PORTFOLIO DESIGN SERIES
Part 1 in The Portfolio Design Workshop Series
Welcome! Not only is this my first post on the Surviving the Creative Space blog, but it’s also my first in a series I’m calling ‘The Portfolio Design Workshop.’ I hope it helps students and emerging creative professionals in the [sometimes ambiguous] portfolio design process. While my primary expertise is in graphic design, this series is flexible enough to apply to studio artists, designers, advertising professionals, motion designers, and anyone looking to build a creative career.
DEFINING YOUR GOALS
The most important thing to do before beginning to develop a creative portfolio is to figure out the purpose and goals for the portfolio. These can always change or evolve, but if you start with some clear objectives, you’ll have more success reaching those goals.
EXAMPLES OF CREATIVE GOALS
Here’s an example of how similar artists might have different goals: imagine a group of six watercolor painters who all work in portraiture, yet each has a distinct professional goal in developing their portfolio.
Artist #1 Goal: To pitch to and land a contract with an art agent specializing in children’s book illustration.
Artist #2 Goal: To share work with friends and family online as they continue to develop their creative portfolio.
Artist #3 Goal: To apply to a paid artist residency that will allow time and financial support to develop a body of work further.
Artist #4 Goal: To sell custom art portraits online and do onsite watercolor portraiture at special events.
Artist #5 Goal: To apply for a graduate program to receive MFA in Illustration at a specialized art program.
Artist #6 Goal: To become a certified teacher and secure a job teaching art at a high school.
Despite all working in watercolor portraiture, I’d suggest different strategies to each artist in this list based on their respective goals. (Check out my strategy ideas in an upcoming post)
A FRAMEWORK FOR PORTFOLIO DESIGN
While this scenario may seem far-fetched, I work with college-level artists and designers to develop their portfolios. I see a massive variety within my student’s career aspirations because I teach at a liberal arts university in a studio art program with diverse specializations, including photography, sculpture, printmaking, graphic design, painting, and drawing. Additionally, students from other departments often want the chance to craft their creative portfolios, and they take my class to develop work in interactive media and user experience design.
Working with students whose goals vary greatly may seem challenging, but you can apply my framework to each creative portfolio. And the first step is defining your goal and your audience who will be viewing your portfolio. By naming your goals and audience, you’ll have a better opportunity to focus your work in a way that best helps you achieve that goal.
A TIP FOR BEGINNING STUDENTS
If you’re a current student, mainly a first- or second-year student, I suggest writing out several goals and aspirations and not getting too bogged down with limiting your scope. You can always cast a wider net now and narrow the focus of your portfolio later in your studies as you refine your goals. When you’re an upper-level student, you’ll likely have more experience to draw from, such as part-time work, course work, internships, and time creating, and that all helps inform your larger career goals as you progress in your studies.
FOR RECENT GRADUATES
If you’re a recent graduate, I suggest you pick a narrower goal for your portfolio. Are you working to become a user interface designer? Then consider whether those past print projects are as important as your web design work. Does each project showcase research and a deep understanding of the user experience? As you’re considering your goals, you can also view your ideal employer as part of your audience and then start framing the work you showcase around those parameters.
EXERCISE
To get started on developing your portfolio goals, try to answer the following questions:
What are your professional goals?
What are your creative goals?
What are your portfolio goals?
Who is your portfolio audience?
GET FOCUSED
What are your top 1-3 goals for your creative portfolio? Please do your best to rank them in the level of importance.
List the audience: Who needs to see this portfolio for you to reach each of the goals you’ve set?
Do you have any other aspirations not listed here?
Once you finish this exercise, my suggestion is to put the list aside and move on to Part 2 of the Portfolio Design Workshop, where you will map your core values and assess your work before committing to a portfolio strategy.