How To Put Together A Graphic Design Portfolio Online

A portfolio is simply a method of presenting your work to an audience, this audience my be potential clients, employers, tutors or just friends. 

You should note that a Portfolio doesn't just present your work, but it presents yourself too. A clean, well designed portfolio will give a good impression about you. It helps to style the portfolio around your own design style. 

Firstly, you have to establish how to present your work and this in turn depends on your intentions. For example, someone who wants to show their lunch-time doodles and scraps will have different ideas on presentation than someone who creates oil paintings that take months or years to make.

Where are you going to display it? As this guide suggests, you want it to be viewable online, but a deviantART gallery is technically a portfolio. Generally, it is more professional to have your own website, but having or linking to creative or social sites isn't uncommon or unprofessional if you do it properly.

Remember: There is no right or wrong, but if you choose a method of presentation that is too 'busy' or complicated, then people aren't going to stick around and view your work. Get your foot in the door and show some thought-provoking thumbnails that make them want to view your work. You need to sell yourself.

Artists have more control, they can portray their work however they prefer. They can simply display their art in full on a page (or in a scrolling box). They can even simply list as links (that link to full size images), this practice is frowned upon for designers, however.

A designer should display a reasonably sized thumbnail of each individual design piece, which in turn links to a full sized version. You can get it to open up in a light-box quite easily (an Ajax pop-up window). Thumbnails can be proportionally scaled down, or you can crop an image to view the most interesting part (or provocative area).

Standard sized thumbnails are usually prefered as they are easier to work with and style (using CSS), and of course it allows for unity, it doesn't add unintended emphasis to any one piece of design.

Each piece should also contain a caption or description where you can fill in the date, the client or how it was made.

So you now may have decided how you want to present it, but now you have to choose how you will create your website/portfolio.

You could code it from scratch using HTML and CSS (and even PHP if you are educated in that area), you could hire someone else to do it (there are plenty of job boards and people willing to do it), you could find some scripts and open source galleries or you could use a CMS ('Content Management System').

My personal preferred CMS is WordPress, it can be easily modified and adapted to suit your needs (though some knowledge of web coding is necessary). You can always pay for a premium WordPress theme aimed at designers (or artists). Natively, however, WordPress is a blogging platform, so do not be afraid to look around.

WordPress includes a gallery system which you can style, but there are many plugins available too.

If you are an artist, you may want to try out Indexhibit, although designers may also like the idea.

You need an 'About' page which explains all about your, who you are, what you do and your work. Include contact information, or preferably, include that on another page entitled 'Contact'. 

You should provide clear and easy ways for people to contact you, such as a contact form. However, you should provide more than one way (for example; contact form, email, telephone, instant messaging, VOIP, Twitter, social networking, address etc).

Don't get cocky, do not try to overindulge on your website and include anything and everything, you're trying to sell yourself, and most importantly, you are trying to sell a service or product you provide (i.e. design or selling prints), focus on this.

You will need to include positive testimonials, quotes or stories. You need to ask permission before you quote people. If you do not have any, then get some, even if this means doing free work in exchange for testimonials. These can go on the 'About' page, the homepage or you can create a 'Hire' page if you're offering a service.

An online portfolio may be important but an offline portfolio is just as great. You will, one day, need an offline portfolio.

It is good to keep a 'master portfolio', this is simply a presentation case or folder with the original works in protective sleeves (or at least high quality prints). Include captions and information. You should keep this, do not send this out in the mail.

You should also have a print-version (one you can create duplicates of and send them out without having to worry about not getting it back) and If possible, consider creating a Media Kit.

A Media Kit is essentially a fancy portfolio. It includes a portfolio book, but also other things such as business cards, postcards, stickers or even badges, magnets, CD's and anything you can afford to put in there. Only send Media Kits to prospective clients, otherwise you'll just lose money.  

It's nice having a portfolio, but what is the point if no one is going to see it?

Advertise wherever you can (and not just in the online world). Get business cards printed, tell your friends, use social networking such as Facebook, Twitter and whatever else you can use.

Blogs bring traffic, consider having an integrated blog on your website (if you chose WordPress, then you're set). Write consistently, write well and be punctual. A sporadic blog won't attract as one who posts a set amount of posts within a set amount of time (i.e. one post per day).

Find and comment on other peoples blogs, find forums and websites where you can discuss design (or art) and share your links.

Consider affiliation or link swapping schemes with friends, email designers and artists you like etc.

Take up every opportunity to advertise yourself.

No, that is never it. But you can now use your gained knowledge to get cracking on that portfolio. 

Remember: Share with other freelancers, learn from others and mentor those newer than you. You could always write blog articles or hubs! We are all in this together, we can always learn from each other.