How to Build a Creative Portfolio That Works
- Adilla
- 13 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Creatives recognise what a professional portfolio is and most simply see it as a space to showcase their creative work. At times, they don’t take it as an opportunity to tell a story through their work, especially visual creative work.
A creative portfolio doesn’t have to be only pages and pages of your work. It's more about curating a journey for anyone who looks at your portfolio, like how you would do when preparing your presentation.
To do that, you need to prepare a few things before establishing your professional creative portfolio. So, we’ll show you how to make an artist’s portfolio that translates the essence and beauty of your work.
Table of Contents
Decide the Purpose of Your Creative Portfolio
Before assembling your creative or design portfolio, you need to set a clear purpose. This requires a few things you need to prepare. If you’re familiar with project management principles, you might be familiar with these terms:
Goal Setting
What do you want to achieve with your portfolio?
It can be about your all-time best work or how you grew as an artist. Only you can define what your portfolio is going to be.
Audience Targeting
This part can be a bit tricky if you’re unfamiliar with what audience you’re trying to cater to. It can be for a gallery proposal, to get hired or a display for your commissioners.
For example, if your portfolio is used for work interviews, your target audience would be the employers and the traits that they’re looking for to work with. So, display your work that matches the aim of that interview.
Quality Control
Since your portfolio will be shared publicly (depending on where you will share it), be sure to do a measure of quality control as you set it up. Something as minor as a wrong spelling or an odd gap between the pages is one of the few things you have to keep an eye on.
If you’re wondering why we’re applying project management principles to establish a creative portfolio, it’s because having a structured framework can serve as a solid foundation for portfolio creation.
While not all principles may be utilised, using a familiar framework makes the process easier.
5 Steps to Build a Professional Portfolio That Works for Creatives/Artists
Once you have defined the purpose of your creative professional portfolio, you can establish how it’s going to be:
Step 1: Choose the Right Format
Depending on what kind of creative you are, you can choose either a physical or a digital portfolio. Digital portfolios would be beneficial for creatives who are multi-talented and want to showcase their skills on a more versatile platform.
Meanwhile, physical portfolios are not only for visual creatives but also for creatives who have tactile experiences, especially in fashion or fine arts. Also consider the kind of medium you would want to use, like a bound book or a custom binder.
Step 2: Gather Your Best Work
If you’ve been creating for years, it’s tempting to put everything in your portfolio, but that might not be a good idea. With your purpose and target audience in mind, curate the best work that fulfils that purpose fully.
Step 3: Organise and Share Your Process
As you sort out your work, add a sentence or two of the context behind it.
You’re free to add a paragraph to it, too, especially if it's work you’re especially proud of. Add context like the ideation, the purpose of the creative work and how it was executed to share the behind-the-scenes with your target audience.
The art of storytelling your creative work can be tricky at first, but with a bit of practice, you’ll find your voice.
Step 4: Add Necessary Info
This could be an afterthought for most creatives. When you’re locked into presenting the best version of your artwork, you tend to forget details about your name, contact info and where they can find you online.
Additionally, if you have testimonials or referrals from your past work, you can add them too to establish your credentials.
Step 5: Quality Check and Proofread
Finally, once everything has been put together, check the quality of your artwork as you flip through your portfolio, especially for creatives planning to print them out for a physical portfolio.
You can even have a trusted friend help you with proofreading your portfolio and gain some insightful feedback. Especially, fellow designers and animators check in and cross-check with each other. Or, if you have a trusted professor, having a second opinion from them works too!
What Makes a Professional Portfolio Work
So, other than ensuring your creative portfolio is organised and easy to navigate, other ways to make a portfolio work:
Consistency in layout and colour
‘Decorative’ pieces don’t take attention away from the main creative work
Keep it professional in terms of a clean and uncluttered organisation
A distinct creative journey as proof of your skills
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Creating Your Portfolio
Here are some more creative portfolio tips if you would like to improve your curation further:
Descriptions Too Long
When writing the context for your work, don’t go overboard in explaining what it is. Keep it short and sweet.
Too Few or Too Much Feature Projects
Finding the sweet spot of how many projects you can share in your creative portfolio can be hard. Keeping a top 5 and directing them to a link that leads to more of your best work is suitable.
Passion Project That Doesn’t Translate Well
It can be tempting to showcase every unique project in your portfolio, but if your creative work is varied, that can be a strength! However, it's important to choose the right time and place for each piece.
For instance, if you create fan art, it might not be appropriate to include it alongside your professional artwork.
Tools To Build a Creative Portfolio
There are a variety of tools and platforms you can use to showcase your portfolio. Once you know the purpose of your creative portfolio, it gets a bit easier to choose where and how to curate your portfolio.
Squarespace
Essentially, it's a website, but a handful of digital creatives showcase their artwork here, as they can use innovative approaches to translate their work.
Recommended for creatives who would like a space where they can put all of their artwork and have a platform for employers to refer to their past work.
Carrd
A selection for independent artists, Carrd is for artists who prefer a simpler way to display their work. A go-to for freelancing artists, too.
Canva
An easy-to-use creative platform, if you would prefer space to curate your creative portfolio to be printed later. Additionally, Canva has a public view link, so you don’t have to create a separate digital platform.
Key Takeaways
Keep in mind that curating your creative portfolio is not something you can do within a day.
As you curate a portfolio to be shared with the world, keep in mind that it’s your creative journey, and it shouldn’t be compared with any other artist’s.
So, if you’re an artist starting, reading this, record your creative journey, not just for the fact that it’ll make the process easier in the future, but it will be a reminder for you whenever you need a pick-me-up.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How many projects should I include in my creative portfolio?
The recommended number of projects you should include in your creative portfolio ranges from 3 to 6. By keeping a low number, you would have ample space to state the type of work you prefer to do without overwhelming the target.
Should I include unfinished or conceptual work?
Yes, you should include unfinished or conceptual work, as it shows others what your creative process is and how your critical thinking skills would approach a work-in-progress.
How do I keep my portfolio relevant?
To keep your portfolio relevant, update it often and ensure it aligns not only with the type of work you would like to do but also with your own personal and creative goals.
Author Bio
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies, like parodies of animated shows and plots for board games. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Now an advocate for mental health and effective project management for the creative industry. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.
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