Assembling a Portfolio

A portfolio is a must-have for any creative professional. Putting together your portfolio for the first time, or doing a major revamp, can be quite the daunting task. Here's how to plan it out and think it through.

End Use

First, consider your portfolio's intended audience. Are you applying for an academic program, internship, job, or grant? Or is this a display piece for your freelance clients? There may be some “back-end” information that you would include to demonstrate certain skills to a prospective employer which you wouldn't want to share with your clients, such as costing or other proprietary information. If you have a digital portfolio, keep that in mind, lest you inadvertently share business secrets with the less scrupulous of your competitors.

Choosing Concepts

In general, the design portfolio should demonstrate your ability, creativity/imagination, individuality, and trend/market awareness.

Your portfolio should contain a minimum of four concepts/projects. A traditional fashion portfolio tends to emphasize the collection format for each concept. If you've done a lot of freelance/contract work for other companies, each of those could be a presentation. If you're showcasing freelance work done for individuals, you may wish to divide those into categories (cosplay, bridal, waist training, etc) or have a larger quantity of projects, each consisting of a single ensemble or piece, emphasizing the various details thereof.

Don't include too many projects; demonstrate your ability to prioritize and focus. This also keeps your interviewer from getting bored, or your client from missing out on key pieces because they got distracted while flipping through the filler.

The concepts contained in your book will evolve and update. Certain concepts will be more applicable for various companies, clients, or interviews, and as your portfolio grows you may drop older or weaker pieces.

Skills Showcase

Make two lists: one of your existing projects, and one of your skill set. List all your skills, then choose which to emphasize: what are you best at, and what are you most interested in doing? Next, cross-reference your projects with that skill set. Can any concepts be expanded to include more elements? While you don't want to bog your audience down with multiple 30-page presentations, you can reduce overlap between projects and, by extension, the overall size of your book by making some concepts more inclusive and then cutting others entirely. I was recently faced with an interview where I was asked to select a single project from my portfolio to focus on and realized that all of my strongest groups were missing at least one key skill because said skill was so well-represented in other projects. In other words, there was no single concept that demonstrated all of my strongest/target skills (for the job). Luckily, I was allowed to pass around the rest of the projects as well and was received very strongly.

As certain skills and elements will, by necessity, be present in multiple concepts, how do you differentiate them? Use varied layouts and media to present your fabrics, designs, illustrations, and other elements.

A simple rule of thumb for the question, “Is this good enough for my portfolio?” is to ask yourself if you would be comfortable with any given page or project at random being chosen to represent you. If the client or employer opened to or kept a random page from your book, would that page represent your skill level and identity? It's very easy to become attached to each project and find reasons why they're special. If your portfolio is a little heavy, use this guide to help you be ruthless in thinning it out. Also keep track of which concepts tend to receive strong responses as you show your portfolio to first your friends and family and then on interviews and consultations. Weed out or reorder the weaker concepts; the memorable concepts with strong favorable reactions should be placed for maximum impact (but more on that later).

Identity, Versatility, and Accessibility

Balance the ideas of range/versatility and consistency. The marks of amateurish or student work are a feeling of genericism, including ideas that are seemingly innovative but are actually common pit stops on the road of design discovery (tie skirts from Project Runway applicants, anyone?), or a lack of clear point of view with projects that are so diverse, they seem scattered and unrelated.

While the joy of portfolio pieces can be making them as dramatic, detailed, and over-the-top as possible, employers and clients both need to see something accessible to them/their market. How do you bridge the two? Do you have couture and ready to wear versions within the same concept, or do you have certain projects that focus heavily on either end of the spectrum? Though an individual client may ask for a black underbust regardless, or receive an individual design consultation, a prospective employer may simply move onto a candidate they perceive as being more grounded and considerate of practical limitations of manufacturing, cost, and sales.

Introductory Page

You may wish to open your portfolio with an introductory page, similar to the title page at the beginning of a book. This page should be fairly simple while also serving as a representation for the portfolio as a whole. It could be as simple as your logo and name; your layout and use of negative space can greatly improve the impact of this minimal approach. A more illustrative approach is to use evocative imagery for your category and market is a more illustrative approach. Avoid using a specific illustration or design from your portfolio that could date or limit its appeal.

Concept Components

The elements included in each concept, of course, will vary according to your own personal skill set. A classic fashion presentation will launch with a mood board, demonstrating the theme and inspiration for the collection. Even if you're only showcasing a single outfit in a particular project, you'll still likely have specific inspiration elements, and it's important to show the evolution from vague concept to final execution. This shows your vision and ability to take direction.

Next will probably be colors and fabrications, which may take more than one page. Color is a key component to mood as well as brand identity. Corsets and other specialty garments may have more limited fabrications than daywear apparel, so fabrics may not feature as prominently, but designers are very tactile so having physical swatches and samples of fabrics, treatments, and trims garners much more interest and leaves a stronger impression. It's also a demonstration of your ability to source materials and translate idea to reality.

Typically, fully rendered illustrations would come next, then flats or specs (technical drawings), if you've done them. How much you emphasize these will depend on your skill level. Illustrations tend to be universally appealing; good flats are memorable within the industry, more so than with clients. Close with a line-up of all the styles in a collection, reduced to fit on a single page or open spread.

When available and relevant or particularly well-executed, you may also include: a splash page, concept statement, muse page, customer profile, branding elements, physical detail samples or photographs thereof, additional research, production or pre-production info, and/or sketchbook/process excerpts. The latter in particular offers a valuable insight to both employers and clients and can be a good attention-getter. Remember that each page should support the concept at large and is an opportunity to showcase your design sense; even your research and sketches should be shared in a way that fits with the other pages and complements the group. Don't just rip out sketchbook pages or tape them onto another page; take the time to scan or photograph your developmental work and incorporate it into the layout.

For a portfolio that's heavy on custom garments, a more intuitive order may be the same order you used during your process: inspiration, sketching (include fabric swatches here), final garment, detail. Make sure you have your client's permission to use their image and notes, especially if your portfolio will be displayed publicly in your studio or on your website.

Professional Presentation Elements

Aside from the content in each presentation, the basic elements you use to convey it can support the concept and your brand image.

Think professional, polished and clean when assembling boards to keep them from looking like a summer camp project. Design elements should be printed or copied directly onto the page; if you must glue your illustrations on, cut them out very neatly or find a way to incorporate the stacked effect into the design of the page. Use pinking shears, or scotch tape the back of swatches to keep them from fraying; anchor them only along one edge so they can still be handled.

You may choose to incorporate branding elements on each page for either the name of your line, or the collection, or both. The key is to place them unobtrusively in the layout; you don't want to overwhelm the actual design and concept, just serve as a subtle reminder. I will often place branding elements in the background at a low opacity. You can design other objects that support your concept to decorate each page, such as attractive borders or non-figurative illustrations.

Use a high-quality paper for all projects, and if possible, vary the type of paper to suit each concept (always use the same type of paper within a concept, of course). Photo paper, vellum, bristol board, watercolor paper, clear transparencies, decorative papers or borders, edge treatments (ripped vs clean cut), and binding are all options that can contribute to the overall effect of each piece. Consider the delicacy and potential flaws of each option. I once fell in love with a vellum-like plastic paper only to find it would melt when run through a printer. Transparencies need to be backed with an opaque page, though you can use the layering possibilities to great effect. Keep in mind that photo paper and transparencies both show fingerprints; a lightweight paper may buckle or show glue with swatches.

Every concept in your portfolio should be oriented the same way on the page (landscape or portrait). Your viewer shouldn't have to rotate your portfolio while perusing.

Physical Dimensions

Just as each project should orient in the same direction, each project should be on the same size page. This can be frustrating for a design student, as you may be encouraged to experiment with dimensions, binding, and orientation on a project by project basis, or even be required by certain instructors to stick to a set of guidelines. If a project is portfolio-worthy, you may have to entirely re-make the layout to suit the rest of your book.

Ease of use needs to be balanced with impact. Choose a size and orientation that will be easy for you to format, print, carry, and display. Many art papers are available in sizes 9"x12" or 14"x17", but your local printer may not support those formats. Your options then are to reformat your entire portfolio (tedious), print each page onto two standard size pages and join them (unprofessional-looking), or print on oversize pages and cut down to size (expensive and/or time consuming). I recommend either choosing a very common paper size or a size that can be easily cut down from one. Ultimately I settled on 11x17 landscape orientation for my own portfolio, which gives me room to make each element fairly large while still leaving plenty of negative space in my layout.

Presentation Order

The order in which you present your projects affects the overall impression given by your portfolio. You will always want to start and finish with your strongest work, catching the viewer's attention right away and then reinforcing that first impression as you close. The work between, of course, should support the key concepts and provide additional insight. If you have a third concept that's particularly impressive, put it in the middle. If you're very confident about your work, you can also lead with several strong projects, have a couple of lighter ones, and then finish with a final compelling concept.

The content should also flow with a natural rhythm, neither jumping about nor blending together. Your presentation elements as well as the actual content can help differentiate your transitions.

Refer to your list of projects and consider their order, then start spreading them on a large table (or the floor, if you must) to get a sense for your options.

The Portfolio Case

Beyond the portfolio content, there is the physical portfolio itself. Is your portfolio bound or unbound? How do you transport it? Does the paper size you chose fit well in the case?

Professional portfolio cases run easily $50-$100. They are simple and effective, but run the risk of being boring. To spice them up, you can use your DIY skills to style them to represent your design sense, but you run the risk of dating yourself as your aesthetic evolves, or alienating prospective employers. I covered my first portfolio with a red and black plaid silk dupioni, hand stitching it to the woven cover. While a strong statement, the color, motif, and quality resonated well with my overall market, aesthetic, and color identity. Similar portfolios were available with leather or plastic covers, but I chose the woven style specifically so I could re-cover it with relative ease.

Consider repurposing another case or box for portfolio storage. My current portfolio is an 11x17 aluminum clipboard which I originally bought to house a particular project. Vintage briefcases or suitcases make for distinctive cases.

As far as binding goes, your portfolio case may already have binder clips built into it. If not, you can bind each project individually; bind them all together; purchase a separate binder; or leave your portfolio in a loose-leaf format. Personally, I've settled on the loose-leaf format because it makes it easy to reorder and remove projects as needed. If any individual concepts or pages within need to be updated, I don't have to take the entire thing apart to update or correct a small portion. When being interviewed by a group, this also means that each person in the group gets something to look at without having to wait or crowd around.

Secondary Portfolio

A second portfolio is an optional tool to showcase elements that don't work in your primary portfolio. Differentiate this book physically from the primary.

Special skills (hand manipulations, knitting, weaving, embroidery/flossing, fabric treatments, etc) or “fantasy” designs are well suited to a separate, smaller book.

If you chose to populate your primary portfolio with the dramatic showpiece styles to inspire and impress your clients with heavy detailing and innovative problem solving, perhaps you reverse the standard “industry” situation, and maintain a smaller book of simple, classic, ready to wear styles.

Awards, extensive press clippings, charity work, and/or runway participation are well suited to a second portfolio.

Leave Behinds

A leave behind is exactly what it sounds like. It is left with the interviewer as a memento of your interview and portfolio. Keep them with your resume or mail them after-the-fact to refresh the interviewer's memory. Leave behinds are optional, not mandatory. If you go through the effort, try to make your leave behind memorable and decorative, not something that'll get subtly slipped into the recycling immediately. The most common form of leave behind is a single page, between postcard and letter size, double or single sided. You can reduce your portfolio's introductory page or a favorite page from within your book. Depending on your resources, the leave behind can be more complicated. Some ideas are to include tactile dimensional elements on the page or creative packaging, or perhaps a mini-book. It should harken to your portfolio, either as a strong representation of your design identity or a reference to a specific key concept or memorable skill. Make sure your contact info is not only included but easy to find and read.

Digital Portfolio

Creating a digital portfolio is its own beast, deserving of its own article. Depending on your digital design skill level you may well be better off outsourcing to a professional. However, with some basic web design knowledge, you can create a serviceable portfolio website. In my opinion, the most important things to remember are user friendliness and brand identity. Your website should be easily navigable; straightforward with a clean layout. The overall design should convey your aesthetic and design values. Customize each concept page somewhat, but each page should not look like a separate site.

Portfolio Checklists and Finalization

As you work on or update each project, you may wish to keep notes or a chart on its status. Some basic information for such a chart may be: Project name/description; total number of pages; number to correct or update; number complete; notes and comments.

The number of pages is important to keep track of because it tells you not just how long your portfolio is, but if your projects vary comfortably in length, and how much paper you need to print each one.

For the portfolio itself, check off the following:

4+ concepts
Portfolio case
Updated resumes
Business cards
Optional leave behind

Printing

Try to give yourself a solid week or more to get your portfolio printed. In my experience, this tends to be the bottleneck in the process as things go suddenly, unpredictably, and horribly awry. The last thing you want is to be hours or even a day away from an important presentation or interview and find:

your paper won't go through the printer
you don't have enough paper
the print shop has a high volume of orders and won't be able to print your portfolio until the end of the week
the print shop isn't open until after your presentation starts, and has already closed for the day
you forgot you have to hand render some illustrations or affix a few swatches to the presentation after it's printed
you saved the file incorrectly and your PDFs printed with pixellation
you forgot to expand your text before saving the PDF and none of your fonts printed correctly
surprise typos in conspicuous places
your colors aren't printing correctly
your cat thought your portfolio was a perfect bed and crumpled several pages as you were proof-reading it for those surprise typos
etc.

The Final Product

...doesn't actually exist. As mentioned, your portfolio will continually evolve as you create new work. However, with planning, focus, and some willingness to continually hone the fine details, you can craft a book that conveys your work for maximum impact and is a strong foundation upon which you may continually build.

For more detailed reading, you may wish to check out Portfolio Presentation for Fashion Designers by Linda Tain.