What makes a good Portfolio?

What makes a good portfolio? Every student or prospective employee will ask themselves this question at one time or another. What should I show? What would be the best way to show off my work? How can I sell myself and put myself above the crowd?

This type of thinking is enough to send anyone into madness. In this blog, I will discuss what I think is the best way to get your portfolio organised to differentiate yourself from those around you. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

1. Think about what you're going to show off!

Who you're trying to attract will dictate which parts of your work you should show off. You should make sure that you are showing off only your best work and that the work is relevant to people you are targeting. Don't show off a side project about web design to an engineering firm. 

Remember to show off only the collection of your best work too. People won't sift through your work for long if at all so you want to show them what you've got the very moment their eyes set upon your work. Keep the work you present precise, you want someone to be able to see you put the thought and time in to impress.

The above class diagram is easy to read, it is laid out in clean manner that allows the viewer to understand the class's relationships to each other easily.

This class diagram is a mess. Note that this is exactly the same set of classes. One has just been crammed into a smaller space to show more detail at once. However it has been done in a way that has made the diagram harder to read. This demonstrates the need for clarity when presenting work.


These diagrams were created by myself as a brief example.

2. Variety is best

When someone looks at your work they are looking for that special something that's different. In the creative industries, this is particularly poignant and you must use this to your advantage. Make sure your potential viewer sees a wide selection of your work to show off your many talents. Show that special something that you worked extra hard on that is just that bit different from everyone else's work. 

Showing off a variety also tells a potential employer that you have an array of skills while stopping them from getting bored while staring at the same old same old they just looked at. Providing context helps too with some of the more obscure work, a logo or a block of code that may otherwise have little context.

3. Accessibility

Is your portfolio best suited to the physical environment? The digital? Both? Making access to your portfolio easy is paramount when you want someone to see your work. A blog is certainly a good place to start showcasing some of your work!

If it's a physical portfolio you're going for then you'll need to select your work and physically setup a folder with your work in it that you can carry around. If it's digital then you can show of your work in the form of a website. There are many sites out there that offer to set one up for you (for a small fee of course) and you can make the most out of their infrastructure that way. You could create your own website from scratch if you felt the need or wanted to show off your work in a unique way. 

Online repositories are also very helpful if you're looking to show of technical work. Sites like GitHub or Bit Bucket will host and make your work available for download. Sites like these provide a unifying space for the often diverse and incompatible work that comes with things like coding and game design.

Both of these sites make popular online repositories for the budding and experienced coder/developer.



Out of all the advice to be given about creating a portfolio I've found these cardinal rules to be the best base to stick to when you are trying to grapple with this problem. With time you'll become much better and so will your portfolio!