The Portfolio
Project

A design portfolio is a compilation of your best work.

Both design schools and creative industry jobs require a portfolio when applying - and may have specific criteria. In general, here are some standard portfolio tip:

  • Include 10-20 of your very best projects (this can be difficult to discern - so ask for feedback from fellow designer, teachers, etc. and when in doubt, leave it out.)

  • Lead with your strongest work to encourage the viewer to keep looking.

  • Provide a very short explanation for each project i.e., what prompts were given, what process did you go through, etc. (Note: some schools and jobs might require you showing your full process (design brief, moodboard, ideations, etc.) for at least one project.

  • If applying for specific type of creative work (e.g. package design), its is ok to have some variety, but about half the work should showcase the specific type of work they are looking for (since they are considering you for this specific field.)

As a way to share your portfolio, you will learn how to create an online portfolio using Adobe Express.


Privacy Guidelines

To help assure your privacy and safety, it is imperative that you review and follow these privacy guidelines for student portfolios.

Please note that you should:

  • Use your first name or initials only. Do not publish your full name or any personal information including email, phone #, or school.
    Make use of the “invite only” option. Do not publish your site publicly.
    Be careful with your media. Do not publish photos of other people without written permission and be careful to avoid posting anything copyrighted or potentially offensive.

Assessment

As with all projects, your Portfolio will be assessed by:

  • Professionalism - Project is done "to spec", follows directions, and fulfills all requirements.

  • Craftsmanship - Project exhibits an admirable application of design principles, an aesthetic style, and use of app workflows.

  • Challenge - There is producible evidence that the final design underwent the entire design process and was significant challenging.

  • Originality - Project content is unique (not copied, derivative, a template, AI generated in part or whole, or a reproduction of a tutorial).

    Note: Images referencing drug use, guns, violence, hate speech, etc. are not permitted.

Some professional portfolios to explore and learn from:

Ian Paget - logogeek.uk

Dave Parmley - kustomkultstudio.com

Jesse Thomas - jess3.com

Elisha Zepeda - elishazepeda.com

Alessandro Giorgini - alegiorgini.com

Laura Worthington - Lauraworthingtondesign.com

Process

1. Communicate

Because the Portfolio requires you to be both the client and the designer, the design process is simplified from the traditional Graphic Design Process. But you will still communicate, just with yourself. Do some self-examination, and write a short design brief based on the following questions:

  • What is my best work?

  • What interest of mine can I allude to?

  • What types of lines, shapes, patterns, styles, etc. convey these messages and resonate with me?

2. Research

Based on your design brief, visit the following websites and conduct focused searches of other designer’s portfolios.

Behance
Dribbble
Google

When an images resonates with you, screen grab it (CMD+Shift+4 on a Mac, Win + Shift + S on a PC) and drop the collective images into gomoodboard. Note: You should have at least 20 images to reference.

3. Ideate

Based on your moodboard, grab your sketchbook and draw at least 3 possible solutions for what you’d include in your portfolio and how you would sequence your work.

From these initial 3 solutions, selected one favorite (or a combination of your top two) . Flip the page over and draw 6 new variations based upon the initial solution you selected.

From this second round of 3, pick your top solution.

Before you fully commit, get some feedback from classmates, family, . . . anyone you can. Listen to learn - and be open to suggestions - you might come up with an even better solution with some outside feedback.

4. Formalize

Using Adobe Express, compile together your design portolio (see “Specs & Standards” below). You are welcome to use a template as a starting point, but be aware that typically the more original your portfolio is, the better (so be sure to replace any template images and customize fonts, colors, etc. to be more representative of you and your work.)

Specs & Standards

 

Your portfolio should be either:

  • A personal website designed with Adobe Express

  • A web-hosted, multi-page portfolio designed with Adobe Express

In either case, your portfolio will be submitted as a web link.

The 5-20 images in your portfolio should be:

  • Minimum 1200px on the longest of the 2 axes.

  • .jpg file format

  • Accompanied by a short description of the project and process.

  • Optional (include research, drawings, versions that preceded the final draft.)

Note that it is essential that you follow the privacy guidelines covered here and in class.