Importance of a Portfolio
Keeping a portfolio is a great way for any designer to display their work, whether it is to attract new clients, or show it to future employers. Your portfolio is a helpful tool for others to see how you design and what types of things you like to design, whether that is UX/UI or print typography and more. It is a way to prove your skills and style, setting you apart from other designers. Your portfolio will also show how you are keeping up to date with design trends and adding that in with your own style.
Just as it is important to have a portfolio, it is equally important to be keeping it up to date. If your portfolio is full of old designs, it may not be as interesting and it doesn’t show if you are keeping up with design trends. It may seem dated and do more harm than good. It is also important you keep your portfolio up to date because if you let a lot of work pass by before you go to updated your site, it may be hard to find the pieces you need and you will not remember the process of your design as well. Also, your knowledge of design is best shown through your work and it is important to have your portfolio be a current representation of who you are as a designer, not a time capsule of your growth. That is why when you are updating your portfolio with your new work, you are also taking off any old and dated designs unless you are redesigning your old design to show a before and after.
This is why I spent the past week updating my portfolio with some of my newer designs. The projects I added include Crave Branding, The Bean Coffee Trifold, and the Belmont Stakes Event Package. For each, I added a bit of background, like for Crave’s Branding I introduced the company, as well as the research into the audience and competitors and how that led me in the creation of my designs. Adding the process is a good way to help those viewing your portfolio understand your design decisions. Another thing to think about when adding your designs to your portfolio is the readability of your designs. For example, some of my designs for the Belmont Stakes Event Package had white backgrounds, which blended in with the background of my site. To fix this, I added a light background color, similar to a color in the design, so it could stand out and not be indistinguishable from the background.
In all, there are so many reasons why a portfolio is important, and not just for designers. Make sure your work is up to date and shows the best versions of your designs. This will help so much when it comes to applying for jobs or attracting clients.
