Five steps to a better design portfolio, by Jeffrey Veen

Five steps to a better design portfolio

If you're looking for work as a designer, the old cliche is true: a picture is worth a thousand words. That is, your portfolio is your most important calling card.

I've been involved in hiring all sorts of designers - freelance, contract, full-time, in all sorts of disciplines - visual, interaction, illustration, print. Through this process, I've seen a lot of portfolios; some good, many bad. Here's a few things I've learned while wading through them all.

1. Use best practices First of all, if you want a job doing web design, make sure your portfolio itself is an example of good web design. That doesn't just mean making it attractive and easy to use, but also following the fundamental principles of what sets the web apart. When I'm checking out a portfolio, I look at the craft and detail that went into making it. For example:

Is it standards compliant? I'm not a stickler for validating, but I do view source and check the doctype. A quick glance at the markup will also tell me how organized this designer is.

Is the designer trying to control typography by setting words in graphics? As a web designer, you should prove your understanding of findability over style.

Is it presented in a self-contained box of Flash? Are you breaking the back button? I don't want to have to argue with the designer later over things like this.

These are just a few examples, but they're all issues of control. And they serve as subtle clues that the owner of the portfolio designs for users, rather than their own ego.

Here's an example of portfolio that aims to be a good web site, as well.

2. Don't innovate This may seem counterintuitive - after all, isn't a portfolio the place where a designer really should be showing their strengths? But too often, a portfolio becomes a place where designers misplace innovation. I've seen so many examples of fancy Flash or Ajax navigation that distract from the work. Or worse - they are so clever that I fail to recognize them and miss many of the examples.

This portfolio, for example, is beautiful and filled with excellent examples of the designers talent. But I didn't initially understand the horizontal scrolling mechanism until someone in a meeting showed me. That means I missed most of their portfolio without even realizing it.

3. Show your work Your portfolio is not the place to be worried about copyright infringement. Too often, I find myself squinting at tiny images of a designers work. Use full-sized screenshots or, better yet, host the actual files on your server. (Don't rely only on a link to your clients' or former employer's implementations - they'll change them eventually.)

If you absolutely must, put the whole portfolio behind a password if you're worried about the assets being stolen.

4. Explain what you did Yes, the screens are important. Ultimately, images are going to sell your talent. But if I'm going to work with you, I want to know the who, what, where, when and why of each example.

Tell me about the client. Where you on staff or contracting with them? What were their goals for the project? How involved where you overall? Did you have to work within their styleguide? Was it a redesign, or did you start with a clean slate?

I want to know what constraints you faced and how you dealt with them. Did you try things only to be told "no" by someone in marketing or engineering? Don't burn bridges with your former clients, but be honest and talk about whether your vision for the product was ultimately implemented.

I think we did a pretty good job of this at Adaptive Path with our case studies. Each one tries to outline what problem we were trying to solve, the solutions we attempted, and how successful they were. Likewise, the explanations Doug Bowman provides on his Stopdesign portfolio give insight into the choices he made. For even more detail, follow what Dan Cederholm of SimpleBits does and link from portfolio pieces to extended blog entries. His entry and post on Odeo are good examples.

Imagine sitting across the table from a potential employer and explaining each example. What would you want them to know? Probably more than the sentence or two most designers include in their portfolio. Write it up!

5. Fill it in I often hear from young designers just getting into the business who are concerned that their portfolios only contain school work. Is that good enough? In a word: no.

These days, there's no excuse for not creating your own real-world work, with or without clients. Design a WordPress theme or skin an open source app. Better yet, find a community organization and volunteer your skills by offering to redesign their site. This has the added benefit of building your client relationship skills and your ability to work within constraints of audience, technology, budget, and schedule.

Just get out there, do good work, and show it off to the world. And good luck at that interview.

If you've seen (or have!) a good design portfolio, link to it in the comments.

This entry was written by Jeffrey Veen and posted 9 November 2006 at 12:13 PM. It was filed under Web Design.

Comments

1. On 9 November 2006 at 12:31 PM Lisa wrote:

I have just found your site by way of Quentin Schultze. I am considering a midlife career change in the direction of graphic design. I know I can learn the technology and basic skills at my local college, but I do not think they will teach the philosophical power of image and design. Someone has suggested reading Jacques Ellul. What writers would you suggest?

2. On 9 November 2006 at 7:31 PM figgy wrote:

Jeff,
Thanks so much for this. I've been following your stuff since the Webmonkey days and I always enjoy your stuff. This article couldn't come at a better time for me as I am preparing for a huge interview on Tues of next week. No time to spruce up my portfolio but I will make a point to do some writing and print out some examples of my work in high rez--thanks to your advice.
Regards,
figgy

3. On 10 November 2006 at 1:14 AM Andy Croll wrote:

The other point you left out is finding the time to keep the damn thing up to date!

4. On 10 November 2006 at 8:12 AM Ryan wrote:

This is a great resource. I'm working on a new portfolio as a separate site, so it's all its own. I'm fairly new to webdesign, but I'm trying to learn as much as possible. I've built several things on my own, just for the fun of it. Here's my current portfolio. For now, it's just a place to collect my stuff until I can get my other one finished.

5. On 10 November 2006 at 11:49 AM Gabrielle wrote:

Hey Jeff,

I do recruiting the recruiting for designers at a large web design company. All too many times, when applicants apply here, they have no idea what a portfolio should include - especially those just starting out in this field. This is great information and I will be sure to share it with those need some direction as to what we would be looking for when reviewing portfolios.

6. On 10 November 2006 at 11:54 AM John Labriola wrote:

Great advice Jeff, there were some things I am missing in mine. So thanks for the tips!

7. On 10 November 2006 at 5:31 PM Travis wrote:

Thanks so much for the link! I'm sure that will help in my job hunt.

8. On 10 November 2006 at 9:49 PM Ted wrote:

In terms of super minimal portfolio sites, I like

Patrick Phegley's site http://www.patrickphegley.com/

and Jason Salavon's site http://salavon.com/

9. On 11 November 2006 at 11:41 AM Kevin wrote:

Great advices. I'll put them in my mind, thanks!

10. On 12 November 2006 at 2:28 PM Bill wrote:

Great post Jeff. I'm currently trying to find a good designer to join my team and had to explain this same process.

Are there many people out there that know design and know about doctypes, web-standards, commenting and organizing your stylesheets? I hope to find someone who does. But, I've emailed Squidfinger... and you and Doug are at Google. Who's left?

Unfortunatley, I think there is a only small group of truly knowledgeable, and talented designers that think the way you and I do about design. Being stuck in Birmingham, AL, I had to learn a lot from friends living and working in San Francisco for companies like Studio Archetype. I just don't think that many companies really value the type of design we mean when we talk about web design. Too many people are caught up on aesthetics or features, or something else rather than just making something that simply works well.

So, if anyone reading who wants to join a great company in a great location down south (It was 60 degrees today and I went hiking in the mountains 15 minutes from downtown) send me an email. bill at slaughtergroup.com

And if you are young and want to be a good web designer, follow Jeff's advice. It's dead on.

11. On 13 November 2006 at 11:54 AM Justin Kilcher wrote:

Thanks for the great post. As a few others in here Im graduating college soon and looking to go into web design full-time. Im working on my website/portfolio as we speak and now I have some new things to consider!

12. On 14 November 2006 at 1:57 AM Ryan wrote:

Lisa-
There are too many damn designers out here. Unless you like the thought of entering a flooded marked, I'd rethink your change.

13. On 14 November 2006 at 9:48 AM Laurens wrote:

Thanks. Even though most of it seems like kickin' in open doors there are still some good points here!

14. On 14 November 2006 at 2:55 PM Artiatesia Deal wrote:

I came here from a post on GraphicDesign.org. I found your article interesting, helpful, and right on time for me. I'm in the process of updating my portfolio. I also think that I can really apply your tips. Do you have any advice about the upkeep of your site once you have completed?

15. On 15 November 2006 at 9:47 AM Paul wrote:

I came by this article by way of "design fckr" and it serves to underline what had been nagging away at me for so long.
I am about to do a complete overhaul of my own portfolio and this article has certainly focussed m attention to the most important elements! Cheers Jeff!

16. On 15 November 2006 at 11:42 AM drew wrote:

I try and bookmark a good portfolio site whenever I see one:

http://www.miguelripoll.com/
http://www.keeganjones.com/
http://ourcommon.com/design/
http://www.breakerdesign.com/work_web
http://www.misipile.com/
http://38one.com/workoverview

Currently, I use a giant PDF for a portfolio, and although very common, its a pretty stupid thing for a web designer to do. My best advice is: Don't let building a portfolio turn into a giant singular event/project. Build a nice, easy to update structure. And get in a habit of adding pieces to the portfolio as you create/finish them. The key is make it as painless as possible to add new items, perhaps using a good content tool like wordpress, movable type, blogger etc...

17. On 27 November 2006 at 8:34 AM Megan Hober wrote:

www.verhine.com
www.okaydave.com

18. On 29 November 2006 at 2:13 PM Matt Brown wrote:

Designing a portfolio is a challenging project for any designer -- with few constraints and a variety of goals, it's easy to "overthink" your design and implementation.

I've found however, that constantly re-vising, tweaking, and updating a portfolio site makes the process much more rewarding, and the site more effective. I've made four significant (though not large) passes through my site since I launched it in September. With each iteration, the site gets stronger, and it's much easier to see where you 'need to go' with your site. Iteration forces you, as a designer, to be a little less protective and "personal" with your portfolio--you end up more focused and critical.

My site is up at:
http://thingsthatarebrown.com/

Any suggestions/criticism would be appriciated. Great post, Jeff!

19. On 1 December 2006 at 6:22 PM Eric wrote:

you use http://www.simplebits.com/work/odeo/ as an example. Any advice to designers that decide to yank down or rip the roots out of a perfectly working website while working on a new one?

As a client, I may want a redesign, but keep my site up until the new one is ready to cut over to? 'bits may be well known to his peers (and perhaps that's who his site is geared towards) but for a first time viewer (prospect) of his website, I think it sends the wrong message.

20. On 4 December 2006 at 11:26 AM Brat wrote:

Great post Jeff. I'm currently trying to find a good designer to join my team and had to explain this same process.

21. On 6 December 2006 at 1:37 PM Ryan wrote:

Hey... I found this article really interesting.

+ the feedback of everyone!! great work

there's a lot of really inspirational portfolios on here!!! :)

22. On 7 December 2006 at 5:07 AM Megan wrote:

23. On 13 December 2006 at 8:27 AM David Airey wrote:

Nice post indeed.

I'm currently teaching myself web design and have just launched a portfolio here:

www.davidairey.com

I obviously don't cover a lot of the background info that you mention and I realise it's better to.

24. On 13 December 2006 at 8:33 AM David Airey wrote:

And hyperlinked:

http://www.davidairey.com

Currently:

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About Me

Bio: Jeffrey Veen
Book: "The Art & Science of Web Design"
Book: "HotWired Style: Principles For Building Smart Web Sites"
Work: My LinkedIn Profile
Travel: China, Tuscany, Kayaking in Baja, Touring Costa Rica, Studying Theater in London

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