How to wow, Part 2: The graphic design portfolio
Nothing is harder than your first job application process. But in Part 1 of this series on how to impress when you’re applying for a graphic design job I asked Giulia Salvioni, co-founder and co-owner here at Moskito Design, about what has impressed her most in her last decade of hiring for the agency, and what you can do as a young graphic designer to make an impression when submitting your CV.
Now, in Part 2, I’ll share what I learned about some dos and don’ts for putting together an effective portfolio.
Part 2: Curating your portfolio
Think of the agency as your client
If there’s one essential take-away from this whole series, it’s this (from Part 1): Treat your potential employer as your client, and your application as your first project. It bears repeating now, because when it comes to your portfolio, you should imagine it like a proposal submission for a brief in the image of a specific agency you’re applying to.
As Giulia says, “It’s important to ask yourself, ‘What does this agency do?’. If you look at our agency portfolio, it’s clear we do some print work but we work a lot on the web. So if you’ve got good web projects, show them off, because it’s more likely that we’ll be interested in you.”
Show off your strengths
If you’re new to the professional game, you might not have the kind of experience you think they’re looking for. But as Giulia says, sometimes this is less important than you might think.
“Lack of web experience is not a deal-breaker, even when we’re hiring someone to work with specific web-based clients. I love print. At Milan Politecnico my teacher, Antonino Benincasa, taught us that if you love graphic design, you can apply it to paper or the web, and my idea of graphic design is that if you’re good in one area you can become good in another. If the CV is impressive, and there are impressive projects in the portfolio, I’ll call him or her for an interview.”
Cut, cut, cut
Be selective: part of being a good graphic designer is knowing what to cut out.
“In the portfolio, choose your best projects,” Giulia says. “Don’t put in 1000 projects, or the stuff you did when you were a kid (it happens). Choose a few projects, the best ones, and the ones that best represent who you are now. Of course if you have different fields, it’s better, because it shows you have more experience. But in the end the most important thing is to show us the best projects, the ones you believe in.”
A question of style
Young graphic designers may wonder whether their personal style fits with the agency they’re applying to.
But Giulia says that “Style is rarely an issue. Of course, when you work for a big customer you’ve got to learn how to adapt your personal style to the customer. But if we don’t like the portfolio, it’s usually not a matter of style, but because there’s some problem with the design fundamentals.”
Presentation matters
Though this should come as no surprise, it’s important to reiterate that in the portfolio, just like in the CV, presentation matters. Giulia has seen some great young candidates overcome a lack of formal qualifications with a strong portfolio, beautifully presented.
“Make sure your portfolio images are good,” she says, “and big enough to clearly see. If you want to show us a nice flyer but don’t present it well, the risk is that it won’t be fully appreciated. It’s part of how you introduce yourself. It’s better to show off four or five well presented projects than showing a hundred.”
Conclusion
In summary, your graphic design portfolio’s not a child’s end-of-the-school-year art show, with everything you’ve ever done. Rather, think of it as a tiny, private, exclusive art gallery with only one person on the guest list ― the potential employer. In practical terms, that means showing a few clear, well-presented examples of your best work, selected as much as possible with the hiring agency’s portfolio in mind.
And with a great-looking portfolio you’ll be one step closer to landing the all-important job interview, which we’ll discuss in part 3.
