{"id":354,"date":"2010-11-20T11:49:02","date_gmt":"2010-11-20T16:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/?p=354"},"modified":"2010-11-26T17:41:26","modified_gmt":"2010-11-26T22:41:26","slug":"building-your-graphic-design-portfolio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/2010\/11\/building-your-graphic-design-portfolio\/","title":{"rendered":"Building your Graphic Design Portfolio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When trying to break into the field of graphic design, having a solid portfolio is crucial. If you are job-hunting, your portfolio is what employers will be looking at to decide whether or not to give you an interview. If you are starting a freelance business, potential clients will be comparing portfolios to choose a designer for a project. There are several choices for what type of portfolio to build, and each has their own benefits and considerations that you may need to look at.<\/p>\n<h3>Website<\/h3>\n<p>Online portfolios are probably the most popular type today. As a graphic designer, some will even assume you have a web site. If your focus is web design, an online portfolio is the choice for you, as it serves as an example of your work.<\/p>\n<p>Benefits:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Easy to send out\u2026it\u2019s just a link<\/li>\n<li>Can provide a look into your personality<\/li>\n<li>Allows for an interactive presentation of your work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Considerations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The most time consuming to create<\/li>\n<li>You have to worry about it looking or behaving differently from computer to computer<\/li>\n<li>You need the technical knowledge to set it up<\/li>\n<li>Expensive to hire someone to develop it for you<\/li>\n<li>You will have to pay for a domain name and monthly web hosting (although both can be accomplished for a little over $100\/yr)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>PDF<\/h3>\n<p>Creating a portfolio as a PDF is becoming more and more popular. Using Acrobat, multi-page PDFs can be created from layouts created in a graphics software program (such as InDesign or Photoshop). The result is a brochure style piece that shows examples of your work along with descriptions of projects and related information.<\/p>\n<p>Benefits:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Easy to email<\/li>\n<li>Control over layout without having to worry about browser and web issues<\/li>\n<li>The PDF itself serves as an example of your layout and typography skills<\/li>\n<li>Can be printed with consistent results<\/li>\n<li>Relatively quick and free to create<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Considerations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Relies on the user to save and open the file<\/li>\n<li>Less effective for showing web design projects<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>The Classic Portfolio<\/h3>\n<p>The classic portfolio, an actual book of various sizes with printed examples of your work, still serves a purpose in today\u2019s \u201cdigital world.\u201d There are several ways to present such a portfolio, from placing prints in a pre-made book with sleeves, to creating your own custom, bound book.<\/p>\n<p>Advantages:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Shows your work in its actual, final format<\/li>\n<li>Great for showing off print design<\/li>\n<li>Can be brought to a meeting and shown without a computer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Considerations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Must be delivered by mail or in person<\/li>\n<li>If you leave with a potential client or employer, you are left without a portfolio<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the end, the type of portfolio you choose to have will depend on your budget, available time and type of work. For web designers, an online portfolio is a no-brainer. If you don\u2019t have the time or budget to set up a web site right now, you should at least have a PDF so you have something to email. A classic portfolio is great to bring to a meeting and show off your best print work.<\/p>\n<p>As a portfolio is a key marketing piece, it should be taken seriously, and a combination of the options above might be the right choice to get you your dream job or client.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best advice, try to have all three of the above portfolio types (cover all of your bases!). Remember, you are marketing yourself , you are the brand! \u00a0Never settle for only one method of presenting you and your work!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When trying to break into the field of graphic design, having a solid portfolio is crucial. If you are job-hunting, your portfolio is what employers will be looking at to decide whether or not to give you an interview. If you are starting a freelance business, potential clients will be comparing portfolios to choose a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-insights","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":375,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions\/375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}