Portfolio advice

I was poking around looking for some website inspiration and came across ‘design portfolio packs punch‘. I just wanted to add a few things… Like in the ‘Select your projects’ and ‘Look to the future’ part it talks about picking Items to show in your portfolio. I would encourage you to focus on picking projects you enjoyed working on. Most likely will want to work on more of them in the future. If you offer up the one’s that match your prospective clients, or that seem to be the shiniest you might find yourself doing work, rather than enjoying your work. That could lead to a portfolio full of stuff you don’t enjoy ( yuck ).

‘Demonstrate critical thinking’ and ‘Use context’ areas are about your relationship to the project. How and why did you ‘grid’, ‘responsive’, or ‘interaction’. Most projects aren’t done in a vacuum and I would encourage you to touch on the collaborative effort that went into those projects. Highlight how well you work with others. If you have good interaction with teams and/or clients your future clients will want that goodness.

I have mixed feelings about the ‘Choose the right platform’ idea. I encourage you to explore a bit and see what works for you. I am old enough to remember when portfolios had to be mail out with return postage. Some of the packages that came in where as creative as the work inside. That is rarely the rule but a pleasant surprise when it did happen. There is no reason not to have a ‘safe’ portfolio and something more ‘exploratory’ The web has shifted the ‘barrier to entry’ in your favor.