in a jiffy but your BTS moment shows them the processes you took which included a series of trials and errors, testing, researching, prototyping, and so on.
When you bring clients behind the curtain they will appreciate your work and the hard work that goes into the process that yielded the final result.
About page & contact page
Your graphic design should have an about page that gives out information to clients about your company or business. Your portfolio carries all the necessary information which includes your personal, and business information it could also carry your brand’s mission and vision statement.
Your graphic design portfolio could also carry the company’s history, you could go ahead to make it more fun for your obsessed fan by stating the stages and challenges experienced from how you moved from point A to B.
You should also put out your contact information to enable client who wants to hire or make inquiries from you to easily get in touch with you. However, some portfolio sites like Behance make use of the Hire Me button instead of a contact form.
They assign this button to the profile section of the user so when you click on the hire me button the portfolio sites automatically redirect you to a page where you get all the needed contact information about the designer.
Portfolios are a great way to showcase your work to enable you to acquire clients. There are so many types of portfolio pages out there with their distinctive layout which help them look unique. Designers always find new tactics and layouts that they use to grab the attention of their target audience and they do these with the help of graphic design elements.