Your Ticket to Success: A Killer Portfolio
Balind on 12 Apr 2008 | Tips & Advice
I’m writing this post to remind the younger designers of the one and only key to a successful career - a crazy portfolio website branded with your skills and attitude.
When I say a “killer portfolio” I’m referring more to the portfolio site itself than the work in it. If you do things right, you should only need 3 strong portfolio pieces to get the recognition you need. Focus on quality over quantity.
Brand Yourself Honestly
- Don’t pretend you’re a company. If you want to describe yourself as a “collective” because of your vast network of friends, great… just make it clear who you are and what service you provide.
Tag Line
- Sum up your skills and services in the clearest and fewest words possible. Stick that somewhere throughout. For my 2004 portfolio, it was: “Independent design, direction and production of interactive and animated media for broadcast or broadband.” For where I was at the time, that really summed up what I was about.
Re-Invent Yourself
- Throw your best ideas into your personal site and keep trying until you’re happy. I did a new site every year for the first 6 years of my career. As a designer it’s your identity, it should represent you perfectly.
Make it Simple and Clever
- Clean and effortless. Don’t look like you’re trying too hard. Simple in it’s foundation and complex in its details. The manner in which the user browses and interacts should have a certain amount of intelligence laced within it. Those details will pop out to the right eyes.
You only need 3 sections:
- Home Page - showcasing your latest project or demo reel.
- Portfolio Page - Easy and fun way to browse your body of work.
- About Page - clever way of getting to know you.
If you nail these 3, users will spend less time clicking links in your page and more time interacting and appreciating it, which is ultimately good.
Some Good Examples:
Why don’t I have a portfolio website anymore?
- I have a weblog instead of a portfolio because of where I’m at in my career… however, when I was up-and-coming my portfolio was a tool I used to both express myself and showcase my abilities - my portfolio site and it’s many iterations were absolutely key to the road I traveled. Here they are for your viewing pleasure and so that you can see my development as a designer over the years.
- 2006
- 2004
- 2003
- 2002
- 2001
- 2000
EN on 13 Apr 2008 at 2:34 am #
Really helpful indeed ! and Encouragement ! Thanks !
I need to start building a new version of my portfolio soon.
Rishi on 13 Apr 2008 at 3:16 am #
Thanks for that Balind, ive jus started to work on my new portfolio site, hopefully when its done it cud feature in you good examples list too!
Great advice!
Jayden on 13 Apr 2008 at 3:40 am #
Excellent advice. I learned everything I needed in a year of training… and landed a job at a great multimedia firm just because of my design portfolio. Degrees mean little in this industry. It’s what you can do - not what you have studied.
Andrew on 19 Apr 2008 at 8:50 pm #
Let the work speak for itself - The less fluff the better
James on 21 Apr 2008 at 7:24 am #
I always thought this guy had a nice portfolio: http://www.arteye.com/dev
clockwurk on 21 Apr 2008 at 1:14 pm #
Hello Balind,
Im looking into learning 3d to help supplement my designs. But I run primarily macs. Other than Maya, do you recommend any other 3d progs for mac? What do you use? Thanks!
Balind on 21 Apr 2008 at 3:29 pm #
I use 3d Studio Max or Maya, they’re the best… but I’ve heard Lightwave is good.
Matt Przybylski on 05 May 2008 at 5:15 pm #
clockwurk, just to follow up on that, Cinema4D is good on the mac and it has a much smaller learning curve than programs like Maya. I’m not a 3D guy but that is the word coming through the grapevine.
mark bakker’s blog » Blog Archive » Your portfolio site (why and what) on 12 May 2008 at 12:37 pm #
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