Creating a Portfolio That Gets you Hired

1. Introduction: Hey, everybody! And welcome Teoh, this Skill Ship video series. We are going to be talking about how to create a portfolio to get you hired. This is a great video, which I know will help every single creative out there. We'll talk through your goal of portfolio your audience. The key features that you should include different tips and touches that will take your before your from level one to level 10 and which type of hopefully you should make, whether it be digital online or a physical portfolio or a culmination off all three. I'll even go through templates that you can use to create a portfolio that will definitely get you hired and will highlight your work to look the best that it can be and how to take pictures off your work to make sure that you're presenting it in its best life. So if you're ready to get hired for that cave, that 2. What is a Portfolio: hi, guys, and welcome to your first class before we get into the nitty gritty off, making a portfolio off, picking the right elements to go into it and designing it, I want to first talk over shortly. What a portfolio is a portfolio is a piece of yourself. It's an expression of you who you are as a designer who you are as a creative. Here you are as an employee and a person. It is there to show your perspective, client or employer that you are the right fit for them. Your foot father can be used in two ways. One as an attraction to you. And second, as a presentation, which you can use along with yourself in an interview. The first type you wanna bring in things like case studies have campaign working there have designed process. You really want to flesh it out so people get a full understanding of you without you having to talk to them. The second type is more of an aesthetically pleasing document. The one would you take interviews to talk over for you to explain to them why these beautiful works are there and what purpose they had and how you got to that final result. I'm going to be helping you through these clauses making the two distinct purchase choosing which one is best for you and the work that you dio and hopefully finishing up with a portfolio which hits that main goal, which is to get hired. So let's move on to our next class and get started. 3. Tip: Have Physical Samples: So as we've been discussing portfolios, you guys probably want to see what I have been using. Now I am cheating a little bit. I am redesigning my portfolio along with you so you can see what I'm creating for my purposes. But the reason I'm doing this is because I'm converting myself to a digital portfolio because I do a lot of remote freelance work and my physical. But Folio unfortunately, cannot travel with me over the Internet. So I need to bring the magic of my physical portfolio I use to my clients in another manner . But here I do have my physical portfolio for you, and there is some huge benefits, the having a physical portfolio. The first thing I want to show you is a couple of key pieces off my portfolio, which include a magazine which I've designed in university, which is quite autistic and creative. So definitely good something to bring to a steers, and people love it because they can put their hands in it and really interact with my work . So here is just I was Director is just a bunch of things that people can look at and go Arthur and really enjoy. I also have with me a hey study on a up which I developed, which is along with the brand and everything, which I can give to people to show them my design process. How you designed process document is amazing when it comes to interviews, and people get very impressed by the work which I've put into something like this. Now the key at feature off any portfolio is the thistle is what you consider a traditional portfolio. I am not going to be talking you through have to create one of these monsters, but I can give you a quick explanation now. This basically is a big collection of works that I have done, and they're all print based. And what I do is I take this in with me to my clients. It's a bit messy, cause I just took it into my clients and I let him pull out anything and physically interact with it because these all my print designs and I feel like it's about the paper as well as the design. So example. Here I have a magazine, which I was working on. I allow my client to pull it out and to play with it and to flip through it, and that generally got some really impressed. And we'll cases the non. I get the job. People love portfolios like this because that way they could see the physical product you produced, and not just a total of it. I recommend, even though the industry is moving late from large, part four years like this, where it's filled with your designs that you make sure that you take at least one or two physical pieces are wiki for people to see. So that might be like I have my magazine or the coloring because I made even go into a print or editorial interview. Or if you're a Web or you I designer, you might have a couple APS or websites loaded up on your iPad or your phone that you can hand over to your client so they can really see the work that you do. So I'm gonna put this bad boy away for now, and we're gonna get into what you should be putting into your portfolio 4. Who is your Audience: Okay, guys. So we just refined and defined the goal over put failure, which is to get hired. So I put for you being a presentation for someone else. We need to figure out the audience or our portfolio before we go any further. Now, this audience depends on where you want to work and what job you want to do. For example, if I was going to try and get work in a book publishers as an illustrator, my portfolio would be very different from someone who is trying to get into the u I. U X kind of fields to gettinto Web design. So we have to figure out who are portfolio is for. So what I want you to do is I want you to write down your five top places that you want to work and from there deliberate a persona that kind of matches all of them so you can make a portfolio to the aesthetic of your ideal employer. This way, your portfolio will get you the job that you want and not the job which people think you went through the presentation what you've created, so go away right down those five names and make a short persona. You're percenter is just gonna be male or female age what their job is, what the industry is that you want to work in, and maybe a little bit of a description, like what they do on the weekend. What's their favorite? What's that? What's their favorite book? This way you get a good idea of what the person is that you're trying to present yourself to, and you'll be able to know how best to represent yourself to get in their good books and get that job. But you're looking for See you in the next video once you've picked out your audience. 5. Basic Persona Example: So Hey, guys, In the last video, we were talking about what our audience is going to be and who is going to be a key persona that we're gonna target portfolio, too. For these exercises following on, I have chosen a see your or ahead of studio for a design studio. This way, I feel like uncover the majority of basis for people who are following these videos. I'm going to align my portfolio. Teoh, an adult male who's in he's mid to late thirties, who is really interested in technology but has a creative touch. He's gonna be working on high end products in a creative agency, which go all the way from advertising Toe, where Design and Brandon, pretty much the broad races of water graphic design is He doesn't have a car he kept in the train. He lives in the city. He doesn't have too much time for reading, but a spies to be Arida and his favorite movies. One such make him think there's kind of a bird idea off the audience that I'm going for 6. How Long Should your Portfolio Be: so again, before we start designing and figuring out a portfolio and what goes into it, we should probably figure out how long the document we're going to be creating is. Well, this could be dependent on what type of document you choose, whether it's digital print or an online website. But here is some guidelines that you can keep in to with all of them. My first guy line would be pick five key projects that you want to highlight. Now five is a big number. You can get away with just three, but we're gonna go with five because that way you can fully develop these products and pick and Jews what you want to display. When I say that I want to highlight these products, we are just going to show the final feature. We're going to show that key feature such as, Let's say, the finished website as well as the Y, framing a detailed showing off any branding work that you did for it, or an explanation of the photography. We're gonna go over at thes five works and have them Arlacchi highlight. Also, I want you to think about including some Philip work so this fill a work. For instance, if you're working in a digital burning industry, could be stuff like a few a. T. M's, which you mocked up and do for clients. Or, if you're working in the print industry, a few flies and brushes and stuff, things that are actually relevant to your client and things that your current would want you to do regularly. And so it's good to just have that in there. No as a case study, but just as proof that you can do what they're asking for. If we were developing a print document, I want you also keep in mind that you have to do everything in multiples off four, especially if it's a magazine type thing. That means I'd say you want to stay between 24 32 pages. That way, it's going to be a concise document, especially if you flush that with wife space, which is really important, and yet it's gonna have enough information in it to entice people toe, want to know you and talk to you and high. If you're doing a digital piece, I would keep actually along the same line off pages, but a digital. When you're working digitally, a spread ends up being one page, so it actually goes down to about half the amount of pages. Want to flush it out? And I'll explain more into that as we go further on with designing and online one Web page you want to go through and have your case studies on there and after case studies go through with a fear little tiles here in their off your assets. Your Phyllis, which I can say would be anything from 5 to 10. You don't want to go to lengthy with your boat failure because out of my experience, people just aren't gonna take the time to read it. Every time I bring my full chunky pull full here with me, people only just peek out or asking me to PR 3 to 4 pieces, which I want to talk over. So it's no point putting everything that you ever made into your portfolio only select the best of the best pieces that you want to display. They don't need quantity. They want quality, so a girl way. Have a look at all the products that you've done and pick out five key pieces, and that is what we're just going to start working with when we start creating the foot fall 7. Which Format is Best for you: So the biggest question on your mind right now must be what kind of portfolios should I make? Should it be digital online or should it be print? Now? This is definitely personal preference, but it can also depend on your personal, so big hint. If you're going to be a Web designer, you probably should make a website as your portfolio because what their way to show your skills than to show it through a website. But on the other hand, if you are going to want a work in editorial, make a magazine, make them a print product that they can see and even better with your magazine. There is plenty of e publishing software out there that you can simply just bring it across E publishers as well, and have it there as a digital deliverable if you need to send across a port Fuller in an email now, while I'm discussing it, I should point out that no matter how much work you put into a physical portfolio, you will need some sort of digital or online presence for people to go to in this day, and age are just show them even a tit bit of your work, so I would recommend having an online account at Let's Say their hands or having a Derby hopeful your order here and hopefully your website, which has just a little taste of your portfolio. If you're planning to go out and make a beautiful print piece just so people have somewhere where they can instantaneously access it before they get hit the big bang over your print portfolio. Now all three portfolios are very interchangeable, and one thing you want to keep in mind is whether you're doing one type like online, digital or print. All you're doing all three. You want to keep them branded across, and you don't want them to be overly repetitive. Each one should have that top project in there, but after that, fleshing out with something slightly different. So if someone us a report flu and then more work, you can deliver them with your next piece instead of rushing around and trying to find something which isn't really polished off on to hand over the them if they want that little bit more information. But I'm gonna line up what I think is a really good for you to do if you're going to become a freelance, so are if you were going to be shifting through its or InfoSpace environment, which may need remote work. My best thing for you would be having an online presence and then a secondary digital portfolio for those who want more information that you can't fit neatly and suspiciously into your online design, if you want to work in books in the print industry at a printer's then 100 sent, you need to make yourself ah, print portfolio. And if you want to work in anything interactive in websites, in new I in anything that that is that little bit extra level in technology, you have to go with the website and has to be polished off. Now websites are quite complex things, and I will go through making a wife from example of how you can present your work on the Web site. But I will not be focusing on designing a website for your portfolio. We're going to be focusing more on the digital and print sides off designing your portfolio . But don't worry. There is plenty of websites out there, such as Wickes in square space, that which you can go which have templates on their which are beautiful for all night. Put full lose. So if you do need to make it on my portfolio and you're not quite ready to develop it yourself, you can always start off with one of them and then go into the Web development in the future and really refine it. So I hope that I have talked you through and helped you select which type of portfolio that you want to work on in these exercises. So, have you guys have picked one of the three to work on where any good you working on? Uh, any recommend working on one for these exercises just to make it easier for you. If you're not sure what to do, I would recommend just making at the digital portfolio, because that way you don't have to go through the cost of printing it. All the complications of keeping online and it is a great resource, regardless to be able to email out to prospective clients and employers. So we're gonna get started on them. But I just want you to write down in the comments or in your projects, whatever you prefer. What industry you're going towards who your persona is, which should be already in your project as a template and what type of portfolio you are intending to make for these classes. Keenan except suit. 8. What to Include pt 1: Hey, guys. In a previous video, we were going about how long your portfolio should be, and I said, You should have five key pieces and 5 to 10 Phil pieces, and if you want, you can take Daniel K Pieces to three. The reason you can take it down to three is if you have a case study in there and if you have a lot of developmental and design process stuff, or if their massive projects. For instance, if you have gone and made a 12 page website and an app and branded for one company, that project is enough in its earn, you shouldn't really have to have four other pieces with it. You can have two more complimentary sub pieces that go along with that because you have such a master, show your prospective client or employ already. But what should we be putting in there like? You might be having a hard choice trying to figure out those five pieces. And this is where we turn back to that persona we created before. So my persona he is working agency, so you prefer high end designs over once Dr Done for your local mom and dad businesses because that's more of the clientele that he's gonna be bringing in and more of the work, which I am going to be working on. So instead of bringing up my simple university products, my version for the mechanics, I'm gonna be bringing up the high end U. N UX design I vested for a fake brand, which I did. I'm going to be going through and showing them my maps and flies and event stuff I did for corporate companies. I'm going to be showing them unique print design projects that I've done, which have used high end materials and which really would attract a prospective clients. I so think back to that persona and what they would want to see. Another example is, as I am an illustrator as well. I went to do a Children's book illustration. Now they are going to want to see my Web design, and they're not going to want to see my flies. Eva. They're going to want to see how I can tell a story and what my style is. So instead I'll be including the portfolio, which I do for that, a full storybook book, which I've done we had storyboards included as my main key project. Then I'd include a series of poster designs, which I did for Children's bedroom. And also maybe my third big project I can include in there would be some fabric designs I did for my portfolio itself, which represent Children's work. So can you get a bit more of an understanding off what you need to put in your foot full air now? So I heard you have picked out those five key pieces because we're going to be going into how to capture them in their best flat and bring them into our portfolio. 9. What to Include pt 2 - The Text: your portfolio doesn't just include the pieces which have selected. It also needs to include some information in there. Now you can have AH, portfolio, which is just image is if you're going to speak about it. But I recommend if you're going to be designing it, especially sending it out on e mails to make sure you at least have an introductory statement in there, sort of like a C V, which goes to everyone, which describes in a little more detail more about you, more about your work and also if it's going to be produced and sent out to people, whether it be a magazine, digital or online. I would include case study notes. I'd include design process nuts, so make sure that you have some of this ready that we can pull out and put in trial design 10. Writing your Introduction: so welcome, guys. We're going to be making our introduction. So as you can see here, I have created a template for you which will be in our class materials for creating your introduction. So our introduction stops out simply. Hello, My name is name. I am a profession. I a graphic designer illustrator. You I ux design a three d illustrator. Anything with inside experience. So that would be, for instance, me with five plus years experience. Or you could be like with study experience or 10 years experience, basically wherever you're up to. From then on, I go and say Add previous work environments or education information. So the reason I write this is because you may be someone who's new to the design professional environment, and you may be someone who has gone across many of them like I have. So, in example, I would be writing. I have done remote corporate in house, freelance agency, studio, all that kind of work environment just to show my flexibility in the workforce or if you have educational information, it would be things such as I have a bachelor off design visual communication from Western Sydney University. I graduated with high distinction and a Danes Medal of Honor. So you base. It would go through what kind of information that you have, which is the most exciting and most relevant at the time. Other educational contrition might have. If you didn't work with institute, you could be like I am self taught and I have practice design for four years. Maybe put in a reference for your information or a few online classes that you took or where you have focused your education on, such as he might've been focusing on graphic design or such. Then I want to be von Teoh passions. So your passions of passions inside and outside of your works. It's nice. Include your pattern for design and creative work such as, I don't know, acrylic painting or conclude patterns outside of it, such as I love books and I love animals. And personally, I want to incorporate these passions into my work, so you might want to consider writing something like that in there. Your patrons might include a sport you're addicted Teoh type of Ciardi that year really involved in it might include your religion or anything like that, and also make it something which was relevant to, uh your type employee or persona that we're talking to. Then I want to go down and add work ethic. So work ethic is pretty much how you work a little bit about your process. Whether you are a 9 to 5 are like the opportunity to be able to really think about your work and pull it off. Used Teoh. Foot it out, turn around things like that Really important. Have you worked in groups before? Have you been an art director before? Uh, do you work really well individually with that much assistant? So you wanna kind of think about what the employer would want to hear and things that you're actually any good at? Don't lie in this letter. Next one comes down at an inspiration, so my inspiration might be the world around me. It might be a really great designer, a really great brand, which I also believe that my personal would be interested in actually inspires me. Um and you might even be the work off the place where you aimed to go to might be books, your read stuff like that to putting inspiration. Then we go down for detail off past work. End your focus. Eso When I'm detailing Pasalic. It may be the type of work I've done, like a T M's banners, flyers, websites, paintings, editorial work, all that kind of stuff. Canada's putting the basis of what kind of work you've done, especially if it's interesting and then also on your focus. So in my example, my focus is to get into the book industry. So my focus is on book and editorial design. Also, as you'll notice going here, I got passions with a thick then inspiration, then diesels my work, then notes the viewer. Eso have kind of going a little bit about me living that my work will be about me a little about it. Work a little bit about you at the N s. You want to kind of keep that rhythm going just so it's not boring and, you know, just feeding them. Ah, bunch about your work. I think you want to show that you're a real person to and finally, my note to the viewer of that enthusiasm. So you might be telling them how enthusiastic you are about industry, which you want to work in that you're really are looking forward to being able to work with them, held their clients that you're really enthusiastic about finding design solutions for maybe charity organizations. You're really enthusiastic about working for nonprofits, something that will get them excited to know you. So again, this really leads into your persona, which you're aiming a portfolio at. It has to be something that not only interests you but interest them. So really think about that. And this viewer enthusiasm peace can be a sign off. Or you can sign off with something like, I hope you really enjoy looking at my portfolio and that we can contact each other in the future and perhaps work together. Now, don't forget, this whole introduction is not your cover that you will be writing that separately. So this will be a bit more generic and make sure that what you ran, he don't cross over completely uncover later. Because you don't it to seem like an identical copy, cause then it just seems the lady so make this more a little exciting, a little bit more interesting and much more branded in your voice, if you want and how that means I have a Siri's. I have an e book on my website, www dot car or create home, which is their seniors, Gilligan. And that will tell you about the branding and branding voice and what that's all about. So now I'm going to go through and I am going Teoh quickly, Phyllis, in with all my details and then leave that down for you in the marketing. Sorry. In the material below, just so you can kind of see what I would put in as my introduction. 11. Taking Photos for your Portfolio: Hi, guys. When we're creating out before here, we have Teoh consider the way we're going to present our portfolio pieces. So I want to take you through how you photograph your physical portfolio pieces. And to do this, I'm going to go through to basic pieces that all of you may have if you have a printable earlier. So the 1st 1 will be a magazine or a paged booklet. Uh, this is interesting because you can't show all of it in one guard because there's different spreads. I'm going to talk you through how to take interesting flat lace of the Kaaba and two different spreads, as well as taking a dynamic right of that. Also, along these lines, I am going to go through something which all of us have done at some point, which is business cards. So again, we're going to dio flat lay off the business cards. So we have an understanding off the base design and we're highlighting the design, and then we're gonna go and do a dynamic one which will look extremely interesting in your portfolio, and we'll show that you have a good product knowledge. So as you can see behind me. I have set up a really simple and cheap kind of studio here on basically what it is. It is three pieces off coal, flute or phone board. I have to and White as reflective. And I have my flat lay backdrop which besa shade of gray. The reason I'm using a shade of gray is because I like the turn of it. Especially if you have pieces which are why'd you don't want them against a white background? And it looks really effective when all of my peters had this same beautiful turn of great Hyman in the photos. And it's really easy. Teoh, change the gray into a color inferred shop. If I choose to do so there. So I'm going Teoh, go now and just set up a simple photo using the magazine. I'm gonna be using my trusty d 7 50 to take these photos. You can use a camera or, if you want, even just your mobile phone to create an effective shot. Now, one thing I want to talk to you about my set up is I am going to be shooting from pined. Uh, this kind of backdrop I have here my reflectors because that way I won't have a shadow on my work. And I'm also going to be using daylight land because today is a bit shaded, a bit crowded, and my backyard is quite busy, so I don't get a lot of light in this window. So I'm using a daylight lamp with daylight bulb on, and that is just gonna bring a bit more light into my set up. So let's get started. I'm going to start with a really basic a flat lace it up and take you through how to take the image. And then we'll work Maurin creating a dynamic setups and go through that as well. So I hope you enjoy this process and get some good tips for creating your photography. So, as you can see, I am set out here behind my reflect is my light is coming through with my Renee light directly onto the reflect this and bouncing down onto my work. This is a really quick and easy set up which I really love using. I am just going to you. I'm sure you in the shooting setting, doing my basic flatly off the magazine which I have a right. Yeah. Now, the first thing you want to do, especially if you're doing a booklet, is you want to go through and you want to take a cover and at least two spreads to kind of indicate the design. Feel off what you're going for. You don't want to take a picture of every single spread because that is just going to get a bit men on necessary welling. And you may as well just hand them the magazine instead of doing all this work. So I'm gonna go in. I have my camera. What I'm gonna do, I'm going to set myself up directly over the top off my image and take a picture. I wanted to be as straight on as I can possibly get it. And I want to measure it out so that I can repeat this multiple times with different spreads in my flat lay. Now, yes. Does it be easy using try, but but you're currently sitting on it s so I'm just going through and doing this handheld and just measuring up and making sure that everything is kind of set. And then I was gonna post production it and make sure that everything is in straight lines . So I'm just gonna capture a couple photos. Now hand. You can watch me in the process, and then I'll show you what the results off a great thing. A great thing to use to is the grid, which is on the back of your camera. So if you can see it in here, you'll see that there is a great on the back of my camera. And that's really handy, because that way I can line everything out in straight lines. So I was going to separate this into my spreads. Now and then, we'll get going and finish off these Flatley's for disc image. Okay, so I now have my basic Flatley's. I just took pictures of one on the cool a spread with makes contents, just a show that I have editorial capabilities in multiple types of things. But now I want to kind of livened up my flatly a bit, um, have one magazine. So leveling up the flatly is a lot easier way in creating a dynamic short. Then I'm using multiple, uh, product in the one image for this one for me on. So I'm just going to show you how to bring in just a couple elements onto really freshen up the look off this in our direct on flat lay photography. So I'm sorry that you have your my carpet here as well, but this is just a good position for me to be able to show you things that I enduring Teoh make it mawr off a dynamic flat lay. So this is upside down to you. But that's because I'm shooting from this direction. So it's the way we up for me so I can see fully how all these things work together. So the first thing that I am going to do it introduced some another piece of branding from the same project. Just the show a bit more off dynamics in the product and to be able to display some water resign work that I've done in a subtle way. So I'm just going to sit that there are corn, the corner across the page. This also helps because it weighs down the light half of the magazine for me and I think go in, especially with a magazine such as this, where it is based on more an office environment is going at office supplies. So I'm also going to go in on that same side and at in a Multi Violeta, which I want to have directly parallel to my magazine. You'll see this a lot in mo cops that you can get for branding, just makes it have a little more of a completeness and have a feel for the environment that's around it. I can also go in and add things a leg, bulldog clips if I want. I can add one up here just to make more off a finish to my work. So I'm gonna take a few quick snaps off this spread in its more dynamic setting in this flat lay. And then we're going to get on to doing our business cards and I'll show you how to create a flat lay for them, which is representing them in an idea way. Okay, well was still here in the flat. Lace it up. I want to show how it can set up small atoms such as a business cards or a flyer to make more dynamic instead of just having that's my basis. Come eso. The first thing that you can do is set them up in an organized and disorganized fashion. So I'm going to organized first. Basically, when I want to do is I want Teoh. Highlight the logo, which I have on here. This is for my own design studio. It's just obviously I have a bunch of them. So it's a great way to show you how to highlight a piece of Jim. I have a lot of prior to giving them to clients. And then I'm going to fan out neatly my that calf off my business card because that is still signed. But it's less of the main visual element that I want to see. I'm going to take a picture of this flatly, which is organized and show you right now. And then we'll get onto the disorganized flat leg for a dynamic view off your business. I'm just taking a few quick snaps over this layer, and now we're going to go to the more fun, disorganized last. Basically, what disorganized lab is is a bunch of business cards scattered to fill up the frame. A couple of these, um and this is your school. When I saying this is quite fun, uh, look especially if you want to have it, uh, representing, uh um flatly open page. Going into branding or anything. It is just really cute. So I'm gonna take a picture of this, and then I'm going to organize this layer as well, so you can see those two very of options right now. Now we're going to go through something which isn't a flat light, but is going through how to dynamically represent your work. So I've gone through, and I edited my camera angles. So now I'm looking at this as a background and this as the grounding off my image. I really like having Theis join. Yeah, because it just brings a bit more of a visual aesthetic to image instead of just a split color. So when I'm going to do now is I am going Teoh dynamically display business card. So I am going through. I've got a stack of my business, Katia, and I am going to put them here in the corner. Now I'm going to try and make them as Nias possible, which may? It's quite a challenge. Then I'm going to go through and rest one of my business cards with the details face on it and then go through and add a new element to it, which is my bulldog clip. I am just simply clipping it to the base of my business cut, making sure it doesn't cover any of the visual assets. And this is great because then it acts as a stand for my business card, sets it up on an angle and makes a very interesting design to work with. So I'm gonna go through and captured this and show you what it looks like in the final image. Bigger. I have a more dynamic display on my business cards that I can use as a hero image and then angry Studer and add in my other images, which will show case the design rather than the overall visual aesthetic. I can go in and Aiken dio the same thing he with my booklet designed right now and then we will have finished up on offered issues for our physical elements to go into a portfolio. I recommend doing this with all off your elements that you could possibly go that can go in as a print element to a portfolio, because that way, um, you know that you have the image or be there for in case you need it. So, you know, to with this whole photo shoot, What I've done is I have set out my camera directly next to my light, so my shudder isn't going onto this. So the light is not behind me. But next, me while I'm during Theus, forward facing she. So I really hope you guys enjoyed the process and got a bit of an understanding about how to take good flatly and dynamic product pictures for your portfolio. Now, I want you to go ahead and take these for any key elements you have, which are print based or physical based on Ben. We will go through in the next lesson and go into photo shop and just edit them and brush them off a bit to make them a little more effect did in a portfolio. So I'll see you in the next episode. 12. Editing Your Portfolio Images: So I have come in tow light room here, and we are going to go through a quick tutorial on how to edit your photos. Now I'm using light room because I have the Adobe CC, so it's really easy for me to go through an editor through here. But you can use any available voter editing software. You'll just be really great if yourself ahead capability to bring what edit have done on one voter through to the rest. So I have open up my first photo in the batch, and as you can see, it's a little bit, uh, warm for my taste. I want toe bring a little bit cool out to kind of retain the color and the aesthetic of the time. That's the most important thing we're doing. Is they sure that we retain the color and look, the other thing we want to go for is really clean space around it. We don't want there to be any issues with clutter around it, because the whole point of these images are to showcase your designs. So I have gone through of slyly at the violence. See, I've changed the temperature of up the exposure and I've changed a contrast, just to make it look like the design does in real life, not getting rid of the vignette ing in the corners. And then I am going to start getting rid of that mess in the quarter my photo cause I want to make sure there's enough white spaces possible. I don't want to just crop in my image. What I'm during two is I'm going to take the edit, which I did on that exposure on Go through all of my explosions that I've done and correct them cause all of them were taken with the case and cameras aiding same lighting set up in everything which is perfect for in your trainer. Make a portfolio piece because now all of my photos across the board will be consistent and look really beautiful inside our portfolio. So I'm is gone and synchronized olders settings across my images. You can see I'm just shooting back and forth between them to make sure that all of them do have those changes in place. So as you can go now, I'm just going through and I'm going Teoh be doing the final tweaks on inch of the now all from across the board. So and getting rid of that big, ugly white triangle in the corner using my, uh, spot edit tool, my brush and just going through. And I'm going to be using the heel and method, and I'm just gonna heal it. So it looks grey like Chris, my background. There's another great thing about using, uh, playing background rather than a patterned background, because you know that if there's any issues on it, she can really quickly fix them up. I know I think can do. If you want your photos to have a little bit of a natural texture in them, you can go through in. Do you put different backgrounds to elements? But I would use that more in a dynamic approach rather than for your flat lays. For instance, you can use a really nice would tabletop. You can have them sitting with implantable that kind of stuff, But I wouldn't have all of your project on the same patterned background because then it gets a bit monotonous instead of clean on and just ill books. No as good as if you were present to get in this way. Don't forget to. You want to make sure that you struggle your images because having everything slightly crooked will b'more obvious, especially when you start laying out your photos in the grid system that we will be using in our portfolio. So that's basically had it at a single image. Ah, we can go through and continue. Do these edits old throughout. I just want to remind you that we are supposed to be doing simple edit to doing anything to dynamic Teoh. Drastically change the color or appearance off your project. He told on a change of tints or anything like that. You just wanted to look as natural as possible. That is your focus. You wanted to look as if they're saying the project in real life. So argument going through all of those. And then, once you've gone through all your photos, we are going to export them as high resident Excuse euonymus Higher. Is this possible? Just so they're looking nice and slick in your design, and then we'll be able to put them into design for a portfolio 13. Creating a Mockup: Okay, guys. So we have made our photographs and with edited them. But we might have things that aren't a physical thing to be displayed. They might be you, I or you X or a website. Or they could even be a logo or a or a product packaging brand that we just don't have the physical copy off, or even just test process that we've done, which actually turned out really well, which you want my portfolio. So to work with these, we need to get a mock up. So more cops you can create yourself or you can go online. And five great mo cups at two places, which I really like is one graphic burger where they have free and paid more cups. Everything from T shirts to logo's at the latest technology drink bottles everything, and they're all high quality. Another place I like isn't Mokaba World. Our market world again has free and paid more cups. But you good news and I tend to keep a quite big collection of them on my computer of any time. I need to use a market for myself or a client. There's plenty of places you can also go on the Internet, You just type in a frame. A couple markup, whatever you need, and you can find them. But I want to teach right now. How do I make you earn So I have gone in and just taken a photo off my laptop on my desk, and I've left that down in the class materials for you. See, you can expect it to and what it's gonna go through, how to make a mock up on my computer so we can sure, in this case, my website, but want people in how to do it. You could put anything you want onto this computers group. So that's what you want to do is get to a rectangle tal and just make a rectangle in the size off your screen capture or ever you're going to do that is going to place directly onto your work. So I'm gonna show you minds about 3000 by 2000 pixels. I think that's what my screen capture came out as. But you never know. I put in the point eights because I idea, say, pointing. I just can't remember exactly what the rest it was, but this is gonna work just fine for us. So we're gonna put that in, just drag your rectangle onto a screen. Then I went to you to go to your rectangle in your latest panel. And this is all in for a shock, by the way, and we're just gonna convert it to a smart object. So the great thing now is that anything we do to our rectangle, the contents of it is now going. Teoh, move with it So you can put anything, you go on your rectangle, and that is gonna walk with it so you don't after walk every single separate piece of content. So I'm gonna go transform and walk. You can perspective what would make it easier. But I really want to make this of super accurate in my camera did a little bit of warping itself and kind of bulged out my laptop. So I really want to make sure I hit those curves. It's created on the screen as a basically, this is just the bit a little bit. You just go through, get your corners tow line up, get your registration at first and then that grid in the middle. You kind of just want to make it flat because we're working with a flat laptop service After all. You'll also notice here that I have a pencil, which is going to be sticking over the screen, and I deliberately did that just so I can show you how toe deal with others like that also makes your mock ups in a little more realistic when there's other objects in it. The whole point of this is the show what your website, or whatever it is that you're putting in German Cup would look like in reality, like in its actual space. That's the great thing about what tools that can grow up any point, like any intersection of lines. And I can play with them. And I can also play with these, uh, different, I guess. Polygonal tools as if I was working with the pen told, which is just fantastic. So just continue to refine this until you're happy with it again. As I said, we're working with a laptop, so you had a bit more of a flat base, you on a flat grid. But let's say you were make creating on Look out for a magazine. Your page might be curved, and so the water hole is really great to make That's slightly curved surface. So when you import stuff into a rectangle, it'll kind of match along that mesh and give it a more organic feeling rather than being fleck tech stuck straight on to your design. So after a bit of tweaking, I'm happy with that now. So as you could say, it kind of looks good. Um, next I want to go in, I have that'll set up. I want to go into my rectangle shape now. So I'm gonna double click the smart object to open it up. And here I am going to place in my screen capture, which you guys will have to, uh, just called Khar or create screen and then bring it up to the truck on and have that all set in there, and it will pretty much be ready to go from there on. Obviously, I got my measurement a little wrong for my screen capture. Look like, um, I wasn't paying enough attention, so I'm just quickly changing my background color to match that background off my website. In cleaning it up a bit, you might have to do this with any screen capture that you have to. So as you can see, my brain wasn't working on 100% just then. It took a second, but yeah, I'm just gonna metal up and have that set. And then we can go look at what it would look like in my mocha so you can include many elements you want. You can even build a fake page in here. You don't just have have a screen capture, you could build your entire website. Exactly. And I to show a client It's really great on having that whole accepting. And they go now. It looks like, uh, my screen captures actually on my computer Now we want to go do is we just wanna, um, mask at where that pencil is, just to make it a bit more dynamic. So basically, I've just gone in going into the mass tour, added a mask to my rectangle object, and I'm just going Teoh pay in with black because black, it's delete and paint out that pencil shape too. Uh, make sure that it looks, hon percent like it was really on the screen and not just, um, may placing in my mock up. It's the little details that make more cups. Really? What? Um and that's also why I chose an angle for my picture of rather than straight on, because straight on it, if you do a more cop, it looks a little more obvious. So it's a bit a bit more interesting. If we have that slight angle in there Now we're almost done. You can leave it like this. The last thing you can do is add a little bit of extra touch by going in and adding a little bit of a shine to a screen, which kind of blends in a bit off your mock up and your photograph. So I'm just going in. I am adding, uh, another piece to it. I am going to add in, um, with my pen tal a diagonal line cutting across my screen, Um, and basically going to fill the hole top half of my screen with it. Really, uh, low opacity shine. You can even dio something where you just make it glow a bit around the edges of your screen like, but that's more effective in eight docks and are a light one. Ah, which I have here. And don't forget to make sure that you go with the subtle curves in your layout. So I've made my shape change its color. Then I can go and make final adjustments if I feel like it in the adjustments window, but you can't see it. You can find it in your windows pain. But mine is already up right there. And you can change like things like cubs and levels. Anything you want to really refine it all, you can come down and do what I'm doing, which is just going maintain capacity. Don't forget this bull. The different options change pasties. So I really have a play with that. No, it doesn't really have a huge effect just being directly on my screen. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take it over the whole glass surface off the laptop just because I find that that is more interesting. So I'm going to use my direct election tool and just pull up my design and create a more dynamic look, you don't have to do this touch, but I just really do think that you just makes the mock up a little bit more realistic. then go ahead if you want, and duplicate your layer mask and bring it on to that at the layers. Well, if needed, I don't need to because it's actually resting atop of my pencil. I'm just gonna keep it on the main layer. But there you go. That is what my book up and now looks like. So if you say this appears defile, you could basically reuse it over and over and over again. All you have to do is go to your rectangle and make sure you right here Tae Seo out work. Yeah, and basically, you can just go into a rectangle change whatever you like. And boom, there's something else on that computer screen. Simple as changing your Web browser. So I'm gonna leave that there. Few I have left down this mock up predawn few, but I'd really like you to try and make it yourself with the photo in the screen capture that I have provided. I have also left this finish book up for you to show you as an example so you can see how close you get to the original thing. So I really hope that you enjoyed this class and then now we can go in, put all of our photos and mock ups into our actual portfolio design. 14. Three Simple Layouts for your Portfolio: welcome to the three templates that I have created for you guys. I want to run you through quickly what these three templates are and how you can work with , um Now I just want to put a little bit precursor here. Obviously, you're here as a creative because you're building a portfolio. So these templates designed as a base for you to get started from and you don't have to use of all the characters 1000 everything I've put in there, it is just a basis to make it move a bit faster for you. And you have a little bit of a template to work from. Also, I would recommend looking at your persona and your ideal candidate and your ideal job and going through and seeing what their branding. And there are editorial and digital work. Well, looks like so you can kind of bring a bit of that style into it. So going through the template, I have basically set up three templates that will have pages and I go on and give them old great boxes to indicate the pitches. And each of them have a title page in four different variant layouts for each of them. So the 1st 1 I'm taking you through is of the eight for digital, which basically is just a A for horizontal digital layout. So it's that off. It has a nice full blade image, and then it goes through. Have cleared, put full, you're hitting space for name. Then I go down, and I have a place which is kind of perfect to add Your introduction, which we were working on. A few key images at the next board, is great, especially if you have a case that because he have one key image and then you can go through and have at three variables, I am going to use this as a place to highlight a magazine that I've worked on because it's great to have frieze beds and that your dynamic image the third spread I've given you to play with is simple. It's just got a bit of text and a big highlight image, So if you have that one key piece for a product you just want to highlight with little bit of information, that's great. And then the last one is kind of the style that I'm going forward to just do our big, bold just image paid is on, which is especially great if you're doing a conversion for your digital portfolio to also be your portfolio. When you go and see interviews, you also see throughout all of them I have paragraph sells for your body subheadings, main headings, body text and taglines. I just put that in which so it'll be really easy for you to just go in and tweak them. Do you add your urn branding instead of having to, like, change all of them all of the individual piece of text throughout Eso I'm Yeah, I'm really excited about these A science. This is probably in my favorite and what I'm going to use because it is the digital based one. As I told you previously, I'm creating a digital based portfolio because I work remotely and freelance a lot. The next one I wanted to take you through is a portfolio template which is a five spreads print and digital. So basically it has the same route one heading four different ha spreads and heading out to set up to be print. But to make a digital, all you want to do is make another page and make it go horizontal and basically convert the designed to horror horizontal rather than vertical. How? Which is quite easy to do as you can see here I have a portfolio heading. Then in the bottom corner, I have extra details, which it kind of it states more like a business card, your name, your number, your website and your email just so people have a direct contact You at this I would put on the back page of our other digital one, but I just thought it was really good to show the option. Putting on the front. Then I have a spread with one nice deep image to show an example of your introduction. Then we go down out. This is a bit of RK city spread, and this is a continuation where you can show multiple images on one spread with a bit of text detail in there with especially great if you want to share one dynamic and one flat lay photo of your products black we were creating in our photography section off our tutorials. Finally, I have another version off the two picture layout where you control dynamic and original flat lay um, and a tiny bit of text in there. Finally, I've gone to the A four Spreads print, which is basically for an a four magazine, so it's quite affordable for you to print. But it's still big super people dynamically a work, same thing. Put fully heading are your name website email, phone number. But it also included a locus. You can include your individual branding. Now I recommend you play over this however you like. I just put in a quick, different kind of take on the other templates that I've done. But you could easily just do a fool. I believe image on that with your own typography. This is set up like my introduction page. So I have an article one full bleed spread and then here we get to our finance for our case study. Now, I can fit five images on this spread which really clean dynamic, looking out with a lot of white space and then moved on. This one is really great to be combined with the top one. If we're dealing with ah websites and you I design or even publication because I can go through and in each of those bricks I have here have step in my process different pages for my layout or ah, the pages for my you I And then finally I have my big ice cold it new section spread, But you can just use it as a big spread just to really highlight Ah, specific product that you want to a talking piece. But I like as new section because that way can go through and maybe your leg a designer end a branded designer and your eye designer and split the weapons different sections again. I've got my body bodies up head, uh, sections all lined up there and in a my pages. If you go to a master, I will also have your, uh, headers and footers of your pages. Praise it up. So I hope you enjoyed looking through your, uh, three templates. They are all downloadable in the port, uh, old downloadable in the cost materials. And I also included, along with the in design files, the pdf files just so you can see the design and also all of the's designs have a grid system, so you can easily up use them and change them to your lacking 15. Building and Branding your Portfolio: So now we have our template and we have all of our assets and our text. So we're gonna go through now and use our template to create our portfolio. So I'm not going to change too much of the text or anything, because that is really up. Teoh, don't forget you have your introduction, which you should include an any, uh, notes that you have taken on specific designs. Case studies have done into signs and stuff like that. So I'm gonna go through, and I'm gonna be using the A four digital template just to show you what you can do. Don't forget, these templates are just a starting spot for you. You don't have to stick with the funds and everything that are in there. I am because I want to show you with the base, wants that you get on your computer and in Theodore be sweet and not with my branding, which I can show you in later videos. So best thing I'm gonna do is I'm going to go through, and I'm basically just going to use all of the five pages that already have selected there and just putting him just to show you what this will look like with your ideal, uh, pitches in it with your mock up in it on. Really start expressing what these templates he used for. So all you have to do and click on the box go to the J pigs that you have accessible to. These will be all the photos that you have taken all your mock ups and just drag and drop that into a box. And then you just go and re size that you arranged to suit. It's a simple as that and then you can repeat the process over and over again for all the rest of the images throughout your document. - Okay , so as you guys can see, I've gone in and I filled in all of the images now and I just wanted to show you a few quick tips that you can do with them. As you can see, my bottom two images they are a different shade off the gray behind just because the way of editing, because they were done in a previous shoot, So we can do it simply go up to links panel right click, confirm at it with, and just adjust the color until all of your images. Matt, if you're like me and have done little shoots another thing I wanted to show you on. What I believe is Page three of the document is I have two photos of the cover of the magazine, and I don't think of for these shows at the best of what the magazine is. So I want to change this big one over, and I want it to be off another spread in the magazine because I think that that hurts until access would be a lot better for it. So I'm just going to go in, grab that photo from my school share class, uh, pieces. And then I'm gonna plunk that in, and I think that is gonna be much better. Use off the specs. So there you go. It's already showing more of my editorial work in there. Um and then I could just simply go in and just the tagline of It s so there's a bit of a descriptor in there describing that it's for a magazine I made for a previous sign company that I worked at on Dykan. Go through and change the tagline of every single one of my images just to make it a little bit. Nyssa. As I said, I'm not gonna do the rest of the text as you guys already have. Oil text ready. And this is just an example, but it just helps you see the renter of what you can do now. What's that when it's talk about branding this so you could go in and change all of the text that there. If I did, I would change it to my to branch bonds and add in some graphic elements in my colors. So I have a colors panel in my library, which has the five K colors off my brand on, and I'd probably put some of them in for aesthetic and bring a little bit more to it a bit more individual ism. But as I said, this is a great template to get you started, and the white space in it is actually the key because the more spacey Haran your design, the more focus it is on your designs and your products rather than at the world's end of your portfolio. Your portfolio really has toe have that hidden design. You don't really want it to be too flashy because you don't want to take away from the pieces, which you're presenting to your prospective clients. Prospective employers, Because don't forget the whole point of your portfolio. You show you to them and they don't need all that extra stuff to do with. Well, I'm going to my portfolio, I thought. A couple great tips of things you can add in your about me page. You could include a photo of yourself, maybe a dynamic photo where it's a portrait of yourself doing something that you're passionate about really connecting with your insurer. You could show a design process diagram. I have done them a few times. They're really great, are pretty much going through, like what your timeline would be, what your process would be for seven documents here on the screen. You'll just be seeing now me going through. My libraries have a brand new computer, so obviously they can't access the funds because I have put the fronts on yet. But it's a great example of how I can set up your brand to and to make it easier to work across off your different asset, I will be going through that for designers in a future video. Anyway, I also going back to design. I wanted to talk to you a bit about making this front page a lot more interesting. Eso I'm keeping with all the key funds because ever said my computer doesn't currently have different continent, but I want to make it more visible. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna add a radiant in front off my picture. Just so there's a bit more at legibility there for you to be able to see my portfolio heading in. My name s Oh, my portfolio heading and my name and going to be in white. And I'm gonna put a black radiant behind it, which is going to be multiplied so it looks more natural. This is great. If you have a busy image behind your text just to alleviate some of that eye strain and increase the eligibility and readability off your documents, you have any questions on doing this? I just let me know in the comments, and I'd be more than happy to help you out with simple tips and tricks such as this also. Great. If you're doing a video headers end where Bennis two have a trick. Black this up your sleep. So they go. That is my completed cover page for my digital portfolio. So I really hope that you enjoy looking through this document working with it. I will just be leaving at this vision for you as a pdf. Just an example of how you can use the assets that I've given you. The templates that I've given you to create something fresh for your portfolio and I can't wait to see your portfolio. So if you do create them, whether it's for print based or digital, can you please believe a pdf link to them? Or if you made a website a screenshot of it in the project section off this class, I would so much appreciate it. Thank you so much for coming along on this adventure and creating a portfolio with me. Don't forget to do the products. All the material you need will be in the materials for this class, and I cannot wait to see all the work of Don and the portfolio. It's a lot more work than you think. It's a lot of work before actually creating the fully, but trust me this is worth it. And if you follow all of the tips and guys that I have given you, I promise you that you are going not get a lot more interviews. And you are going to be over more hirable asset to the people who you want to get hired by . So thank you again for joining me in this course. If you want to see more courses like this, just check me out on skill share. I have plenty. Or Grove is my website. Have a great day and I'll see you in a new clause.