10 Steps To Your Designer Portfolio Case That Works

10 Steps To Your

Designer Portfolio

Case That Works

A good portfolio case for a designer is a great investment. You do it once, and it keeps bringing you clients for years. But it often becomes the opposite - a waste of time that fails to show the designer's expertise.

Here are 10 effective steps that will make sure your portfolio cases work.

1. Define your target audience.

What kind of clients do you want to attract with your portfolio? Try to think about what is important for them when choosing the designer. If you skip this step, your might create a portfolio that is meaningless for clients you want to work with. Remember that your clients don't just want a pretty logo, but there is always a business problem they are solving by hiring you. Your portfolio needs to convince them that you understand this and are capable of performing the task.

2. Plan the structure.

A good portfolio needs to follow a clear structure so that it's easy to understand what your case is about. STAR is one of the best structures for a designer portfolio because it doesn't just show the end result. But it lets your clients understand what stands behind it and why:

S – situation. Describe what was your client’s problem, goals, and why they needed a designer.
T – task. Talk about your tasks, and what were your objectives.
A – actions. Go over your actions, describe bottlenecks, and how you solved them.
R – result. Show your designs and tell about the business outcomes for the client.

3. Get inspiration from the best.

Many portfolio cases end up dull and don't stand out from the crowd. But you want to amaze your clients, right? That is why before starting your work do some research and see what amazes you. Don't copy the same structure and style everyone else has. Instead, find inspiring examples that can give you creative and unique ideas: Here are some examples:

Evolving the Google Identity
Building SoundCloud
Virgin America
Amazon Prime
XAPO
Getting 15,000 Uber drivers on the road

4. Cover and design.

You only have 5-7 seconds to capture the attention. So, your cover will decide if anyone is ever going to see the rest of the case. These are the elements of a good cover:

Short catchy headline.
1-2 sentences telling what the case is about and why the reader should care.
Elements of your actual design. But a cover is not simply a screenshot. You can use a device mock-up, contrast background, or other design elements to make the cover appealing.

5. Visual storytelling.

Your portfolio case should be telling a story to the reader. We've defined its structure in step two. Now you need to make your story live and exciting so that the reader is eager to see how it ends. In order to do it, alternate an overview design block, with a short text, then use an animation, or show the user some macro elements in a closer enlarged view. And don't make it too long, the optimal length is between 15 000 - 20 000 pixels.

6. Find something unique.

Your goal is to make the client remember your case after they've looked at a dozen similar ones, especially in the same niche. So, try to come up with something new and interesting for your portfolio. If you are stuck, go back to step 3 or look across other industries.

7. Details matter.

Point out the details that were specific to this case. For example, there was a rare challenge and how you solved it, or talk about a novel approach or solution you are really proud of.

8. Don't show everything.

It's a bad idea to put every single screen of your design to the portfolio. If you've designed 20 web pages, for example, you can use the number to show the extent of work you did, but don't make the reader scroll through all of them. Define the most vital project parts and put accents on them.

9. Add text.

Images only are not enough because a portfolio case is not just an assortment of screenshots. Write descriptions that will make the project story complete and help the reader understand what value your work brought to the client's business.

10. Finish it well.

If the reader liked your case enough to reach the end, it's good, but not enough. Now it's time to get the wow-effect and make sure they contact you as soon as they close the case. You can use a video of the whole finished project with nice music and don't forget to add a call to action at the end.

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