Professional Web Design (eBook)

Creating A Successful Online Portfolio (S. 20-21)

by Sean Hodge

Your portfolio is the showcase of your work, skills and potential for future employers. The more time and effort you dedicate to creating a usable and good-looking design, the higher your chances of getting a better account balance at the end of the month. So how do you make sure your portfolio is better than that of competitors? How do you draw the attention of employers to your work? Creating a successful portfolio is easier than you think. Make it simple and easyto use and hit your objectives, and you’ll end up with a successful portfolio. In this article, we’ll review five pitfalls that plague portfolio designs. Then we’ll cover portfolio tips that, if carefully heeded and executed well, will deliver quality results. Let’s review the common mistakes that designers make to ensure that you don’t fall into one of these traps.

Pitfall #1: Obfuscating

Clarity and focus should permeate your portfolio. Don’t usetwenty words whenseven would do. Push your best content to the front. Where possible, place important content above the fold. Avoid meandering in your language. Dont make the levels of your portfoliotoo deep, but make sure that the section still accomplishes your objectives. Copyblogger has an article that features a simple list of writing tips based on the early 20th-century writer known for cutting out the fluff. See the article Ernest Hemingway’s Top 5 Tips for Writing Well. Hemingway championed short sentences, strong forceful language and clarity: all principles that make for effective writing on the Web.

In the article Creating The Perfect Portfolio, Collis Ta’eed offers portfolio advice from the perspective of a potential employer. The section titled "Get to It" gives reasons for limiting the number of portfolio pieces you present and for makingyour best pieces easy to find. An employer has to review many applicants quickly. You are more likely to make the cut if your best work is prominent. The portfolio of Evan Eckard is an example of a website that promotes hisbest work right on the first page and "gets to it" quickly.

Pitfall #2: Cramming

Information Another pitfall iswanting to say too much in too little space. A balance needs to be achieved in the number of pages users have to click for more information and the amount of information you fit on a page. Be aware of this when constructing your portfolio. The more tightly packed your portfolio, the more likely it will look cluttered. If you do need to put a lot of information on the page, consult the post Grid and Column Designs over on WebDesignerWall. It will give you some great ideas on how to use the grid to your advantage when presenting a lot of information.

Pitfall #3: Overdoing

It You’re less likely to go wrong by keeping things simple and organized. Do this for all areas of your portfolio.Less is more. The more you try to do in your portfolio, the more likely things will go wrong. Showcasing 18 of your services will be less successful than prioritizing a few. Too many types of work or too much work of a single type will likely drown users. They won’t spot those prominent pieces that show how great your work is.