How to put together the perfect graphic design portfolio

The design industry is jam packed with talent; there’s no denying that. From university graduates to seasoned middle weights and seniors with decades of experience. But somewhere amongst those creatives is you. And your portfolio is a great way to stand out and sell yourself to prospective employers.

Whether you’re itching for a new challenge, making the leap into freelance, or simply ready to move on, you’ll may well find that your folio needs a bit of dusting off before you get going!

To help, I’ve put together a few tips below that might help during the process. These aren’t golden rules, and this certainly isn’t a portfolio bible. It’s simply advice from me to you. And it should help you make waves for all the right reasons.

Oh, and if you’re at the start of your career, I’m just going to rip the band aid off and tell you this won’t be a one-time exercise. You’ll do it more than once. But don’t worry! You’ll be fine.

Start before you need to

I’ll kick this off with a piece of advice my old Creative Director gave me many years ago:

“One should work on their portfolio when they don’t need it.”

It may seem like an odd concept but there’s method to this madness, so hear me out.

If you wait till you need your portfolio to, say, apply for a fantastic new role, chances are it will end up being cobbled together last minute from whatever projects you can think of in the moment. You might end up including older work or pieces that aren’t particularly relevant to the role you’re applying for. Or only new work and miss out older pieces that show your range.

But if you start before you need it, you give yourself time to perfect it. Time to experiment, refine, edit, and create something that truly reflects who you are and the kind of work you want to do. Assuming you already have a job, that might mean evenings and weekends (sorry), but the best portfolios are considered, not rushed so extra time and effort is worth it in the end.

If you do find yourself up against it though (and let’s be honest, it happens to us all), then push on through - you’ll still get there. Ok, here we go…

Give yourself a brief

Before you get started, ask yourself the following questions:

• What sort of work do I want to create?
• What sort of agency do I want to be a part of?
• Which one sector (or more) am I excited by?
• What do I want my purpose, and therefore impact, in the creative industry to be?

Once you answer those questions, you’ll have a great framework to build your portfolio around.

That’s your brief.

Get it together

Start by gathering your work from the last few years. Pull together as many projects as you possibly can. At this stage, the goal is simply to create a large pool of work to choose from. This is the first stage of editing. Remember, it’s always easier to remove projects than it is to add them later (that can really throw you for a loop).

It’s also a rare opportunity to reflect on your own growth; how your design eye, skills and thinking have evolved over time. We move so quickly from project to project that we often forget just how much great work we’ve contributed to.

Take a moment to appreciate that. It’s a nice little confidence boost before you potentially head towards an interview situation.

Keep it simple (and show your workings)

Whatever format you choose, let the work be the star of the show.

I’ve seen portfolio websites packed with bells and whistles, elaborate animations, clever interactions, fancy transitions. There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of that, but if your website is more impressive than the work it contains, your focus may be in the wrong place.

If you’re presenting a more traditional PDF or deck, keep the layout clean, pay attention to typography, and tell a compelling story. And don’t just focus on the finished outcome. Show the rough sketches. Show the scamps. Show the iterations. Show how you think. That’s what potential employers are interested in.

Your thought process is often your biggest USP. Technical ability matters, but it’s secondary. The journey tells us far more about you than the final deliverable ever could.

Edit.

Now that you have a body of work assembled, it’s time for the first edit.

At this stage, keep things relatively broad. Select your strongest projects but maintain variety if you can. The aim is to create the full-fat version of your portfolio so include branding projects, campaigns, digital work, self-initiated projects, passion pieces and everything in between.

Think of it as a modular system: a living portfolio that can evolve and adapt depending on what you need from it. This is why we start big.

Edit again.

Once you have a few opportunities lined up to apply for, it’s time for the second edit.

This is where you take a coffee break to go do some research. Every agency, studio and employer is different. They all look for different qualities so different examples of work can help assess how you’d fit in. So do your homework and tailor the work you are going to present to the specific employer. At this stage you can still afford to have two to three projects more than you need, keep those in your back pocket for a potential interview where you can show them more.

Fear not, the final edit is next.

Edit one more time.

The final edit is where you prepare your folio for a particular role. Don’t take a ‘one shoe fits all’ approach. Have different examples of work for different roles you are applying for, just make sure they are relevant. Pick three to five projects at most, there isn’t a huge amount of time to impress here so keep it short, but bloody sweet.

Spell check, be mindful of file size (always below 10mb, many emails bounce otherwise) and know who you’re addressing it to.

Details matter.

Bonus tip: get a mentor!

This is an added extra (and your portfolio doesn’t depend on it).

Mentorship isn’t just for designers starting out. A good mentor can add value at any stage of your career. Reach out to someone whose work you admire. Say hello. Ask for feedback.

A fresh perspective can help you identify blind spots, strengthen your work, and build confidence in your decisions. It can also help you expand your network, create connections and, occasionally, open doors you didn’t even know existed.

Final thoughts

Your portfolio is never really finished. It evolves as you do. Treat it as an ongoing creative project rather than something you create when opportunity knocks, and you'll be in a much stronger position when that next opportunity arrives. Good luck, you can do it!

At Proctor + Stevenson, we help clients with every aspect of their graphic design needs. If you’d like to learn more about what we do, and how we can work with you, drop us a line at marketing@proctorsgroup.com.