It’s that time of year when we receive tons of emails with CV’s and portfolios, we thought it would be a good idea to put together a list of the 5 things we think are most important when looking at a portfolio…

1. Variety

It’s important to show a variety of design forms in your portfolio, this shows the interviewer that you’re not a one trick pony. A great variety of projects that all flow together nicely is important – look at layout and presentation to ensure the coherency of your work.

2. Layout

Your portfolio should be treated as a design project, it needs to be clean and focused – Don’t let the overall design take away from your work! Your portfolio should showcase your projects.

3. Organisation

‘Organisation’ doesn’t necessarily mean you have to group all the projects together, such as all the logos or web design projects together. But each individual project should have some sense of organisation showing your thought process through to the final outcome. It’s good to be able to see a part of your creative thought process and decision making.

4. Quality over Quantity

Don’t include everything you’ve ever done, it is important to set time aside to go through your pieces and exclude anything you’re not proud of, or don’t think is your best work. If you’re emailing through your portfolio remember when it comes to digital, humans have a short attention span. So make sure you show your best first, we don’t want to trawl through pages upon pages to find it.

5. Personality

Try showing a little of your personality in your portfolio, but remember your portfolio isn’t everything. Your portfolio is the first impression, you can utilise an interview to extend on this and give the interviewer an insight into your character.

And finally, please make sure you get a second opinion on your portfolio, CV and any emails you are sending! You have looked at these pieces over and over, so chances are you may not notice a spelling or grammar mistake. Not proofreading your work is an indication to a potential employer that you could be a little careless. We recommend getting someone else to have a read through and give you their thoughts.