Creating the perfect motion design portfolio: our expert tips

Building your first motion design portfolio can feel pretty overwhelming: should you play it safe, be radical, or stick somewhere in the middle? And what do you even include!?

Now, there’s a school of advice that tells you to be bold, expressive, and push the creative boundaries… But that can feel unhelpful, vague and, frankly, a bit intimidating.

Luckily, we’ve put together some more down-to-earth advice from people who’ve been in your situation and on the other side of the desk making the hiring decisions.

We’ll clue you in on what will stand out to prospective employers and none of it involves setting off fireworks or hiring a dance troupe (although if that’s your thing, don’t let us stop you)!

A few questions before you get started

It might sound a bit over the top, but you need to start thinking of yourself as a bit of an entrepreneur. (I’m aware I’m sounding very tech bro here but stick with me…)

 Start by asking yourself some key questions:

• What skills do I have that can be sold as a service?
• Can I pitch that service through my portfolio?

In simple terms, if you include a slick explainer video then you want your potential employer to look at it and go, “That’s what our clients need!” Because beyond being a brilliant creative, what it boils down to is employers envisioning a roster of happy clients willing to pay for lots of (your) work.

3 tips for pulling your portfolio together

A real-world-ready portfolio is simpler to curate than you might think – it’s all about breaking it down into stages.

1. Edit your showreel

Showreels are a motion designer’s best weapon: you can show off a lot of work in one go. However, that doesn’t mean you should include everything you’ve ever made. Quality always trumps quantity here so only include the best scenes from your best work but consider whether your clips are demonstrating the complete range of your skills.

A good tip to help with this is to make sure you show off your editing and sound design skills. It can’t be stressed enough how much of a difference sound design can make. And the best part? So few people do it, so it’s an easy win that’ll really give you some edge!

Include any group projects if you have them, just make sure you’re clear on what your input was. A simple way to do this would be to add some small text in the corner while you’re showing clips from the project, for example: “Project XX -Illustration and animation” or “Project XX - editing”. Not only will this help prospective employers get a quick sense of your capability but also enforces your ability to work as part of a team.

And, as I was saying before, make sure to focus the work on those sellable skills: think explainer videos, motion for branding, video editing, 3D and so on.

If you’re still struggling on where to start, go onto the websites of the companies you’re applying to and look at their services. Does your work align with them and what they’re doing?

2. Show your process

As much as I enjoy looking at finished motion graphics projects, unfortunately that’s barely 1% of a motion designer’s job. The other 99% is the process. Mood boards, sketches, storyboards, animatics, drafts etc are the job.

This is the section where the goal is to build trust with clients that you can actually do the job they’re hiring you to do. Like before, keep it concise and choose two or three projects that you can break down and explain how you got to the final outcome. Keep in mind these are also the projects they’ll most likely ask you about in your interview too.

This is also where you have the opportunity to tailor your portfolio. Do some research into the places you’re applying too, for example if it’s an agency, what services do they offer on their website? And if it’s a business, what sector do they work in? Then use this information to choose what work you show. Let’s say that creative agency focuses on branding, try to show some work that demonstrates you’ve got it covered, like logo animations, brand videos, or motion guidelines.

3. Avoid these easy-to-make mistakes

Leading with your social media.

Whether or not you were confident enough to post yourself dancing on the internet back in lockdown and have grown a decent sized audience, leading with your social media accounts might not be the best idea in your portfolio.

If whoever is looking through your work clicks through to your profiles, you will have no control on what they look at. And that undermines all the careful work you’ve put in to crafting your application.

And let’s not forget when Instagram suddenly decided to change all posts to a different ratio (I don’t think many social media managers have still fully recovered from this). What I’m saying is, it’s not worth leaving how you show you work to platforms that can change overnight.

Using AI in your portfolio.

Now I’m not saying completely avoid AI altogether; to be honest a lot of companies will be looking for how you’re utilising it in your workflows.

Unsurprisingly, the recent School of Motion’s report, ‘The Motion Design Hiring Guide’, showed AI skills to be the fastest growing skillset employers ask for. And, far more interestingly, it came with an estimated~8-18% increase in wage.

In the creative industry, we’ve been working with AI for years (well before Will Smith attempted his first mouthful of spaghetti), so if you’re using AI in your final outcomes, we will be able to notice. And that includes in any supporting text too. Again, I’m not saying don’t use these tools, just be transparent when you are – and always avoid the press-a-single-button slop.

The final cut

In short, treat your portfolio as your pitch. It’s not just a gallery of nice work; it’s proof of what you can offer. The clearer that is, the easier it is for someone to trust you and, ultimately, to hire you.

If you’d like to find out more about what we can do then take a look at our work or get in touch at marketing@proctorsgroup.com.