Comments on: Industrial Design Portfolio Advice: Back to Basics

By: ranjan

ranjan — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:27:24 +0000

Thanks a lot Raph….I had lots of confusions about making a good pordfolio.but after reading this article it feels like i would be able to make one.i am making my portfolio to get into a D-School this year. last year i could not get through due to my poor portfolio.thanks again !!!

By: Duncan

Duncan — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:28:37 +0000

I’m just updating my portfolio website and this information has been invaluable. Thank you very much.

By: Portfolio examples, resources. « candacedesign

Portfolio examples, resources. « candacedesign — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 07:54:38 +0000

[...] first of all, I stumbled upon a Design Portfolio Advice page, which I highly recommend. It’s a pretty thorough step-by-step advice page of how to get one [...]

By: Raph Goldsworthy

Raph Goldsworthy — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 02:24:19 +0000

@Ashish
I would suggest the best place to get a broad range of reviews and insights on your portfolio would be to visit the Core77 Forums – people like Michael DiTullo (know as Yo!) who works for Frog Design and other highly placed designers lurk there and give some fantastic portfolio reviews.

@Sepia
Maybe the local pharmacy can provide something for design portfolio induced stomach aches?

But seriously, don’t attempt the whole lot at once. I think that the best course is to just do it little by little. When I think about creating a whole portfolio at once it scares the beejezus out of me. Also I would suggest as you work on projects make it part of the end of the project to put together something, so you can just slot it into your portfolio.

Maybe start with putting together an online one on behance.net or somewhere, as it is as simple as selecting pictures, uploading and adding a brief project description.

I hope this helps. Apologies for the delayed reply, there is a bit of a comments backlog on DD at the moment.

By: Sepia

Sepia — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:14:33 +0000

Thanks Raph for the article. It is kind of like a step by step instructions, with very specific points, which is easy to follow. But I have one problem and that is this: as much as I love industrial design and as much as i enjoy to participate in different projects, for some reason I get a stomach ache, and i feel weak every time i think about working on my portfolio. Any idea why i have this “fear” of portfolio ? and more importantly any suggestions on how to get rid of it?

By: ashish

ashish — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:15:21 +0000

thanks for the tips dey will be surely useful to us !!!
just out of curiousity do you review portfolio’s?? will u review mine??

By: Raph Goldsworthy

Raph Goldsworthy — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:38:59 +0000

@fanny – thanks

By: fanny valbuena

fanny valbuena — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:40:36 +0000

Your article is absolutely awsome !!!!!!!!!!

By: Tiago

Tiago — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:14:37 +0000

Hi there. Thanks for the tips. I’m creating mine now and it’s been a war. rofl.

By: Raph Goldsworthy

Raph Goldsworthy — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:40:46 +0000

@ Mark – Not a problem.

@LH – This is certainly a problem for many designers, my thoughts on it are:

Talk to the client about potentially allowing some of the work to be shown and in what situation it might occur. If they say yes, get it in writing. If they say no then I personally wouldn’t show it at all.

I would also be careful about even showing it in face to face meetings as you will not always be aware of the commercial interests of the person you are showing it to – they may not be as trustworthy as you think and may talk to other people about it (maybe not even maliciously and just in passing) who might be a commercial threat to your client.

I think overall it is best to be extremely careful when dealing with client work that is still confidential. It is better to be safe than sorry. You may just have to bite the bullet and not show it unless you can get the consent of your client.

@Liam @Bjorn – Hopefully the article is useful next time you update your folio.

@Nancy – I am sure there are others that feel the same

@Rita – Not a problem. Thanks for sharing your advice.

@Girlie – Thanks for the praise. I think your advice on a designers portfolio being “good enough to sell” are right on the money, thank you for sharing. I hope you enjoy all future Design Droplets posts.

@Michael – Thanks for the praise for the article and for sharing the links. I think in many areas of design (beyond the portfolio) designers need to consider applying the Plan, Plan, Plan Rule. Also, I really enjoy your site. Note to everyone that reads this: You should visit Michael’s site, it has lots of great tips and advice for designers.