How to design a portfolio SO good everyone wants you

0:00 Oh, hey there. Are you the one looking for a new job? Or maybe you're looking for freelance work? Or maybe you're just trying to level up in your creative field. Well, I've got good news for you. Because in this video, we're going to be going over what a good portfolio is, what website builder you should use, the dos, the don'ts, what projects you should include, and my secret three rules for a killer portfolio. All that and more to help you succeed as a creative. So to start, I'm going to show you two different portfolios, wildly different ones that I think are both great. Okay, so the two portfolios we're going to be looking at right now as an example, this one is a cinematographer who is my friend, and then this one is my own portfolio. They are totally

0:46 different styles, but I think they're both great. Let's start with my friend Andrew here, the cinematographer. The first thing you're going to notice is right away we have his best work upfront. As soon as you go to this website which he is using as a portfolio. Your portfolio doesn't have to be a website but as soon as you go here you see his footage right away and it looks good. That's his best work upfront and that's very important. Now if you're in video a lot of filmmakers, videographers like to create a demo reel. I personally advise against that. Demo reels show a few clips of your best work, but they don't tell the full story. And each time you do a project, that full story is so important. What I like about Andrew's website here in his

1:32 portfolio is it shows his demo reel. It shows his best work without you having to click into that to open a video. It's just right there as soon as you open the web page. The next thing that you really need to think about, and what I think Andrew's website here does great, is your target audience. So, in many cases, that is either you're applying for jobs or you're trying to get freelance work. Now, there could be other cases. I personally am a different case, but we'll get to mine in a second. But for Andrew, his main objective with this website is to get freelance work. As you can see, he has a get started button that brings you to like a contact form. He has a services page where he dives into what he provides, cinematography, photography, animation. His target

2:18 audience are people that might be looking to hire him for work. And secondary to that, an employer, a potential future employer could see this website and see that he's experienced in handling clients and communication and all of his great work here as well. But it's important to establish your target audience and really the main goal of your portfolio first. And the last thing I want to show you about Andrew's portfolio that I think went really well when we created this is that we dove into not only his work, but the reason why the work in the solutions that Andrew brought to people, whether that was employers or clients. So with each one of these videos, Andrew has a little blurb on the side that explains what his

3:04 role was and why it was important. For example, this Wake County Speedway video he created. He said, "The Wake County Speedway had no previous marketing material and were in need of digital presence. I delivered a creative video that captured the excitement of Speedway providing them with content for social media." Even as simple as that tells such a larger story of like, "Wow, Andrew must have really helped them out more than just filming a video. He probably worked one- on-one with them to help them even decide what they wanted to get out of marketing. If they had no previous marketing material, that's very impressive. So, to recap with Andrew's portfolio, the three things that I like about this is that he keeps his best work up front. He knows his target

3:51 audience, and he elaborates on how he provided more than just a service, but a solution. Let's go check out my portfolio. Right off the bat, you can see mine is totally different, but that's also because Andrew and I have very different styles. He's a serious professional cinematographer, and I'm a YouTuber. Now, my target audience is not to get a job or to get freelance gigs. Really, what I'm looking for out of my website is sponsorships for this YouTube channel and collaborations for my art projects. So, as you can see, my playful brand kind of shines throughout this website. And as you scroll along, you see Grayson's graphics right there with a sponsorships button and all the sponsorships I've worked with. And then

4:38 below that, you can see my public artwork and like you can see my Instagram there to collaborate with me and see more of that. Lastly, I have at the bottom sponsorships or collaborations or just saying hi. You can send me a message. My main difference here is my personal branding. I've really leaned into this. Now, you don't have to, but what I would encourage you to do is to make it personable and make it your own. Doing this helps you stand out from everybody else because it gives you personality and something for somebody who hasn't met you yet to attach themselves to. Now, I do have a professional portfolio here as well that I want to show you. So, if we click on this, it opens up another page again fully branded out and

5:23 with my little personality. I love emojis. And here I have now my best work. Now, my layout is completely different. And for some of you, you might probably hate my layout, but it works well for me. I'm not just a videographer. I have a lot of different skills that I've used in my corporate experience. Whether that was photo and video or drone 3D mapping or systems, building websites, RFQS, all of these things, they were too much for me to categorize by service like Andrew did. He has a very simple, he does cinematography, photography, animation. Super simple. You scroll through here. Here's cinematography. Here's photography. Here's animation. with mine that would be way too overwhelming if I tried to organize this page by category

6:11 like that. So instead, what I decided to do for my personal layout is I organized it by solution. So I worked at this company called land design and I kind of say what I did here and then these are all the solutions that I brought to them in a variety of mediums. Then I do neighboring concepts. That's a different company I work for. Here's what I did for them and here's the visual examples. Then you can also download my resume which again has the matching color scheme, the matching brand, not necessary, but it's just showing your personality. And you can see again it's a reflection of the same things with a link to go view my work and you get back to that page where you can see all those videos and photos in action organized by a company. This layout worked really

6:56 well for me because I was applying for a very specific multidia style job in a corporate environment. However, if you're looking for freelance work, this probably won't work for you. Or if you're just specializing in one thing like graphic design and you want to be a senior graphic designer, then you'll want a totally different layout. So find the right layout that works for you. And then be personable and be intriguing. Make people want to reach out to you. One of the ways I did that with mine is I put my experience as a TNT fireworks franchise owner. This was just a thing I did one summer, but I actually put it on my resume and people ask me about it all the time. Another thing I did was I put that I'm a Guinness World Record holder,

7:42 which I I am. Here it is, my Guinness World Record. Um, it is just something that I kind of did in high school. It's really really goofy. is I'm not a professional at anything, but I put that on my resume and people again have literally asked me to interview and they have told me you're not getting this job but we just want to like hang out with you and chat and then as a result from there I've gotten freelance clients with different companies before for real true story. So be personable. One thing that I would have changed, I'm not currently in the job market, but one thing I would change if I was, is I would make this resume and my website even more casual and personable than it already is. You

8:30 don't need to be super professional and corporate because at the end of the day, we're all people and the people reading your portfolio or resume are also normal people that like a good laugh, too. Another little tip with my resume is that I hyperl here. So, for example, you see I worked here at this company, Neighboring Concepts, and you can see it's my design here. If you click on that, you know, your mouse turns clicky, so you know it's a link. And then you can see, oh, here's where all of the logo, the whole brand guidelines kind of is listed out. And I have the whole digital portfolio listed both as a hyperlink but also as a QR code in case this is printed out and somebody wants to scan it. You can click around and interact

9:16 all over this resume, which again is a small thing, but it really helps you stand out. Don't feel the need to make your resume crazy like this. It can be super simple, but just do things that customize it a little bit to show your personality. So, now that we've taken a look at two very different, but both great portfolios, let's talk about my secret three rules for a killer portfolio. Make it easy to create and update. This is very important. You don't want to be spending weeks on this or procrastinating making your portfolio like you already are by watching a YouTube video. Just get started. Make this thing, even if it's not perfect, and make it easy for you to create it

10:03 and update it. Whether that's a website or a PDF or just a Google Docs, whatever is easiest for you, that's what you need so that you can continuously adjust this and make it better as your skills improve over time. My portfolio, for me personally, isn't just about getting a job or getting clients. It's a place for me to have all my best work to be able to store it for me so that I can go there whenever I need to and add new stuff and just save it there and have it easily accessible at any time. It's a tool for you just as much as it is a tool for getting a job or for getting new clients. Rule number two, make it

10:48 easy to navigate. You want to be able to send this to your friends, send it to your grandpa, everybody you know, and get their advice. Can they go on their phone and use this or does it only work on the computer? Do they have any trouble like finding your best work, reading it? Do they have trouble understanding it, clicking on buttons? But whether again whether it's a PDF or if it's even just an email that you draft up and copy and paste to people like make sure that it's easy to understand, easy to navigate by all people of all age groups. And the last rule very similar is make it easy to share not only by you but by anybody who

11:34 might be sending your portfolio. Again, if you're using it to get jobs, a hiring manager might send it to your marketing director or whoever actually might be managing over you. Same thing, a client might be sending it to their manager. Whatever medium you decide to use to create your portfolio, let it be something that somebody can easily email or text and forward to other people. So, now you've seen what a good portfolio looks like. you know, my secret sauce, my three tips on what makes a good portfolio. So, how do you make one? Where do you get started? My advice is typically a website. I do feel like it is the best medium. And usually I use a website builder like Wix or Squarespace.

12:19 Not sponsored at all. That's just genuinely what I've always used. I found that Wix is a little bit harder to use, but it gives you a lot more flexibility. That's like you saw my portfolio. My website is kind of crazy with blobs floating around and stuff. Really cool. Uh and then that's that's built on Wix and Andrews is built on Squarespace and you saw his was a little bit simpler. Again, remember rule number one, easy to create and update. If you don't know how to use a website builder, you should probably go with Squarespace or maybe even something simpler than that. whatever is going to be most affordable for you and whatever is easiest for you to create it and update it. Once you've picked a website design program, you can

13:06 use a template. I would not be ashamed about using a template at all because by the end of this, the idea is that you've customized your website enough that nobody can tell anyways and it's such a great jumping off point. Now you got a website and you've picked out a template. It's time to pick your best work. This can be really challenging for a lot of creatives because they just don't know what to include or they're not that well organized in the first place. I found the key to that is simplify it. Limit yourself maybe to 10 projects that you've done or whatever you feel like is truly your best work. I have a ton of work on my portfolio as you saw. But that does not mean that

13:51 quantity is over quality. I just have a lot of work that I'm proud of. And if you have a lot of work that you're proud of, include all of it. But if you have some things that you're like, you know, this is just a lot better than this thing and they're kind of similar, just pick the better one. Keep it simple for the person viewing your work, too. Another challenge that I've seen with helping my friends build their portfolios and resumes is that they struggle with doubt. They start going through their work, imagining other people judging it, critiquing it, and it paralyzes them. You start going through your work, and all of a sudden, you're not as confident in it anymore. You're like, "Well, man, is this really the best representation of my skills and what I can do?" And I'm going to answer that for you. Yes. Just put it up there.

14:40 Don't worry about it. Don't let it stop you. In fact, if you're feeling that way and you want to create more work, that's great because that means you're pushing towards even better, higher quality stuff. Like, let that be motivation, but don't let it stop you. Put your good work up there. Know that it's good and put it on this website and create it. Remember rule number one, make it easy to create. And that means make it easy to create on you as well. So, put that stuff up there. Start applying for jobs. Start trying to get clients and as a result, you're going to be getting more better work anyways and make it easy to update continuously update your portfolio moving forward. And you can take off older stuff as you add new things. Another thing I've noticed about

15:26 when creatives are choosing work to put on their portfolio is that they hesitate to put projects on that were team projects. Maybe you were in college or you're in school and you did a group project and it turned out great, but you can't take all the credit because it was a group project. Take that credit. Just clarify that it is a group project. That's all you've got to do. I had a video on my website for a long time that was a group project that I just played a role in. But it was a great video and it won a national award. And all you have to do is just clarify like, hey, I didn't make this totally by myself. I collaborated on a team. And oftentimes that's an even better thing to show on your portfolio. And a tip for graphic

16:14 designers especially is if you're showing logos or designs you've made, mock them up. even if they're a flyer or poster, just put it on a Photoshop mockup because it looks 10 times more professional and just way cooler than if you're just dropping a PNG with a white background on your portfolio. Lastly, like we saw with Andrew's portfolio, don't sell services, sell solutions. Again, that's whether you're applying to a job or trying to attract freelance work or something entirely different. It is the age-old marketing business technique that you don't sell a mattress, you sell a good night's sleep. Talk about what you did on this project that helped provide a solution. Even if that solution is something that you just made to express yourself creatively,

17:00 just talk about it in more depth. By giving that detail, it's allowing a rabbit hole for people who are exploring you to go and binge dive onto you in your portfolio and just get learning about you and all of that stuff makes them more and more interested and compelled to want to reach out and talk to you. On top of talking about that solution, if there is a metric that you can add, add metrics. People love to see numbers and it's a huge way to show the value in your work. Even again, if it's just a personal work and you don't have much work with commercial clients or or jobs experience in the past, even if you just made a cool Instagram reel and it got 5,000 views on Instagram, you can put that in, right? you know, I made

17:47 this to express myself and I made it using this medium and as a result, it got 5,000 views across platforms and that looks so cool and it just tells such a larger story than just putting that video up there with no context. And it really all is as simple as this. Making a portfolio, making a website, and just choosing the right work and how you talk about it. And the last missing key piece to this puzzle is tailoring it for what you want to get out of it. Again, I'm going to use the job example. If you are trying to apply for a senior graphic designer role, go on Indeed, go on LinkedIn and look up some of those job descriptions for jobs you would want and then read through them. Find the

18:33 skills and responsibilities they're looking for and bring that over to your portfolio. if they're looking for somebody who has experience using Photoshop, take that and then go to one of your pieces and say, "Hey, I used Photoshop to make this." And that way it confirms to them that you have that experience. You can tailor your resume and your portfolio to exactly what people are looking to see from you. If you are looking to try to attract more clients, think about who your target audience is. Who is that client that is looking to purchase your services? and what problems do they need solved? Now, I've got a secret little bonus for you when you're trying to send that first email to book a client or a cover letter. I've got a perfect little cover

19:20 letter thing here for you, but you can only see this content if you subscribe. So, help me out. Do me a little favor. Let's do it together. Okay, there's a subscribe button right here. It's like by my name, I think, to the to the right of it. So on three, we're going to hit that subscribe button so I can show you this. Okay, three, two, one. Okay, sweet. Thank you so much. That was that was awesome. So, here's my cover letter. Again, I've matched this to my personal brand, but this could also be sent as an email. Don't worry that much about like all of the branding. If that overwhelms you or if it excites you, then lean into it. But yeah, this is my cover letter and I have a little threason rule. That's what I like to

20:06 call this when I send it to people. So I look at the job description and I say three reasons why I'd be great for you, for whoever, for this job, for this client, for this gig. Three reasons why I would be great for it. And I write this up custom every time. I do use a little chat GPT. Don't be afraid to use a little chat GPT, but write it up authentically what you want to say and truly the three reasons why you would be great for this job or for this gig. For this one, I redacted what it was, but it was a marketing agency and I said three reasons why I would be great for this marketing agency. For one, I value creative strategy. That's a very specific thing that not a lot of people say in a resume and it was something

20:52 that I pulled from their job description, but it's also something that actually resonates with me. Two, I said, "I can do content. I know how to do graphics. I know how to do video. I know I can do the job. My work stands for it." And then three, I meet your needs. Again, I went to their job description. I saw what the needs were, the responsibilities were, and I started putting examples. I've built systems at my prior job to manage data. That's something you need. I know how to write keywords savvy content to boost search. That's something you need. And I know how to do it. And I'm telling you so you don't have to assume or assume that I don't know how to do it. This little three- reason strategy is great because it shows that you actually care, that you've put in a little bit of work and

21:38 that you're also qualified. It knocks out a lot while also being super simple and easy for anybody to read or just skim and be like, "Yeah, this guy's the guy." My last piece of advice for you with building a killer portfolio is don't forget to use it. I know that sounds obvious, but when you do get this interview, which you will with this killer portfolio, you need to make sure that you pull it up on the TV in the conference room when you're there interviewing in person or if you're trying to land a big client, Zoom call them, share your screen, and show them yourself, walk them through some of your best work. And if you have any questions, let me know in the comments below and I'll try to help you guys out with as many as I can and just my advice for building your portfolio. If you want

22:23 to send me a link, I would be super happy to check it out and review it and give you my feedback. So, let me know in the comments. And then also, if you want to learn more about building a business or applying to jobs, you might like getting 20% off your first year of Skillshare. So, if you see my resume on this side, if we just tab over, would you look at that? Skillshare. And if you scroll through Skillshare, it can show you all different kinds of things like how to build a portfolio and expand on this information I just taught you. It can also teach you different things, whole variety of classes. Let's type in horiculture. Horiculture is the study of plants. And my plant is currently dying. So, I'm going to use Skillshare. Quiet on set.

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