The Looks of Your Portfolio

How You Should Arrange Your Portfolio [Design In-Sanity]

Hiiiiiiiiii!!!!

Welcome back to Design In-Sanity, a biweekly blog where I talk about all things related to design, mental well-being and some other things. Why? So that you and I can unleash our superpowers on this planet!!

Alright, before I wear that cape and fly off into space, let’s get to the point.

Last time we talked about why you need a portfolio, what the best platforms to showcase your work are, and what people would want to see in your portfolio. Well, the stage has been selected, we know what we need to do. This week we are going to talk about how to set up your stage. Should you follow a particular style or colour or should you just mix it up? Is conforming to the trends the optimal way or is it cool to have an absolutely different voice of your own? The best way to know? Let’s get started!

Pick Your Posts Carefully

You know how they say that it’s not good to be picky about things? Well, for your portfolio, I’d say that it’s damn good to be a picky little b**ch. It is essential that you carefully choose what you upload on your portfolio.

Let us confess: not every work that we toil on ends up being a masterpiece.

No, unfortunately. This is especially true of client projects. I’m not saying that we are right and the client is wrong. No. It’s just that maybe the project ended up looking like something that doesn’t seem to have our signature on it. The thing with creative work is that everyone holds a different perspective on the same piece of work. So, the way I see it, the way you envision it and the way the client wants it may be absolutely different. I mean, it has often happened with me on my client projects when our team does the research, lays out the optimal plan for the project, envisions something, and we try to guide the client along our plan; we try to convey why our idea is the optimal one for their product but, well, it just doesn’t happen because the client has their own reasons for designing the product their way. So, we have to scratch out our plan and create a new one based on what the client wants. Sometimes we love the output, sometimes only the client loves the output. Just being honest here!! And that’s not a bad thing, actually, it’s just that our creative brains work differently.

The reason for saying all these is just one: we do not put up that piece of work on our portfolio.

Fact.

So, this is one point out of the many where you need to decide whether you will publish a project on your portfolio or not. If it does not define your style and completely deviates from your banner of excellence, then you may think twice about putting up that work.

However, if you feel that this was a really good project with a great plot and strong challenges, you know, something that really shows off your skills to tackle difficult projects, then here’s another thing that you can do about that piece of work. Like I had mentioned in the previous episode, you can write a case study on it where you describe what you had visualized and why it was damn good for the project. Subsequently, you can also mention why you had to scrape out the original design you had planned for it.

But — and this is important — never convey your client’s thoughts and reasons in a negative light.

It is understandable that we, as emotional creatives, might be upset about not being able to create what we wanted to but we must not forget that it is, after all, a matter of perspectives, and the client’s ideas are probably also right in their own ways.

Another reason for being positive about it all, and this will definitely sound selfish but it’s true, is that you would not want to paint a negative picture of yourself where you are whining because you did not get the candy you wanted. Taking feedback positively is a big turn on for many people and a huge reason behind being a successful designer. Once you are able to see the positive side of things, you can start finding solutions in the craziest of places. Trust me!

So, when you write about your experience in a positive tone, it will not only help you gain a fruitful insight into your work but will also allow your target audience to know that you are a beacon of shining light that can show the path even in the darkest of the nights.

Basically, you’d be Gandalf. And people love to work with Gandalf, right?

The Value of Side Projects

If you rely only on client projects to fill up your portfolio then you may — just may — end up with something that you may not be totally proud of. Side projects are a great way of not only honing your talent but also of stocking up your portfolio.

Without any restrictions, without multiple brains conflicting with one another, side-projects allow you to let loose your full potential into the project.

It is very true that the biggest hurdle with side projects is finding inspirations followed by finding the time for those.

First, for inspiration, you can refer to your client projects. Yes! Get creative, and change the main requirement or the challenges, and come up with a product of your own. Do mention your source of inspiration though. You can also hunt inspirations on different creative platforms, and design a product that you like based on those. It’s kind of like taking up challenges. UI Coach can be a great starting point for UX/UI designers.

Find a solution in your own way. Or, and this is actually the best one, ideate a product of your own. See, everyday we are faced with one or more challenges in our day-to-day activities. Someday you might have come up with a brilliant idea about solving a problem that you face or maybe others face, and you had probably jotted it down somewhere or maybe you hadn’t. Try to bring up that pair of problem and solution, and create a product that solves the problem.

The same solution goes for creatives from every field. Illustrate, write, create, compose and do whatever you love doing based on what’s going on around you or in your mind.

Tip: Things in trend usually sell hot!

Next, to find time for that project, you might have to redo your schedules and find 30–45 minutes every day or maybe 1–2 hours every weekend for it. This may sound like a feat given that you might be already burdened with lots of work. But once you start it, and get into the rhythm, you will automatically start enjoying finding some time for it. It’ll take time to adjust to the new schedule but eventually you will love it!

Symmetry, Colours and Styles

Now, let’s talk about the eye candy. Mmmh! I mean the aesthetics of your portfolio. What were you thinking?

Anyway! Do you have a favourite Instagram account that always soothes your eyes even in the grid view? Or maybe somebody’s account on Dribbble or Behance that leaves your eyes like, “Wow! I want some more”?

These profiles have been set up with utmost care and calculation. A lot of thought has been put behind which post should precede and succeed every post, which colour scheme should every post follow, what the content on each post will be and so on. You see, the human brain has a kink for symmetry. Wherever it sees symmetry, it falls in love with it almost immediately. Asymmetry has its own appeal, no questions on that, but its counterpart is more dominating. In the case of your portfolio, you might want to prefer symmetry.

Some people opt to go with a particular colour scheme so that their entire page has this theme running through it, like say, shades of blue or shades of lavender or shades of yellow, in my case! Yeah, I’m obsessed with yellow! Truth be told, this isn’t a very good idea. It often looks great but to your client or interviewer it would look like you are stuck with one colour and cannot get out of your comfort zone. We would definitely not want that! Maintain your style but try different palettes as your projects demand. That way you are opening up opportunities to not only experiment with your work but also for prospective job offers.

Versatility and flexibility are two characteristics which employers always look forward to.

When you are uploading your work, try to chalk out a plan so that the look and feel of the posts are in sync with one another. Instagram suggests a gradual change in colour palette so that the overall transition is soothing to the eyes. Although you may be uploading your work to platforms other than Instagram, this rule applies to all. If the aerial view of your portfolio looks messy, the chances of looking at individual projects reduces automatically.

The Looks of Individual Posts

Now, let’s quickly take a look at individual posts. There can be instances where you are uploading case studies or there can be posts where you are probably uploading 1–3 neatly arranged images of your work.

In both the cases, whatever you do, do not make the background of the posts crowded or too fancy.

People usually tend to show their work on a background which, they think, compliments the product. These backgrounds often have gradients, fancy shapes, typography, icons and so on. Do not be tempted by these.

There was once a trend to use these. But currently, the best way is to use a subtle plain colour, and simply place your design on it. Use a colour that is not distracting. But make sure that this colour is related to your project or product.

Your design should be the focus, not the background of the presentation. If you’d like to use shapes or icons or gradients, go ahead! Just make sure that they are not overdone and make sure that these colours and elements are part of the actual project. Otherwise they will look disjoint.

The best way to check is to take a break from your work, come back, look at the presentation, and see which element draws your attention at first. If it’s your design, great! Thumbs up! If it’s anything from the background, just redo it. Right away!

Okay, so, that’s all for this post from Design In-Sanity. Do I give a lot of information at one go? Does it sound monotonous? Do I make sense in what I say? Any suggestion, any feedback, any help is always appreciated! With open arms! I absolutely LOVE talking (no, not writing) to you, and hope that you love reading my words, too! Maybe we can form a nice bond over this talking and reading? What d’you say?

Anyway, next time, I’m thinking of sharing something on mental well-being, y’know, staying positive and stuff. Not really the deep philosophical way but more like a creative to creative talk. I’m not sure, let’s see.

So, my dear reader, talk to you next week. Till then, live to the fullest, love yourself a lot (and others, too), laugh like a maniac and always keep that creative spark alive!

‘Byeeee!!!