Best Tips to Create
A Digital Portfolio
That Stands Out
Haseeb Jangda- February 23, 2021
Who needs a digital portfolio and how do you make one?
Digital portfolios aren't just for artists, and can, in fact, be as beneficial as a resume or cover letter for most!
Follow XL Pro's steps to curate a digital portfolio guaranteed to catch the eyes of bust hiring managers:
To Start
Write out a summary of your goals and accomplishments. All information you include in your portfolio should be outlining details of your work, goals, and strengths to create a story of all professional experiences. You will then need to select your strongest pieces. Research suggests that seven to ten samples can easily help you shine to others, but eight is the lucky number!
Visuals
Organization: If this is your first digital portfolio, avoid clashing colors. If you have a lot of colorful pieces, work on arranging and filtering through them individually to coincide. Industry professionals will usually display the best work only, but if you are just starting out, focus on chronological order.
Message: Make sure that your work represents your unique style without going overboard – unless the company you are applying for matches the style. An optional study says to tailor your portfolio in semi-neutral palettes, if possible, to maintain an overall professional and fresh look while also showcasing your latest work.
Legibility: Captions should be clear and detailed. Have friends, family, or Grammarly double-check your work.
Creative: Even if you are not an artist, you can stand out from other candidates with a visual presentation of the work you do with colorful charts! Always think outside the box!
Relevance
While your work should be a mix of personal style and professionality, you will also need to consider targeting specific industries of interest and relevance.
Industry: For example, if you are someone who has multiple degrees or workplace preferences you will want to be sure your published work reflects on those industries of your interest. (Hospitality, Legal, Technology, or other… Etc.)
Relevance: Placing your work chronological order is a great technique to show your latest pieces. There are other methods, but chronological is common for business professionals and entry level artists.
Captions: While your work should be visually appealing, more importantly, your portfolio should contain an overall brief study alongside successful projects you’ve worked on within your captions.
Functionality
The most important stressor about creating a digital portfolio is functionality, it should be priority number one next to having a backup copy of your work. Have a friend or family member test run through your portfolio.
Tips to WOW
Depending on where you are applying, there will likely be a lot of applicants, and even if there isn’t, it never hurts to go above and beyond to learn new tricks along the way, so you will need to dress to impress, figuratively speaking.
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Professional videos to stand out
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Add animation if appropriate and relevant
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Utilize your designs for other platforms (Having some repetition creates familiarity and can open more opportunities)
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Have a recognizable theme to your work (This can be a great tool to getting noticed, but not always necessary!)
Sources
What are the best tools that are free to use?
JournoPortfolio – Free up to ten designs.
Crevado – Quick to set up and free to use
Microsoft PowerPoint – Free to use.
Morpholio – Free to use
Fabrik – 14 day free trial (NO credit card sign up required), $5 per month after