How To Create A Graphic Design Portfolio That Sells
You could be the best graphic designer in the world. Have the best logo design and lettering skills, but if you don’t have a portfolio that engages with your potential clients, then you’ll never find the work and will never be able to charge a fair cost for the value you’re bringing. How, then, do we create a portfolio that sells and converts clients? What are you missing from your portfolio aside from your skills? Read on, and I promise this will help you gain more clients and attract more leads.
Where Is Your Portfolio?
Many young creatives rightly use social media to show their work to potential clients. Instagram and X is a great place to show off your skills and build a following, but only having social media will harm your retention with your potential clients.
Social media is great for building your name. For me — Instagram and YouTube have been magical. I’m able to show my skills and prove my work through these videos (targeted towards creative professionals), and the subscriber count has given my brand and me more credibility. However, clients don’t contact me through social media; they dig into more of who I am online until they get to my website. My website is my own little corner of the internet — it’s an experience for clients to see not only my work but also my personality. My personality is shown throughout the website from everything but the work. It’s how the website is laid out, the colours and contrast I’ve used, and even how you get to the desired portfolio project you want to see.
The first thing to remember to gain clients is to make yourself known, but the second thing you need is to make a home for yourself online—on your own white-label platform where you have full creative control. This is how clients find you _after_ they’ve binge-watched your content on social media.
Show, but DO TELL
You’ve probably been told to “show your work, don’t tell.” Well, I can say that’s a load of shite. It’s just as important to tell a story with your work as it is to show the end result. Of course, showing images as part of the main story is vitally important. However, writing about your work and how you got to the end result is just as important. This is just like _showing your workings out_. When you do this, the end result isn’t the most prominent spectacle; it’s your _process_.
When the client understands that the process is king in your world, they will know that they’ve got the right person. Young designers are so focused on the end result of something rather than the process that it harms them and their ability to get leads and high-paying clients.
Every time we’re designing a client presentation, I tell my team this: if you can’t explain why you’ve done something creatively, then take it away. Without an explanation, it’s all art. We’re not artists; we’re designers - everything we do has to be functional and beneficial to the client. If we can’t explain the how, why and what we’re doing, then the client won’t grasp anything we’re doing and will ultimately fail the entire process.
Case Studies WIN
There’s always so much nuance to the work you upload to your portfolio. Sometimes, the client is unique, and they have unique problems for you to solve. Writing all this nuanced information can be tedious for leads when they only want to view your work. However, writing an intentional case study that is linked within your portfolio page for that client not only helps with SEO to get your portfolio performing but also reveals your unique process and why you could be most suitable for that project. You basically gain trust from the lead to give you that project.
Show Behind The Scenes
They key to an effective portfolio is showing the magic behind what you do, but telling a story of your process. Think of this like packaging a chocolate bar: You could have the best chocolate bar in the world on the shelves in all the major stores, but if the packaging doesn’t stand out or fit your target audience, you won’t sell. The unfortunate truth of the creative industry is that everything needs to be packaged in a way your clients can gravitate towards.
Our portfolio has brought us hundreds of clients, from large companies and brands to small mom-and-pop shops. The reason these clients (especially the larger brands) work with us is because of how we package the end result. We don’t make our portfolio just about the logo at the end, we make the portfolio a story behind the logo. We explain our creative decisions in the language of targeted client base. We wrap our website in the stories of how we got to the final product. This works really well because even if the client lead doesn’t particularly like the end result, they can understand our process and from there will be more likely to work with me than another designer.
So whether you’re a UX Designer, Packaging Designer, or Logotype Designer - package your portfolio in a stories that the client can understand, follow and gravitate towards.
Show Process Images
A practice we’ve started to include not only in our online portfolio but also in our client presentations is showing process shots. The reason behind doing this is because I wanted the client to know how much research, work and time went into creating what they’re about to see within the presentation. Another word for this is “Adding Value”. The easiest (and sometimes most effective) way of adding value is by showing images of you mid-work. This makes the process truly tangible to the client and lead. It allows the client to build a story in their mind, whilst also bringing good brand awareness into your style.
I started by just using my iPhone and Adobe Lightroom to edit the images when bringing them into the presentation, but now I use my Canon 6D Mkii with a 50mm f1.8 lens to add depth and professionalism. We have the added convenience of working in a live studio room with good lighting, however I believe this principle still applies for anyone out there. Even if you’re working on a digital poster, showing lo-fi shots of your drawing out your layout on scrap paper can have the client build a more substantial picture int their mind of the work that’s gone into it.
Always remind yourself that showing your process is beneficial. Switch your mindset from thinking “I’m designing a product” to “I’m creating an experience” and this method should flow a lot better.
