Intro to Portfolios
We work tirelessly as Architects to design projects to be proud of, projects that inspire others.
The last phase of a project’s design life isn’t when it’s turned over, it’s when a project has been documented and shared with people who may never even step foot there.
Portfolios catalog and showcase these projects and tell the story of your career through pictures, sketches, diagrams, and text.
Q: Why do we need to have a portfolio? How can we leverage a portfolio to push our careers forward? What are the best practices for developing a robust and effective portfolio?
Originally written as a three-part essay series entitled, The Definitive Guide to an Epic Architecture Portfolio, each Part that follows will guide you through the process of how to successfully build your portfolio from the ground up.
A word of caution. Clocking in at over 10,000 words, this essay is admittedly a bit more Epic than your average introduction to Portfolios. That said, I hope you enjoy the ride as we move through this grand adventure together.
For convenience, you can click on the Parts below to fast-forward you ahead.
Find Your Purpose — This Part focuses specifically on laying the foundation for your portfolio. It will help us define the reasons why we're creating the portfolio in the first place and the initial steps we can follow to make sure your portfolio is a triumph.
Develop Your Content Strategy — This Part identifies the ways in which we can build the framework of our portfolio. It breaks down our options for organizing our content and the ways in which we can better streamline our stories through the portfolio.
Produce Your Epic Portfolio — This Part breaks down the strategies we can implement to finalize our portfolio and make it real. It will help us determine the final medium for showcasing our work. It will also feature how to use industry-standard software to create successful production workflows for our portfolio.
Part I — Find Your Purpose
Portfolio 101
Whether you're looking for a new job, a new college, or a career change within the profession of architecture, your portfolio will be one of the most important tools you’ll have to establish who you are and what you’re about.
But don't let that scare you.
An Architecture Portfolio is simply a document that conveys your professional story through imagery, text, composition, and format. You can learn a lot about yourself in the process of creating a portfolio, just as you can understand more about your peers if know how to “read” theirs.
A portfolio is nothing if not personal.
A good portfolio will justify why it exists, but a great portfolio will introduce someone to who you are.
Like people, portfolios come in all shapes and sizes. They can be completely digital, completely analog, or some combination of the two. The requirements you have for your portfolio may radically change for each reason you need one.
A human resources department at a firm may require a digital-only submission through an online portal. An advisory board at a University may insist upon a physically-bound book.
Here we'll take a closer look at just what it means to build a portfolio that matters and how to do so. If you're seeking the path to an epic portfolio that will help you navigate your career goals, you've come to the right place.
Step 1 — Identify Your Why
Why do we need a portfolio?
This may seem like a simple question, but we can’t ignore it. Our answer for why we need to create a portfolio in the first place is critical for every choice that follows.
The answer will provide the foundation for our portfolio. Every image, every line, every word will be dictated by our purpose. Otherwise, we'll end up with a portfolio that will be disjointed and clumsy—something glaringly apparent to our portfolio’s audience.
So, what's your answer?
If you're not sure, here are 4 common reasons we might have to create a portfolio.
1. Professional Growth
Whether we're looking for a new job or establishing a body of work for new opportunities in our career, a portfolio can establish our skill set, professional interests, and extracurricular endeavors. The portfolio can quickly identify for an employer if we have the necessary skills they require us to have for the position in question.
Examples:
First Job
Changing Jobs
Job in Academia
Annual Review
LinkedIn Integration
2. Academia
Especially in the architectural profession, a portfolio is almost always a requirement when starting a new program at a college or university.
Depending upon the level we're applying for (undergraduate, graduate, PhD), the specific requirements may vary. However, a portfolio of work is a key document that will establish for an academic institution whether or not we present a good fit for that program.
Examples:
Undergraduate Applications
Graduate School Applications
PhD Program Applications
Proposals
Scholarships
Grants
Awards
3. Record-Keeping
Even though we're fairly confident all of our work is as clear in our heads today as the day we created it, that’s not always the case. A portfolio can be a fantastic way to avoid the disappointment of forgetting those details by cataloging our projects in one location.
This can work in our benefit for two key reasons:
The portfolio creation process pushes us to organize our work in a coherent way.
The very fact that we have a portfolio will allow us to adapt to unforeseen situations (job loss, award submission, or recommendation).
Examples:
Archive of Past Work
Format Current School Work
Experiment with Presentation
Learn How to Make a Portfolio
Present a Single, Important Project
4. Personal Storytelling
Does your Grandma know what you do? I bet she does, but she also likely doesn't have the technical background that you do as an Architect and a Designer.
Our portfolio can be an easy way to explain to others outside the profession what you actually do for a living.
Think coffee table book. This type of portfolio can provide a straightforward look at work regardless of professional background. It relies primarily upon photographs, diagrams, and sketches to translate complex ideas into simple ones.
Examples:
Something to how relatives and friends
Coffee table version of our work
Record of our career achievements or milestones
While there are undoubtedly more reasons for us to create a portfolio, these are among the most relevant.
However, do not go any further in this process until you've identified what your personal reason for creating a portfolio is.
Whether one or a combination of multiple ideas above, a clear purpose for the portfolio will be necessary for us to make more nuanced design and production choices later.
Step 2 — Target the Right Audience
Who are We Creating This For?
If you think about it, the audience we're gearing the portfolio towards is most likely a direct corollary to our purpose for making it in the first place.
For example, a future boss might look at a professional portfolio. A professor may look at an academic one. We may be the only ones interested in the portfolio for our own records. Our friends and family may be “wow’d” by a personal portfolio.
So if it's that simple, why do we even need to talk about this? It's straightforward enough, right?
No. No, it's not.
All Audiences are Not Created Equally
Take a look at your options again.
If you were to say, interview for a job at a small, boutique firm that specializes in high-end residential work, you probably wouldn't use that same portfolio for an interview with a commercial developer looking to build up their in-house architecture staff.
See what I mean?
We can't generalize when it comes to the audience. In fact, it's quite possible that we may end up with entirely different versions of our portfolio when we're done for the same general purpose. Some variations may be small, others may be large dependent on the variations in audience.
Another example. Say that we're just starting our career. We need a portfolio for admission to a college/university.
But wait, we haven't even spent a day in studio yet! Gasp!
Don't worry, our portfolio doesn't have to be at the same level as a recent graduate from that program. [Hint: that’s why you’re going to school!] Rather, that portfolio would more likely to focus on the work we did in before college in High School (or equivalent) with an emphasis on our ability to draw or create.
Even then, the first type of academic portfolio is nothing like something that would be submitted for admission into a Masters or PhD program. Extended study assumes that we’ve built up a series of projects related to our field of interest. Then, there would likely be something specific about the program being applied to that would, like different jobs, require specific types of work to be emphasized over others. We would need research projects that speak to our intended, specialized study.
The audience evaluating a Doctoral candidate’s portfolio is clearly using different metrics and criteria than those used to measure success for an Undergraduate program. I doubt that we'll find an academic board in the world holding us to those types of standards before we’ve obtained an Undergraduate degree.
How Do We Know Who the Audience Is?
As a way to establish our audience, imagine a person (as best you can) that represents who we'll be speaking to. If we know of the actual person in real life, think of them.
Identify an actual human-being that will review our work. In the end, they could be very different in personality, tastes, and preferences, but they'll be more apt to understand how we're speaking to them because it's a manner they are familiar with.
Knowing who we will gear your portfolio to is the next step we need to complete before moving forward. Take some time and write down their description noting details related to their position and influence. After we’ve done that, we can begin to think about how to talk to them.
Step 3 — Establish Tone
You are You, Not Someone Else
At the end of the process, our portfolio must still reflect who we are. Now that we've established who we are writing to, begin to consider how we will address them. Just because there are general rules and suggestions regarding how to build your portfolio, that doesn't mean that our personalities should be brushed aside for something robotic and emotionless.
What kind of person are you? Or better yet, what kind of personality are you trying to convey through the presentation of your work?
Here's an example.
The Summer I Made My First Portfolio From Scratch
The Summer before I submitted my applications to Undergraduate architecture programs, I knew that I hadn't really been one of the “artistic” kids in High School. Sure I loved sketching and drawing, but they weren't something I pursued in formal classes. I usually found myself sketching in the spare corners of my notebooks from math, science, and history.
When it dawned on me that the doodles from calculus probably didn’t scream “Future Architect,” I had a minor panic attack.
I took a breath and considered what to do about it.
I wasn't going to have elaborate watercolor paintings, anatomy sketches, or sculptures to add to my portfolio like I had seen in the examples I found online. Rather, I knew that my best bet was to present my personality.
I experimented with my skills and ended up with pieces that represented my favorite things at the time—Star Wars, video games, rock music, cartoons, and history. I know, quite the eclectic set of themes.
I didn't worry about what wouldn't be in my portfolio. Instead, I made sure that every piece spoke to something about me. Each was in a style that tested my abilities and even helped me get better. By the end of the Summer, I not only had a fantastic portfolio (for a High School student), but I had created a portfolio that could only come from me.
In early Fall, I was required to meet for interviews at some of the universities I was applying to. I distinctly remember showing my portfolio to one of the professors, describing each piece to him one at a time. I didn't hesitate. I could explain each with great detail because I had considered what each had meant to me and my reasoning for including them.
Shortly thereafter, I ended up going to that Bachelor’s program for 5 years, in part, because of that portfolio. I had created something that had a unique voice and story to tell—mine. It wasn't the usual fare they were used to seeing. But then again, that might have been why it was so successful.
Tone and Personality Will Help You Stand Out
Establishing the tone of our work begins with knowing who we are as people. Do you have certain design tastes? Is there a word or a phrase that can describe your personality succinctly?
If you're worried that you can't be yourself, think about your portfolio in more abstract terms for a moment.
We should still maintain good grammar, spelling, and the absence of swearing, but our portfolio should speak to the types of people we are beyond the work.
In many cases, the person on the other end won’t be able to meet you in person beforehand.
We should treat our portfolio as an extension of ourselves. We have the opportunity through design to explain to someone else what we're all about, what is important to us, and why they should care.
Give them that reason to care.
You are you.
Step 4 — Research, Research, Research
Find Precedents That Speak to You
After we've established what the portfolio is for, who it's for, and what makes us unique, it's time to search for precedents that speak to our intentions. I wouldn't recommend researching examples prior to this step. If we preemptively research precedents, it could confuse the message we're trying to send to the audience.
Where to Find Design Precedents
You may have noticed that it can be difficult to find a 1:1 example of a portfolio precedent. There's a really good reason for that.
It doesn’t exist.
It doesn't exist because we haven't created it yet. A successful portfolio is so specific to the person it represents that what we actually need to find are precedents that properly organize and present information.
Here are a few places to search for precedents that could help us identify design options for our portfolio.
1. Behance
A company of Adobe, Behance is a showcase site that lists individual projects by creatives in everything from architecture to graphic design, animation, drawing, advertising, and more. If it's a profession based primarily in creative work, you'll be able to find it here. I would recommend this as the first place to start. Behance allows us to search by categories and can reach specific results quickly.
2. Issuu
Issuu is an online publication service geared towards the open syndication of online magazines and similar formats. Search for “architecture portfolios” to start.
3. LinkedIn
Somewhere we may not naturally have thought to look is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a professional social networking platform that allows us to connect with other professionals inside and out of the profession. Its modular profile builder also allows us to incorporate our portfolio directly into our profiles.
If we're looking to compare our portfolio to someone else's, we should consider researching our peers' profiles to see if they've already uploaded one. We could look to professionals who are a bit more experienced for their portfolios as well for inspiration.
4. Architecture Books / Magazines
As a designer, I'm fairly certain that we each have accumulated a lot of architecture publications over the years (probably more than we'd care to admit).
Dust off those books, those magazines we only flipped through once or twice (because they were cool of course), and really try to understand the big-picture composition styles and layouts. Some great examples that come to mind are Dwell, Architect, Architectural Record, and Metropolis.
If you're searching for books, the ones that catalog an Architect or firm's overall body of work will often be filled with great examples as well.
5. College Career Services
When I was working towards my undergraduate degree, I had a fantastic, career services department at my disposal. Some physical copies of portfolios and thesis books were archived in the architecture department's library.
All students were given opportunities to create resumes and portfolios with the help of faculty. Resumes and sample pages were then compiled online for reference and for possible job interviews held at the school.
Reach out to your alma mater and find out what they might have as reference. Remember, they want us to be successful because it will help to heighten the overall image of the school.
6. Peers / Colleagues
Do you know anyone in your situation? I bet you do—friends, fellow students/graduates, colleagues. Why not find out if they have a portfolio of their own that you could look at?
You could even offer to show them yours once it's completed. This is your opportunity to have to meet up with that friend you’ve been meaning to. Buy them lunch or coffee and see if they’d be willing to give you feedback.
7. Look for Something That Goes “Vrrrooom!”
This may surprise you, but in many ways, we'll actually be better off not looking for an “architecture” precedent at all.
I know, you might be a bit confused right now. Why would I give us a bunch of resources only to suggest not looking for architecture portfolios?
It comes down to something fairly simple. If we look too hard at what everyone else is doing, we could end up on someone else's path—not ours.
Remember, this is about our portfolio. We want every detail to feel like it's our own.
That doesn't mean forget research altogether. Instead, take a look outside the industry.
A professor I had in college used to love gathering car brochures from local dealerships and use them as inspiration for composition, tone, and layout. I always thought that was a clever way to look at precedents without overloading oneself with just architecture.
Think about it for a second. Car manufacturers spend ungodly amounts of money every year, every quarter, every month to sell us their cars, their trucks, their SUVs, and their services.
I'm not talking about those cheesy-as-hell advertisements that you see on the highway or on your TV either. I'm thinking of the brochures and handouts they won't let us leave without.
Their advertising agencies have graphic designers lining up to “wow” us. Let them.
Take what you can from their brochures, their pamphlets, their postcards. Imagine that each car they want to sell us is another project from your archive.
They can't wait for us to test drive the latest dream on four wheels and we should feel the same way about the work we present when it appears in your own portfolio.
8. Good Old Google
If we run out of inspiration from all of the other sources, try searching Google for these key terms:
Editorial Design
Brochure Design
Pamphlet Design
Portfolio Design (emphasizing non-architecture results)
Step 5 — Set the Plan
Set Your Portfolio Goals
So now that we've established what and who you're portfolio is for, defined our intended tone, and begun to understand our options, we need to start laying out the goals we want for the final product.
What Does Your Portfolio Mean to You?
There’s probably a strong reason you have to create the portfolio in the first place. If you could put into words what this portfolio would mean for you, what would they be?
What do you want your portfolio to do for you specifically?
Are you expecting your portfolio to tell your story without you being in the room?
Does your portfolio need to speak to a side of yourself that is difficult for you to convey?
Should your portfolio explain ideas you've yet to realize in previous projects?
Is your portfolio simply a record of what you've done?
Is your portfolio something more?
How Long Do You Have to Make Your Portfolio?
Have you thought about the time it will actually take to create a portfolio?
As Architects, we tend to underestimate the amount of time it will take to actually perform a task. This is especially true in our early careers before we’ve learned better.
We've deemed ourselves as the keepers of time. I don't know why we assume that the time will be what it is, but somewhere along the line, most of us gave into this mindset.
So, what will it take us to make one measly portfolio? It can't be that long, right?
Well, ever since my last portfolio expedition, I've always thought up a reasonable number… Then I doubled it.
30 hours you say? No, now it's 60! Ha!
It’s difficult to say for sure. Unfortunately, it all depends upon three factors:
When do we need it by?
How good do we want the overall quality to be?
How much content do we have to work with readily available?
If planned ahead properly, then the first factor becomes irrelevant. But I'd guess since we’re making a portfolio for the first time, we only have a limited amount of time to work with here. Our quality may suffer, but we could still get the job done efficiently.
If we have a lot of content to work with, the time it will take us to construct a decent portfolio will go down. If we only have a single project to work with, but it's well-realized, we could still be okay.
If we have no time, no work to speak of, and we don't care about the quality, we may want to re-evaluate. Otherwise, everything is probably manageable.
If you still feel the need to assign a value to it, I would recommend at minimum assuming 30 hours (aka 60 hours) from start to finish for a decent portfolio that is digitally based.
We need to assume time for brainstorming, research, layout, copywriting, publishing, as well as time that will inevitably go to nothing more than that wonderful time sink known as “loss of focus.”
Plan out the intended schedule as we would for a design project and block out specific periods of time (2-3 hours minimum) that we can completely dedicate ourselves to.
If we need it immediately, the final result may not be quite what you dreamed of, but listing out the actual time will at the very least help us deal with the looming deadline.
Find Your Purpose
Congrats! You’ve completed the initial steps necessary for a strong portfolio.
Now we can move onward to the second phase of this process—the actual design and layout of our portfolio.
Before you move forward to Part II, make sure you’ve completed all 4 Steps from Part I:
Step 1 — Identify Your Why
Step 2 — Target the Right Audience
Step 3 — Establish Tone
Step 4 — Research, Research, Research
Step 5 — Set the Plan
Part II — Develop Your Content Strategy
Portfolio 102
First, we discussed the importance of defining your portfolio's purpose. We can't be successful without a thorough understanding of who our audience is, what they expect, and how to relate to them as ourselves.
But that's only the beginning.
With a strong foundation to work from, we can now move forward to the next steps in pursuit of a well-designed portfolio.
Here we'll establish the overall look of our portfolio, we’ll choose the specific content to be showcased, and we’ll identify the best practices to organize everything into one coherent package.
This is the fun part (not that the first Part wasn't fun). Rather, we’re at the main course—the “meat and potatoes” of how to build an epic portfolio.
We'll discuss at length the content, layout, and graphic choices available as we work towards a final product.
Here we go.
Step 1 — Gather All of Your Work
Reaching Into the Archives
Before you can actually start working on your portfolio strategy, you need to bring together everything you can from your past work. Remember that project you did four years ago? It might be good to see if you even have it still. Hopefully you've been more than diligent in your archiving so that locating it won't be an issue at all.
I've learned the hard way a few times in my life that a good archive is one of the most difficult things to maintain, but also one of the most important. Aside from the knowledge you gain in the process of working through a design problem, the record of that process is the only thing you have to show for all of your work.
Especially when you're still in school, it's extremely easy to crash after the long push toward a final review. You forget to take photos and realize later that the model you poured over 60 hours into is sitting atop a huge landfill somewhere downstate. Not that I speak from experience or anything.
Don't be that joker.
So, regardless of how organized you are, get what you have together digitally or otherwise. Then, sit down with a piece of paper and something to write with. Just start listing each project you have something to show for. Simple right?
Don't worry too much about what you don't have. This quick exercise is only meant to identify what you do.
As you go, try and keep these three ideas in the back of your mind:
The completeness of the project
The effort required to bring so-so projects up to par
The project(s) that speak the most to who you are
Now that you've scoured through a backlog of past projects, you can begin the vetting process.
Step 2 — Select Your Portfolio’s Theme
What Types of Projects Should You Show?
Ideally, we want to show the projects that speak the most to our intentions.
If you're trying to work for a high-end residential firm, you'll want to show the best home designs you have. If you're trying to get into a graduate program, you'll want to show academic projects that reflect a level of investigation that will “wow” reviewers.
In general, there are three primary types of projects that we can show in our portfolio:
The Star
The Support
The Surprise
1. The Star
This is the best, most complete project you've ever done. As you move through your career, this project will undoubtedly change from one project to another as you gain more experience. But the Star project will always represent the very peak of your overall skill-level and innovation.
2. The Support
This type of project varies and acts as a complementary look into your experience. It’s not the project that you would put at the top of your list, but it’s something that you’re proud you worked on because of something you achieved or learned.
These are the “good,” but not “great” projects. Lean on a few of these from your archive to fill out the rest of your portfolio. With a little bit of help, you could even add some more diagrams, sketches, or even renderings to elevate their presentation.
3. The Surprise
This project is often the most revealing of a person's identity. That’s because this project can relate to both architecture and to some other kind of interest outside of the profession.
An example of this could be a piece of furniture that you designed and fabricated for yourself, a book you designed as a side project, or work you did for a local community effort.
Note that these three types don’t necessarily imply a level of technical ability per say, but rather levels of personal focus in your career thus far.
Step 3 — Determine Your Portfolio’s Length
How Many Projects Do You Need to Show?
As with everything discussed to this point, planning how many projects we should show in our portfolio depends entirely upon the type of portfolio we're creating and for whom.
While that may seem fairly obvious, we must use the best projects we have to convey our intent. If you only have one available, then use that single project to the fullest extent possible.
Ultimately, it may be more than enough and here's why.
One Project to Rule Them All
In early 2015, I began looking for a new architecture job. I had been at my then firm for about 7 years and needed a change of scenery.
A few years prior, I had been given the reigns to a shiny, new project when the original project manger suddenly left for a job at another firm. I had been working on that project with him as a Designer and then took over as Project Manager shortly after he departed.
That role shift was a turning point in my career.
Up until that time, I had been in the trenches, working with the Design Team and the Client to develop a multi-million dollar renovation at a local college. When the chance was given to me to take over, I jumped at the opportunity.
Over the next several months, I helped develop the project into something fantastic. I was able to exponentially increase my experience level, while at the same time, contribute to the design quality and success of the project overall.
This one project is a significant reason why I was able to quickly receive offers from other firms in the community.
Why?
It represented all of the management, design, and detailing skills I needed to succeed in a new position. I could talk about it at length and be proud of what I had accomplished. That kind of confidence, oozing out of every pore, really shows when you convey it to your audience.
In June 2015, I started a new job, forever grateful for that single, epic project.
Side Note: I discuss this story from another point of view in “Intro to Networking.” Sometimes a portfolio isn’t about pretty pictures as much as establishing a base from which you can convey your experience in an interview. During my interview for the job described above, I didn’t even open the portfolio until the very end. I simply used it to rehearse what I wanted to talk about and the story I told did the heavy lifting from there.
Show Your Knowledge Distributed Over Several Projects
Not everyone has that breakout project “to rule them all,” but our portfolio as a whole should still strive to prove a similar level of confidence in our abilities (with a touch of humility, please).
In many ways, the right number of projects depends entirely upon how many it takes you to convince your audience of who you are and what you want to do next in your career. It could be one project. It could be several projects that tell the story from different points of view.
On average, you shouldn't have more than five projects because too many projects could cause your audience to lose focus.
Knowing exactly how many projects to show will depend upon three factors:
How much content you already have
What you are trying to convey
Your personal style
If you can say everything you need to in three projects, do it in three. If you feel that you need to show six because that last project will really help you stand out, consider doing so. But, don't force projects into your portfolio because your Ego told you to.
Just because you have lots of stuff, that doesn't mean you need to (or even should) show it all. At some point, adding projects for the sake of adding them can come across as vain and self-serving.
Your goal should be to send a clear, confident message that doesn’t leave your audience feeling uncomfortable.
Step 4 — Develop an Overall Hierarchy
What Order Should You Place the Projects In?
You have to tell the story of who you are through your portfolio. There are many ways to tell that story, but let’s discuss some of the most common ones.
Story Structure
Think of how story structure from your favorite books, movies, and TV shows.
How do they pull it off? They bring you into and through the story, guiding your attention until the credits roll.
There’s almost always a three-act structure to story-telling: a beginning, a middle, an end.
It’s our job to captivate the audience from the first moments they experience our work. We’ll guide them through our explorations and leave them with a sense of who we are and why they should care.
When you hand off your portfolio to someone else, how does it read?
Is it in chronological order?
Is there a clear link between projects based on typology, level of completion, or some other factor?
What is the balance between your work?
Does your work build up toward the last project?
The Importance of the Star Project
Regardless of whether you have one or several projects at your disposal, there is sure to be one that stands out above the rest. In almost every scenario, this should be the project that you lead with.
Why?
Simple—we want to “wow” your audience right out of the gate.
Whether we present our work in front of them or they review it separately, our portfolio has to grab their attention immediately in order to prevent the work from becoming stale or the same as everyone else's.
Consider that our audience is most likely looking at other portfolios than just ours. I know. I'm sorry, but it's true.
Do you want to show them more of the same? Or do you want to leave such an impression that you're their only real choice?
For now, don't worry if some of the other projects are a bit less developed.
The first impression left with the audience is the key to success of a portfolio. We can use the “support’ projects to fill out the rest of the portfolio or add a “surprise” project to reinforce that initial success.
Without a good first impression, you may never have the chance to discuss your work at all.
Step 5 — Develop an Overall Look to Your Composition
How Should You Format the Pages?
To start, there are really only a handful fundamental shapes that your portfolio can be if it's to relate at all to known standards.
Square and rectangular. Not oval or triangular. You may think I'm crazy when I say that, but believe me, those odd shapes do exist.
Rectangles Are the Norm
If you've ever created or reviewed portfolios before, you'll know that most portfolios are typically rectangular in basic shape.
This is due in part to the standardization of paper. In the United States, the two of the most widely-used sizes are “Letter” (8.5″x11″) and “Tabloid” (11″x17″). If you’re working outside of the US, you will find other paper sizes similar to these (“A4” = 8.27” x 11.7”, etc.)
Using standard sizes of paper for our portfolio allows us to quickly modify and reproduce our portfolio with relative ease.
Rectangular formatting can be oriented vertically or horizontally. However, the overall “spread “(or sets of pages when opened) will naturally create horizontal compositions anyway.
Vertical formatting should be used sparingly and only when a portfolio deliberately emphasizes tall drawings throughout. Even then, I’d recommend not using a vertical layout.
Consider what shape most work take as individual figures. A drawing, photo, or rendering likely either has a square or horizontal aspect to itself already. Take advantage of that and use the overall portfolio shape to emphasize the proportions of the work.
But It’s Hip to Be Square
Sometimes, we want the shape of the portfolio to stand out a little bit. One way of doing this is to create a portfolio in the shape of a square.
A perfect square allows us to frame the work in an aspect ratio that is clean, easy to understand, and somewhat different from a standard 8.5”x11”.
I personally love this style because it's not as common, but it’s still a shape that everyone can relate to. It's simple when closed, but becomes a larger rectangle when opened up.
The only time you ever truly see the “squareness” is when the portfolio is closed. Since that's most likely when you'll be making a first impression, it could be worth considering this format as an option. If done well, the square format could set your work apart immediately in a good way.
Side Note: This will certainly require you to have the portfolio printed by someone else. Having tried myself to print this format, trim it down from larger paper, and then assemble it, I would highly recommend leaving the production to someone with experience and equipment. It takes forever without the right tools and that time can be better spent elsewhere.
The only reason you may want to stay away from this entirely is because of production time. If you need to have something printed and bound somewhere else, you'll be at the mercy of the printer and possibly the mail service that gets it back to you. Even then, it's within reason to expect that you may have made a mistake or two. In that case you'd want to reprint.
It can take some additional time and planning to get right, but a square form can provide an added polish and give a portfolio life.
Select a Page Size
When it comes to selecting a final and real page size, I think about the above factors and then list my options based on actual dimensions I've found elsewhere.
Without getting ahead of myself (specific publication options to be reviewed in part three of this series), here are some basic options you'll likely have to choose from when considering your page size (from Lulu.com). Depending on where you get your book printed, there may be more or fewer options.
U.S. Paper // 8.5″ x 11″
U.S. Tabloid // 11″ x 17″
Landscape // 9″ x 7″
Small Square // 7.5″ x 7.5″
Large Square // 8.5″ x 8.5″
A4 // 8.26″ x 11.69″
Step 6 — Solidify Your Overall Plan Before You Produce Your Portfolio
The Importance of Storyboarding
Simply put, if you're not storyboarding, you're wasting time.
Storyboarding is the process by which you sketch out your idea in a diagrammed state. The sketch articulates the overall organization, composition, and information you intend to include.
Storyboarding will give us the ability to see our portfolio design from a thousand foot view. We can then spot the holes in our logic and begin to mend them before we've even put our portfolio into the computer.
Think of this process in the same way you would for any other design project at studio or the office.
We need to work through the big picture items before we start drafting. If we simply went straight into drawing lines, adding walls, and composing final layouts in a project, we could miss that half of the program doesn't really fit, that we need to consider building codes, and that we're designing for the wrong climate conditions.
On the other hand, if we take the time to sketch out our ideas first, we can understand everything in general terms, establish conceptual parameters for ourselves, and then work within those parameters once we transition to digital drafting.
The same goes for portfolios. If we compose directly in the computer first, we'll only be thinking in terms of geometry (lines, rectangles, and squares). We want to lead the design of the portfolio, not be lead astray by it.
Step 7 — Understand the Importance of Composition Rules
Think in spreads, Not Pages
One of the most difficult things to consider for someone who hasn't designed a portfolio before is that we're not designing each page individually, we're designing “spreads.”
As mentioned before, spreads are basically the full layout when your portfolio is open and you can see both pages at the same time.
If we were to design our portfolio a page at a time, we'd be doing ourselves a disservice. We can use the spreads to our advantage and create interesting compositions that draw someone’s eye naturally across the pages.
Designing pages one at a time may restrict someone’s view or come off as choppy or unorganized. Our audience won’t go out of their way to tell us an approach is successful, but they’ll definitely let us know when it’s not. Let’s avoid that altogether and think in spreads instead.
The Rule of Thirds
In the world of photography, the rule of thirds is a simple composition framework for organizing the subject of a given shot.
All we need to do is divide an image into either three parts or a nine-square grid. After we've set up this frame, we can either allow the layout to run up against these guides or pass by them.
The key here is a consistency throughout our portfolio. We can begin to analyze the possible patterns within our storyboarding efforts and choose the templates that make sense for our content.
Start by sketching out the pages side by side, and then split them into three areas. Diagram a series of zones that you're comfortable with for the text. Once you have a few ideas for your text, add another layer for your images. It’s about building the layers over and adjacent to one another in very particular ways.
I personally draw all of my images as rectangles with an “X” through them and the text as a series of horizontal lines. You could also generically draw them as different colored blocks. I find that the first method allows you to imagine a much better product in the end.
The Importance of White Space
As we're working through the overall design, we might begin to get a bit “text crazy” or “image happy.”
There's no shame in it. You should absolutely be proud of your work, but one of our goals is to avoid flooding every square inch of the spread with information.
In editorial design, white space can be just as important, if not more so, than the text and images themselves. White space can create moments for your eye to rest and slowly pass between other objects in the composition. White space can also objectify your work and showcase your ability to organize information clearly.
At the end of the day, our portfolio has to be straight-forward and legible. We could have one of the most interesting projects ever, but if we cram all of the information there is into a single spread, we'll do more harm than good to to our audience’s final impression.
The Importance of Font Choice
In addition to properly utilizing white space, choosing fonts can be critical to the success of a portfolio’s design.
There are two types of fonts: “serif” and “sans serif” fonts.
Serifs are basically the little articulations you'll see at the ends of letters in fonts like “Times New Roman.” They are more traditional and can be found often in physical printings like magazines and newspapers.
Sans Serifs are the modern sibling of serif fonts that don't have those extra flourishes. Fonts such as “Arial” are considered cleaner and easier to read on a screen.
While we can really choose to go with either type of fonts, we should avoid the basic fonts that everyone has seen a million times before. This is especially true of the ones that can make the work feel dated.
Whatever you do, do not, under any circumstance, use the following fonts:
Times New Roman
Courier
Comic Sans
These fonts have become synonymous with low-quality over time (because of how much they’ve been overused) and should be avoided.
Pairing two dissimilar font choices can be an interesting contrast to consider.
Sans serif fonts and serif fonts tend to balance each other when used in consistent situations. For example, you could use a sans serif font for all of your headings and titles, but use a sans serif font for all of your normal text throughout.
Whatever you end up choosing to do, pick two (no more than three) and use them in the same ways. Consistency is critical. If you use a “Montserrat” font as a heading, don't just use a “Roboto Slab” font for the same thing a page later.
Don't overthink it. Most fonts, as long as they're “professional” fonts, can work to capture our audience's interest.
If you're still stuck, take a look at some of your favorite magazines and publications for inspiration. You don't need to replicate the exact font they're using, just something that emulates the style. Understand how they pair fonts to great effect.
Develop Your Content Strategy
Well, look at you go! You've identified why you're creating a portfolio, who it's for, and developed a strategy for how to lay out all of your projects.
In the next phase we'll discuss all of the options you have for the final product you'll end up with.
We'll also go over some typical issues that plague portfolio design, items of note that you'll want to pay attention to as you work through your own.
Before you move forward to Part III, make sure you’ve completed all 7 Steps from Part II:
Step 1 — Gather All of Your Work
Step 2 — Select Your Portfolio’s Theme
Step 3 — Determine Your Portfolio’s Length
Step 4 — Develop an Overall Hierarchy
Step 5 — Develop an Overall Look to Your Composition
Step 6 — Solidify Your Overall Plan Before You Produce Your Portfolio
Step 7 — Understand the Importance of Composition Rules
Part III — Produce Your Epic Portfolio
Portfolio 103
We've identified what's important to our portfolio, strategized its layout, and now we're ready to publish the final product.
So, you've probably thought a bit about the medium you'd like to use. Perhaps it's been decided for you by the requirements you're trying to meet or imposed by your intended audience. Or maybe you have a good sense of how you want the presentation to flow.
We’ll discuss the options we have, considerations we should make for each, and the common problems that can plague even the most epic of portfolios.
Choosing the Perfect Medium
Physical or digital?
Before we get into more detail, we have to make a choice—physical or digital?
As you’ll come to find out, there are many variations of these two options. But there are also certain paths that will make sense to take over others.
First Priority to Physical Publication
When deciding what format to use for a portfolio, the first thing I do is determine the physical page that I'll end up printing to. That size will be dictated heavily by how I plan to print, what service I may use to do so, and my overall goals for the portfolio's “look.”
The images we have to work with are what they are for the most part, but the layout is something you have significant control over in the design of our portfolio.
As discussed previously, here again are some basic options we'll have to choose from when considering the page size (from Lulu). Depending on where we ultimately get a book printed, there may be more or fewer options.
U.S. Paper // 8.5″ x 11″
U.S. Tabloid // 11″ x 17″
Landscape // 9″ x 7″
Small Square // 7.5″ x 7.5″
Large Square // 8.5″ x 8.5″
A4 // 8.26″ x 11.69″
Although it's a decision that will affect the majority of the portfolio layout moving forward, don't take too long to pick one of the page sizes. We can make almost anything work. The important decision is the one that actually gets made so we can move forward.
If you still can't decide, print out each of the options in front of you (at real size) so that you can physically see the differences. If you don't have that size paper, just cut it from something that's larger. Having the true pages in front of you to pick from will make size selection far easier.
Second Priority to Digital Distribution
As I mentioned earlier, the graphics we have are what they are.
We can make the digital version of the portfolio work with whatever online publication we need to. Whether it's a pdf that we send to someone or a digital version that lives on a service like Issuu or LinkedIn, the digital copy of a portfolio should be just that.
Remember, if our portfolio is well composed and edited to work with a physical copy, it will be fine digitally as well.
Physical copies don’t have zoom functionality (as cool as that would be). They’re meant to be viewed by people, under real-world constraints. Digital, when made at a high enough resolution and quality, can be pulled, stretched, and altered in more than one way from a single file.
Treating the digital copy as though it’s physical can also help you identify overarching issues with scale.
Refining Your Format Options
Format 1 — “Old School” Portfolio
Instant Portfolio
My first portfolio was a fragile thing.
It looked like a fancy version of a plastic binder. I didn't really know what I was making at the time.
“Tisk. Tisk. Tisk.” says present me.
While better versions of this type of physical portfolio surely exist out there, they’re all made in the same, basic way.
There's an outer cover, usually some kind of material deemed to be “professional-looking.” Inside, there will be either a fixed number of sleeves or removable ones to be used as needed. The pieces of work must then be inserted into these sleeves.
The simplicity of this format allows us to focus primarily on the pieces first and foremost. However, it doesn't provide us with the opportunity to showcase our abilities as designers through the craft of the portfolio itself.
A physical portfolio like this is often found within artistic disciplines (sculpture, painting) where the portfolio can act as a simple “gallery” for the work.
If you're pressed for time or don't want to focus on the overall presentation too much, this might be the right format for you. You can typically find this type of portfolio in 8.5″x11″ and 11″x17″ sizes (or equivalent for International paper sizes) at local arts and crafts stores.
The downside to this portfolio is that you have to buy, print, and collate everything separately and then assemble it all each time. The upside to this portfolio is that you can swap in and out pieces as needed.
Format 2 — “New School” Portfolio
Self-Published Portfolio
The latest type of portfolio I've made for myself (and the one that is gaining the most momentum in the last few years) is the self-published option.
On websites like Lulu, Blurb, and Createspace, we can upload final versions of our digital portfolio, wait a few days, and “Voila!,” a brand new portfolio!
This has the most potential for production efficiency because, once we’ve completed the initial setup, we can mass produce copies of our portfolio for several job prospects, our friends, our family, our neighbor, ourselves, and anyone who wants a copy in the future.
The downside to this portfolio is that it requires us to plan the printing process from the earliest design stage. The upside is that the planning will help us make quick decisions about overall size, layout, and composition that you might otherwise agonize over.
Remember that as long as we carry through with our decisions to completion, we can make almost any size work. Pick something and just keep moving.
Format 3 — The Digital Counterpart
Based on the steps so far, we should naturally end up with a digital copy of the portfolio that we've created. Rather than just emailing it to every one of our potential audience members individually, we can also begin to integrate it with other channels.
Have you been waiting to update that LinkedIn page lately? Why not add a copy of your portfolio so that you open up the potential for inquiries.
Add it to Facebook, Twitter, and other online profiles for people to view it when they want to. We can extend the reach of who sees our portfolio with fairly minimal effort.
Websites such as Issuu allow us to publish a presentation, read-only copy of our work online as well. We can then share a link to our portfolio’s page.
The upside to this format is that it is highly shareable. The downside to this format is that it doesn’t quite have the same effectiveness as a physical copy would.
Format 4 — The Portfolio Website
If you really want to “wow” someone, create an entire website dedicated to your personal brand and portfolio.
Portfolio websites can be fantastic ways to showcase our design abilities beyond architecture and reveal another side of our personalities.
Websites can be interactive and playful.
Do you have videos, audio files, or other formats that just don't work with printed media? A website may be the perfect place for to display that type of work.
Side Note: This is the most advanced kind of portfolio that we can create. The process will take a lot of time and planning. It will also require production skills that you may not have just yet.
If you've never written a piece of code in your life, but you really want a website, I'd recommend using a service like Squarespace, Wix, or Carbonmade. Each of these services has its own quirks, but will be able to get you off the ground with minimal effort compared to learning HTML (aka Internet coding) over a few months.
I know you're probably gifted, but don't get ahead of yourself. One task at a time.
We don’t need to make an entire website for our first portfolio. After we’ve designed the primary portfolio, curated all of the content, and produced it, we can re-purpose it all into a portfolio website.
The upside to this format is that it can be very impressive to someone unfamiliar with you and your work. The downside is that it takes the most effort and time to produce.
Format 5 — Additional Content
If you're looking to take your audience’s experience up a notch, there are additional items that you can create that can showcase your brand and supplement your portfolio.
Since we've already created the overall format for the portfolio, including graphic look, font types, etc., just re-work those qualities and consider making one of the following:
1. Mini-Portfolio
A mini-portfolio is a simpler version of our primary portfolio that we can send as a teaser to your meeting or use as a leave-behind after we've met.
This isn't necessarily the portfolio itself, but a nice representation of it, boiled down to either a single project or theme. This could be an easy way to save costs by printing several of these mini-versions of our full portfolio, while still captivating our audience.
2. Thank You Postcard
After an important meeting or interview, it is essential to say, “Thank you.”
A postcard that's been designed and physically mailed by you personally to whom you met with can leave a lasting impression.
Think of your most captivating image from your entire portfolio and print it onto a piece of cardstock. Write a personal message on the back, add a stamp, and mail it out. Done and done.
3. Business Card
As you began developing a portfolio, did you use consistent branding graphics, colors, fonts, etc. throughout?
If the answer is “yes,” you might just have the right assets to create a business card that adds another detail of care to the overall presentation. A business card is practical and easy to keep track of. It can provide yet another vehicle to showcase your design ability.
4. Envelopes
Printing your name and return address directly onto your envelopes can also add another level of quality. It's also probably one of the extras on this list that people will expect the least. Surprise can be a good thing here. Make it clean and simple.
One word of caution here on craft.
Do not attempt to make any of the above if you won’t take the time and care to make the craft exceptional for each. It will end up hurting you in the long run if you just create a bunch of stuff without putting the professional level of effort behind them.
Don't feel like you need to do all of these. These are just suggestions of ways to add value to your portfolio. In the end, who you are, what you've experienced, and what you've accomplished will weigh more in the minds of your audience.
These are simply ways to accentuate how awesome you really are.
Printing Considerations
Paper Type
Unless you're printing single-sided, print on a heavier stock than your average computer paper. A heavier paper (40 lbs) will feel better in your hands, likely have a brighter white to it, and allow you to print on both sides.
If you're printing single-sided and using a physical binder with sleeves, you could use a cardstock (90 lbs or more). The thickness of the paper will give the portfolio some much needed rigidity in the sleeves.
Gloss / Semi-Gloss / Matte
When you have a choice of sheen, go for the matte finish. Gloss and semi-gloss will both create some glare that won't blend well with an architecture portfolio.
Gloss tends to work better with photography and art, especially when there is only a single image printed. Because you're likely formatting entire spreads to include multiple variables (color bars, text, images, etc.), matte will be a much better fit overall.
Color / Black and White
Unless you're going for some kind of specialized look, this should be a no-brainer. Color. Color. Color.
Your renderings will be crisper, the overall print quality will be better, and the colors you use to create a sense of branding can begin to tell your story all on their own.
The price to print will be higher of course, but we’re only talking a few dollars per print for most runs of small to medium-sized portfolios.
Binding Considerations
Depending on what service you use, your options could vary wildly. Here's a list of the most common binding types as well as their pros and cons (from worst to best in my opinion).
1. Plastic Comb
This binding is the least desirable for a portfolio because it screams “boring office report.” While I'm actually a fan of this binding when it’s used for that type of document, a personal portfolio should not use one under any circumstance. It's just downright unprofessional. You can do better.
Pros
Cheap
Easy to cut (if necessary)
It comes in many sizes
Cons
It looks cheap
It's meant for business reports
Fancy machine required
Almost anything else looks better (other than a binder clip)
2. Plastic Coil
This binding is slightly better just because it's better made than the plastic comb and looks like you cared a bit more. Beyond that, it still looks like it should be binding a business report more than a portfolio. Depending upon the thickness of the coil, it can also be rather bulky. You can still do better.
Pros
Cheap
Cut to size
Cons
It looks cheap
Fancy machine required
3. Saddle Stitch
This binding is a step in the right direction. If you're in a bind (haha, puns) and need to turn around a portfolio quickly, using saddle stitch could be a great way to help your portfolio stand out. The simplest version of this technique relies upon you having a small amount of spreads that you fold in half and then staple along the creased edge between the pages. Depending on how big your portfolio is, you may only need two staples or you could require more.
Pros
It's super easy to do
No fancy machine required
Cons
This only works with small amounts of spreads (because of the staples)
You have to plan out your staples first
4. Wire
Classy. Metal wire binding is one of my favorite types because it almost always looks amazing. You don't have to do much other than find someone who can actually bind it this way. Your best bet is to find a local printer who does binding for a small fee.
Pros
It looks amazing
Relatively cost effective
Cons
Not all printers support this type of binding
5. Perfect
Extra Classy. In my opinion, this is the best type of binding because it establishes your portfolio as a ‘real' publication. This is the kind of binding you'll find on magazines and books. While it does require some additional effort to set up, it's probably the most professional-looking overall.
Pros
It looks freaking amazing
Clean edges
Format people are used to (books, magazines)
Cons
Additional steps in formatting required
Most expensive of the options in many cases
Common Portfolio Problems
1. Inconsistency
If you walk away from this series having learned only one thing, I hope that you realize consistency is the most important theme to carry through all of your portfolio. It's the feature that will be seamless if you do it right and blatantly obvious if you don't. Inconsistency will begin to work against you as the audience starts to fixate on the oddities of your formatting over the content of the work.
2. No “Story”
Your portfolio is a document meant to showcase who you are and what you're about. If you present a run-of-the-mill portfolio to an institution or potential employer, it will become just another layer of the stack they've accumulated. Use your portfolio to tell your story, not just any story.
3. Poor Craft
Regardless of the formatting choices you make, please make sure that you're doing everything to the best of your ability. Did you tear a page? Print it again. Did you drop your portfolio in a puddle and try to wipe it off. Print it again. Poor craft speaks volumes about the care you give to what you do. Craft also speaks to spelling and grammar.
4. Too Many Images
Everyone loves a great set of graphics, but it's also helpful to describe those from time to time as well. Depending on who your audience is, you may need more or less text to describe your process. You need to find the balance that works for you and your situation. The wrong answer though is to just haphazardly throw together a bunch of great imagery with no explanation whatsoever.
5. No White Space
It's not all about the text and images. We need to think about white space and the negative zones of the pages as a third component of your overall layout. The content you display to others has to have space to breathe. Let it. If we don't, the composition we're creating will actually begin to feel overbearing and suffocating.
6. No Hierarchy
Hierarchy can provide a dynamism to your layouts that guides the audience's attention to flow from one piece to the next. If everything is given equal weight or is not purposefully organized, your portfolio can seem either too boring or too messy.
7. Poor Font Choice
Now, Comic Sans may be your favorite font ever, but it's not appropriate for an architecture portfolio. Stick to clean, legible font styles. Sans-serif or serif, you can do a lot with the right font without relying upon something with too many quirks.
8. Unnecessary Flourishes and Graphics
It may be difficult for you to help yourself from adding some stamps, graphics, glyphs, and other unnecessary designs to your portfolio to ‘fill it out.’ Your layouts need to have personality, but be careful not to add things that just don't belong. Less really is more.
Final Thoughts
Congratulations! If you've followed along to this point, I bet you have a lot of imaginative ideas for how to create one heck of a portfolio.
Consider the following:
Make a portfolio that speaks exactly to who you are, what your intentions are, and what your experiences have been.
Clarify why you’re making a portfolio in the first place (job, academic degree, record-keeping).
Understand who you’re making a portfolio for, who will review it.
Organize the work you’ve done to tell the best story.
Determine the size of the portfolio early on, but don’t let that prevent you from making progress.
Use high-levels of craft to provide the best experience to your audience possible.
There are many considerations to make as you begin designing your portfolio. Try not to let them overwhelm you. Develop a plan of attack and methodically take one step at a time.
A portfolio is a reflection of who you are and who you want to be.
Enjoy the process and showcase your passion for design.
Additional Resources
(Video) Portfolio Tips — Reviewing Your Design Work // The Futur
(Video) Architecture Portfolio Tips—Reviewing Your Work // Show It Better & Upstairs
(Video) How to Make (or Rethink) Your Architecture Portfolio // 30x40 Design Workshop
(Podcast) The Perfect Portfolio // Life of an Architect
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