This week on Digital Dialogue, Katelyn and I had the pleasure of sitting down with Yelling Mules amazing designers Emily Dunnigan and Lindsey Clark for our weekly podcast. We covered a lot of things about digital design, but the thing that stuck out the most for us was the importance for designers to have a detailed portfolio. So in this weeks blog post we are going to share what we think are the best aspects of building a digital design portfolio!

Having a perfected portfolio is the first step and way into the professional world. It is simply a visual representation of your best work including visuals that you are proud to show off.

One of the insights that Emily shared the podcast was that any aspiring designer should take chances and create their portfolio while they are still not working full time. It’s important to be creative and do things that you like during this period because once you start working full time clients often dictate the direction of the design.

Although your portfolio may be filled with amazing images, you also want to be able to demonstrate that your designs also solve problems. You should show your work, including prototypes, wireframes, or any visuals that show your abilities. One example that Lindsey gave one of her favorite designers was Chris Doe, here is an example of a page from his portfolio.

As you can see, he is obviously extremely talented and works with some of the biggest brands in the world but the simplicity of his portfolio is amazing. It speaks to the fact that your portfolio is a demonstration of who you are and what you can accomplish. Emelyn Baker from InVision.com wrote that,

“When a designer interviews you, they don’t know what it’s like to work with you… until they do work with you.”

Therefore, the importance of a great portfolio cannot be stated enough. It’s not always easy getting in the door as a designer, so give yourself every leg up on the competition that you can.

Overall, when creating your design portfolio there just a few steps to optimize your page.