How to build a great design portfolio as a student

Living a student life today doesn’t mean only studying. It means balancing college, work, hobbies, family, and many other things. If you try to start your career in any sphere while studying, be prepared to make the most effort. After deciding to start your career in the design sphere, you will need to create a design student portfolio. If you have no idea how to make it, this article is for you. Here we will share the best tips on how to build graphic design portfolio. Let’s get it started!

How to make a graphic design portfolio: Best tips for students

It is possible to create a great portfolio even if you are a design student with little or no experience in this sphere. When you lack time to deal with all this, the first option is to hire someone to write a paper and outsource all the work to someone else. But if you still decide to do it by yourself, we hope that these pieces of advice will be useful for you. We’ve gathered these pieces of advice based on our own experience and from interviews of famous designers. 

1. Choose the quality of projects over their quantity

Don't worry about including each project you've previously worked on in the portfolio. Employers are aware that students may not have the same work to display as designers with more expertise. Instead of packing your portfolio with work you're not proud of, it is preferable to incorporate strong items.

Make the effort to go through each of your projects to select your finest work, even though you might not have a lot of work from which to select. This includes work completed for family, friends, or school.

Spend the time to seek graphic designer work for enjoyment or for a customer if you discover that you do not have sufficient work to build a vast portfolio. Building your student graphic design portfolio might be facilitated by creating goods for friends and family or mock-ups of a beloved item or company.

2. Show not only how you work but who you are

Don’t simply showcase work you can do, give your potential clients something more and hereby make yourself stand out. People want to see you and the uniqueness behind the work you do. For example, try to give some more detail about yourself as a person. It will make your potential clients interested in you as a personality not just in the work you do. This belongs to more creative portfolio ideas for students, but it’s worth giving it a try. 

Your online designer portfolio should highlight all of the abilities, distinctive experiences, and personal attributes that make up your own brand. Even more, options include choosing your own font, tagline, animation, and unique logo design. You can also express your unique sense of style and self in this situation.

This is excellent design practice in addition to giving your portfolio a competitive edge. Try to tell about your approach to the design and write case studies to show how you work. 

Businesses are taking a chance to employ you when you don't have the expertise and seasoned abilities to demonstrate. They employ you depending on your talent and pray that it pays off just as they assist you in developing. Showing them who you are and the way your brain functions can help them see your potential and how you could fit into their team. This is something that your case studies and about page can accomplish.

Create case studies of your projects that detail your thinking process, the decisions you made, and the results. Being a good person who others love working alongside is just as vital as your real skill, so don't be hesitant to express yourself both on this and on your Bio page.

3. Provide some client testimonials

In the realm of freelancing, social proof is quite important. When a potential client hasn't ever contacted you before, testimonials make you appear more reliable. Even though your portfolio is stunning, a customer can choose to work with an individual who has more reviews from actual clients who have worked with him. The demand for design services is growing and if you are just starting out as a freelance designer and haven't collaborated with any clients, think about offering to do some work for free or at a reduced rate in exchange for a recommendation. A solid recommendation yields long-term benefits. 

If it’s possible you can ask your clients to give you testimonials on different freelance platforms, such as Upwork. Testimonials are important to everyone be it the best essay writing service or a freelance designer or copywriter. This is a big plus for you as a candidate for the job. 

4. Pay attention to what your portfolio looks like

As a designer, you need to be able to present your work in the best possible way, so while thinking about student portfolio design, you need to choose an attractive and minimalist style. 

You should be much more careful about how you lead your customers through your work if you don't have a great deal of experience yet. Use a different template if you want to highlight a large grid of projects; otherwise, you'll merely draw attention to what's lacking. Add compelling case studies to your portfolio to give us a deeper understanding of the work you've completed. Do not fudge anything; simply consider the work you are sharing and choose the arrangement that will best highlight it. Imagine if someone types in paper writing service Reddit, what they expect to see on the website page. Think about user expectations and the ways to present your skills in the best way possible. 

You might prefer the big graphics over the dynamic scroll, or horizontal scroll over the vertical scroll. Will users access your portfolio on a computer or a smartphone? See what kind of gallery will work best for your designer portfolio by looking at samples of graphic design portfolios. Seek portfolio ideas for students to take inspiration from. 

5. Taking internships is absolutely OK

When you earned your degree, you might have thought that your internship days were over, but an internship might be the ideal method for getting your foot in the doorway and reputable names on your portfolio. Additionally, it's a fantastic way to add work to your portfolio that you may not have access to as a new employee.

It is your employer's responsibility to train you as an intern. In order to gain exposure, they might include you in a project or conference well beyond your expertise level; you can then include that in your portfolio as a group project.

6. Add contact information to your design portfolio

It is entirely up to the designer whether their portfolio contains a comprehensive bio or just their basic contact details. A thorough biography will help you customize the portfolio and inform clients about your interests, working methods, and priorities. The inclusion of this data in a graphic portfolio is not required, but it is advised. Add your name, email, mailing address, and mobile number, at the absolute least.

7. Create a portfolio according to your career objectives

There are various expertise and different business models available in the broad graphic design field. Your portfolio's work should demonstrate how you plan to advance professionally. Discover the area in which you love, add projects that demonstrate your expertise there, and look for work prospects in that area.

When building their portfolios, he tells students to consider the kind of job they want to accomplish as well as the position they are looking for. If I were hiring for a web design company, I'd tell candidates to provide samples of their digital work. However, you should add relevant work if you are exploring other design fields.

8. Don’t be afraid to take on challenging projects

Many designers used to take just about any project that came their way when they first started out in the field. Many of them also put in a lot of extra time working on side projects for themselves or for others, often for modest pay. One more thing that makes it difficult for young designers (or anyone at the beginning of their career) to find work is the fact that you can't build expertise unless someone offers you work. 

Take control of the situation on your own until they do. Do your best, even with the little things—one side project has the power to transform your life. Significant events come your way as a result. We understand that it can be overwhelming, but if you are really passionate about it, go for it. You never know where the big opportunity comes from.

The final note on the student design portfolio

You should feel rather confident about building a design portfolio at this time after reading each of these graphic design portfolio recommendations. We hope that our pieces of advice on how to make portfolio for students were helpful for you. Keep in mind that it’s all about confidence and passion. 

Even if you lack experience but you are passionate about something, people will definitely notice you. All you need is to make a good presentation of your design skills. For example, it can be in a form of your portfolio. A portfolio is a must-have for any designer and it can make you stand out from other designers in this vast sphere.