Designing A Portfolio
When you’re working as a freelancer, one of the most important things to do and to do well is to design your portfolio. Your portfolio serves as a showcase for your work and should be designed to win over potential clients or customers by demonstrating your talents and skills in an appealing, unique way. It’s the best way you can represent yourself as a professional artist and as a result it should be taken very seriously. Regardless of what type of artist/freelancer you are a portfolio is an extremely helpful tool in getting referrals, leads, and most importantly - new sources of income but because so many artists have a tendency to put off designing their portfolio for “later” it’s a tool that can often go unused.
The first step in designing your portfolio is to really commit to doing it as this is where many artists get hung up. There are plenty of artists who avoid putting together a portfolio because they think they don’t know how to do it, they aren’t sure of the formatting, they don’t know what to include, or - worst of all - they think they don’t have any work that’s good enough to be presented in a portfolio. All of these are simply excuses and should not be taken into consideration. Some work in a portfolio is better than none at all, formatting can vary and is largely up to you, and most artists are extremely critical of their work, thus making it quite difficult to select pieces for inclusion in a portfolio. So long as you are determined to have a professional portfolio built you should be just fine - make sure not to let any doubts or wonderings prevent you from getting one put together though.
The next step is to outline the goal of your portfolio. Is this a portfolio to sell clients or customers on, is it for contests or awards, or is it to present a specific period or type of your work? Whatever the intent is with your portfolio make sure that you have it clearly decided in advance otherwise you wont be able to choose formatting or pieces easily or be able to select the best ones to serve the needs of that portfolio. For example - if you’re looking to gain new clients you’ll probably want to demonstrate a large variety of work and skills as well as some of your most promising pieces. If you’re showing a specific type of your work then all your pieces should fit according to those standards and the presentation of it should suit that specific style. If your portfolio is designed to gain you entry and prestige in the area of awards and contests you’ll certainly want to follow any rules or submission guidelines that are required and design your portfolio to adhere in such a manner.
Your portfolio formatting will be different for each portfolio you create but regardless of what type of artist you are your portfolio should always include a few basic things. It should always have an artist statement or objective clearly displayed (and neatly typed) and this artist statement should always include your most current contact information. It should also have a table of contents with titles and listings for each piece that is included. You want the formatting of your portfolio to be a complementary backdrop for the work you’re displaying and you also want to be sure that it doesn’t take away anything from the pieces you’re showing or become any sort of a distraction. The goal here is to create a clean professional setup on which you can display your pieces that will highlight them in the best manner possible. The key to doing this is to find ways of displaying your work that shows your best skills and talents while camouflaging any possible drawbacks.
This also applies to the type of pieces you select to be included in your portfolio don’t sacrifice quality for quantity. If you only have ten really good pieces but you wanted to include fifteen drop the pre-planned idea and just go with ten. Better to have a few outstanding pieces then a bunch of so-so work. Plus any work that isn’t up to par will dilute the quality of the really good pieces that you’ve included in your portfolio. If you’re hoping to include other pieces that will demonstrate your skill range that aren’t quite at their best it’s better to leave those pieces out and wait until you’ve developed that talent a little further before putting them in.
However, be wary of procrastinating on any portfolio building because you think you don’t have any pieces that are suitable for display yet. Your very best pieces may not be on the same scale as other artists you admire but you still have pieces that are your very best and those are the ones that go in your portfolio. No matter what you still have work to show - it’s just a matter of taking the time to select the right pieces and display them as best you can. Don’t worry if you feel like none of your pieces are good enough to showcase yet - that is something that will get better with time and practice. As you develop your craft you’ll grow and your portfolio will grow as well at which point you’ll be able to take stock of what you’re including in your portfolio and reevaluate the level of skill your pieces convey. If your work has progressed and gotten better then by all means, update your portfolio with newer, more accomplished work. If it hasn’t then continue working and building up to where you feel ready to add new or different work to your portfolio.
It’s also important to create a feel or a theme to the pieces in your portfolio. Now this doesn’t have to be something ridiculously obvious or over the top but there should be a unified sort of feel to the work you’ve combined to create your portfolio. The pieces you’ve selected should blend together nicely and complement each other in such a way that your portfolio feels really fluid and well designed. You shouldn’t have pieces that clash or contrast too much unless that’s a specific component of your design. Above all your portfolio set up should show that you know how to present and display your work and you should do so in a way that doesn’t tire or bore your viewer.
With a well designed portfolio you’re also giving others a way to remember you and distinguish you from the crowd as opposed to being just another forgettable face in the market. You’re showing your commitment to your profession as well as your resolve to be a dedicated artist. Take the time to create a well designed, professionally displayed portfolio and the benefits will pay off for a long time to come.
