Making a Portfolio

Making a Portfolio Emily Morin

What’s your goal? ● What’s your ideal job title? ● What city would you like to be in? ● What company or type of company would you like to work at? ○ Large vs. Small ○ Company Culture ○ Big name Not sure? Interview alumni, coworkers, friends and family who have job titles or work at companies you’re interested in.

Selecting work for your portfolio DO DON’T ● Select 9 - 15 examples of your ● Include projects from areas best work that you don’t want to work in ● Include work that is related to ● Include everything you’ve ever your dream job done (less is more) ● Revise and create new work

Displaying Your Work

Using Tags and Filters

Selecting a URL ● Use something professional - usually some variation of your name is best ○ Ex. johnsmith.com, jsmith.com, jsmithdesign.com ● Avoid company names in your URL ○ Ex. Johnsmith.weebly.com ○ Johnsmith.wordpress.com

Selecting a Platform: WordPress Pros: Cons: ● 30% of websites are built on ● Limitations on style (especially on WordPress free themes) ● Thousands of themes to choose ● Somewhat steep learning curve from Tip: Paid themes are relatively inexpensive ($19 ● Easy to manage a lot of content - $59 one time) and make a huge difference in ● Endless opportunities with your ability to customize the site. proper knowledge https://themeforest.net

Selecting a Platform: Squarespace Pros: Cons: ● High-quality, flexible templates ● Themes can be predictable ● Cheapest option is $144/year or ○ Clean portfolio designs $16/month ● Customization without code ● Slight learning curve

Selecting a Platform: Code Pros: Cons: ● Endless options ● No themes or templates ● Shows your skills if you’re ● Big learning curve ● Time consuming interested in development ● Difficult to maintain over time

Selecting a Theme

Selecting a Theme

You may need to spend money!

Include Within Each ● Give context to the piece Portfolio Page ○ Why did you make it? ○ How did you make it? ■ Tools used ○ When did you make it? ○ Who did you make it with? ● Links to websites, videos etc. ○ Make sure they open up a new tab ● Relevant sketches, research and notes that show your thought process.



Linking Social Media ● Varies by job title ● Always include LinkedIn and email ○ Videographer ■ Youtube ■ Vimeo ■ Maybe Instagram ○ Developer ■ GitHub ○ Designer ■ Behance ■ Dribble ■ Maybe Instagram ○ PR/Social Media ■ Twitter ■ Instagram