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  • - Hi guys, it's been a while since I made

  • one of these graphic design how-to videos,

  • but it is the new year, and some of you guys

  • may have resolved to make a portfolio website

  • for yourselves, or you may be applying to college

  • or to jobs and really need to get it sorted out.

  • So, I thought I might give you a couple tips.

  • Here are a few ideas on how to present

  • your portfolio website in the best way possible.

  • The number one tip that I can give you

  • is context, context, context.

  • I was talking to someone who was applying for jobs,

  • and I looked at her website, and it had really nice pictures

  • of her projects, but no information about

  • what the projects were actually about.

  • So let's say you're including this T-shirt design,

  • and you only upload this picture with no other information.

  • I mean, it's a nice design, but I know nothing about it.

  • Was it a school project, a commission?

  • Were there any restrictions?

  • Could you only use a certain number of colors?

  • How many revisions did you go through?

  • Is it part of a series?

  • But then, let's say that you uploaded all of these photos,

  • and explained that it was a self-motivated design

  • that you sketched out a year ago and finally produced,

  • and then somehow it became

  • your best-selling merchandise item.

  • For every single project that you post,

  • your audience cannot judge your ability to solve the problem

  • if they don't know what the problem was to begin with.

  • There might be some projects where you have a ton to say

  • and you don't necessarily want

  • a crowded portfolio page with tons of text.

  • In that case, I suggest you keep a blog

  • where you can ramble off about your projects

  • as much as you like.

  • And then, also, have a separate portfolio page

  • with a one- or two-sentence description

  • that links to the blog post for more information.

  • Along the same lines, put together a substantial About page.

  • This is your chance to really show off your personality,

  • so include a picture or even a video, if you're a YouTuber.

  • Keep it casual.

  • Don't just rewrite your resume in paragraph form.

  • If you're looking for a job,

  • plainly state what your goals are,

  • where you're located, your e-mail address,

  • and a link to your resume.

  • If you're active on Twitter and Tumblr and Instagram,

  • include links to those, because employers love to see

  • that you know how to use social media.

  • However, I would advise against including your phone number.

  • Think it through.

  • Why does anyone really need it, in this day and age?

  • E-mail is so much more convenient, because you can reply

  • to it on your own time, and if it's someone

  • you don't want to talk to, you're not forced

  • to be sitting there on the phone with them.

  • If you need to give someone your phone number

  • after talking over e-mail a couple times,

  • it's totally fine, but no one really needs it up front.

  • Overall, though, the main thing to keep in mind is,

  • "If I didn't know me, and I was looking at this site

  • "for the first time, would I hire me?" slash

  • accept into college, slash whatever your situation is.

  • "Do I get a complete picture of who this person is

  • "and what their skills are?"

  • If not, you may have a little bit more work to do

  • fleshing out all of the details that you want to share.

  • Okay, so when it comes to the actual navigation

  • of your site, don't get too fancy.

  • Keep it simple.

  • The design of your site is basically

  • another portfolio piece, and you wanna make it easy

  • for people to find your work.

  • Don't make your visitors chase the navigation

  • around the screen or make it a code that you have to break

  • before you're allowed to enter the site.

  • Just keep it simple.

  • As for the portfolio page, there is nothing that I hate more

  • than having to click a tiny little thumbnail to see

  • the whole piece for every single photo that's on the site.

  • And yes, that is a screenshot

  • of my own website from years ago.

  • Don't make the same mistakes that I did.

  • Instead, I suggest what is currently on my own site,

  • obviously, which is just one big long page

  • of large images that you just have to scroll through

  • so that you don't even have to click on anything.

  • But, if you don't like that approach, that's totally fine.

  • You do you, just make it easy for people to find your work.

  • So when it comes to actually creating your website,

  • we're all designers here.

  • We're not necessarily the best at code.

  • There is no shame in having somebody else code your website.

  • My current website, I paid one of my friends to code,

  • and he did a great job and did it in way less time

  • than it would have taken me.

  • I just gave him detailed PSDs for every single page

  • that was on the site, and even though it was

  • a pretty simple WordPress-based design,

  • I consider that money so well-spent,

  • because I avoided so much frustration

  • if I had tried to just do it myself.

  • If you don't have any friends who know how to code,

  • there's this site called PSD2HTML, which Hankering uses

  • all the time, they do really good work.

  • But, if you don't have a lot of money to spend,

  • or you just don't want to design a custom layout,

  • there are plenty of template sites out there

  • where you just upload your images,

  • and then, you're done.

  • I have personally never used any of these sites,

  • but I asked on Twitter which ones you guys use,

  • and these were your suggestions.

  • First is BehanceProSite, which seemed really easy to use,

  • and the results are just beautiful.

  • Plus, they let you build your site without paying anything,

  • so it's easy to see if it works for you and your work

  • before handing over any money.

  • Carbonmade is also a great one,

  • and their website is so cute.

  • Their sites are a little more simple,

  • but maybe your work is really complex

  • and you don't want it competing with other things

  • on the screen, so simple can be really good.

  • If you don't have a lot of work to upload,

  • you can get your side for free.

  • But, if you want the more robust package,

  • it comes to 12 dollars a month.

  • SQUARESPACE is another good one,

  • and they have a lot of really

  • professional-looking templates to choose from.

  • They are either eight dollars or 16 dollars a month,

  • depending on how much storage space

  • and how many pages you need.

  • Or, if you want to stick with something

  • you're already familiar with, apparently deviantART

  • also does portfolio hosting, and they have

  • both free and paid options.

  • Or, you could just set up a new Tumblr to use

  • as your portfolio.

  • I'll link to a blog post down below

  • all about really professional-looking Tumblr themes

  • that you can use specifically to make a portfolio site.

  • So I know you're going to ask, but I cannot tell you,

  • objectively, which site's the best since, number one,

  • I have never used any of them personally,

  • and number two, they all have their pros and their cons.

  • So you guys just have to do your own research

  • and figure out which one is the best one for you.

  • So, I hope that helped you guys out, at least a little bit.

  • I'll link to everything that I just talked about

  • down in the description, including my own portfolio site

  • which, I know, isn't perfect.

  • I haven't updated the portfolio pages in forever.

  • My blog is really disorganized.

  • But I am not currently job hunting,

  • so it's not at the top of my priority list.

  • So, let me know in the comments if you have any questions

  • or if you have any more suggestions

  • for templated portfolio sites

  • that you can suggest to all of us.

  • If you're new here, I have made plenty of videos

  • like this throughout the years, all about designing

  • resumes, business cards, YouTube thumbnails, logos.

  • You can watch all of those videos in a playlist right here.

  • Or, if you are done with boring design talk,

  • and you just wanna make something,

  • I put up a video last week about three DIY projects

  • you can make with old business cards.

  • You can watch that video right here.

  • Oh, and if you're applying to art school right now,

  • I've made a lot of videos about art school over the years.

  • You can watch all of those videos in a playlist right here.

  • So, thank you guys so much for watching.

  • Don't forget to hit Like and Subscribe,

  • and I will see you all next time.

- Hi guys, it's been a while since I made

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