No. 28 — Portfolio sites, why they’re important, and how to make a good one (ft. Alysia Alex)
What’s on the menu for 10/6/23
I have a treat for you today: a guest contributor! I’m going on vacation in a couple of weeks and in an effort to get ahead on these newsletters (and make them extra good, because I don’t want to let you down!) I’ve invited a special guest to help me out: my dear friend Alysia Alex!!! In place of our usual creative suggestion/personal recommendation/artist to know format, Alysia is here to share her wisdom in what makes a good portfolio (and how to build one yourself.)
Alysia is the friend I go to the most for advice, so much so that we joke that she’s my unpaid agent (although I am not so secretly hoping that someday she’ll become my ACTUAL agent.) Her career has taken her all over the art world, from commercial galleries to art fairs and, luckily for me, the desk next to mine at ban.do, where she built the brand’s artist program from nothing to something great. Her passion for supporting artists and their careers was clear the second we met, so it’s been really exciting to watch her make an impact in higher education. Now the Director of Career and Professional Development at ArtCenter, Alysia prepares students for life beyond art school by way of workshops, mentorship programs, portfolio reviews and tons of other things I wish I had access to when I was trying to figure it all out.
I feel so lucky to not only have a great friend in Alysia but a valuable resource: over the years she’s helped me hone in on my business goals, price my services, advocate for myself, and envision the potential in my future. So I’m very, very excited to invite her to share some of that expertise with all of you, especially if you’re navigating a creative career.
I’ll let Alysia take it away…
A few times a year, I lead a workshop for Art & Design students called "You Need A Portfolio Website." I leave little room for nuance with that name because I really do believe that, aside from your talent, a portfolio website is one of the most impactful tools you have to help build your creative career. If the internet is a city, your portfolio website is your gleaming storefront that says, “Come on in, I'm open!” It's prime real estate to showcase the work you do, tell your story, and appeal to future clients, employers, galleries, collaborators, or anyone you're hoping to work with. Basically, ya gotta have one!
I also know that portfolio websites are a giant pain in the butt. Not one creative professional I know finds it fun to update their website and I especially know that if you're starting from scratch, you'd sooner rather die than begin. It can feel impossible to synthesize all your work, ideas, and personhood into a few pages. AND it's supposed to look good? Riiiight.
But I promise it doesn’t have to be complicated. After having spent years looking through many portfolio websites (the good, the bad, and unfortunately, the ugly) from the client end, as a talent sourcer, and now on the education side, I’ve gathered some tips, tricks, and best practices that I hope will be helpful as you start building your own or work towards an update. Remember it can—and should be—a creative process in and of itself. You’ve got this!
1. THE BASICS:
Regardless of how you design your website, the below is the bare minimum you’ll need on there.
Your name.
This seems straight forward, but you’d be surprised. Your name can be your given name, your chosen name, a studio name—it doesn’t matter. Be sure the name you use is consistent across your website, resume, and any other professional materials you put out into the world.
Your bio.
This is the page I see missing the most on portfolio websites. Don’t skip this! This is where you get to tell your story. Your bio should cover who you are, your location, your work, and your inspirations. You can add a professional photo here too (and professional does not have to mean boring; just don’t crop yourself out of a group shot and call it a day.)
Your contact information.
Create a page that makes it easy for someone to reach out to you. I’d skip using forms that require people to submit their information; most clients and recruiters prefer sending messages directly via email from their own accounts.
A domain name.
Most website builders offer default URLs like www.georgiaokeeffe.squarespace.com. If you’re able I’d recommend upgrading to a custom URL without the company name, like www.georgiaokeeffe.com, for a more professional appearance. It’s a small detail that makes a big difference in the eyes of a client or hiring manager.
Your work.
The main event! This is why people are coming to your website so your work should be front, center, and VERY easy to find. I once had an art director tell me they spend 8-10 seconds on each website they look at when hiring for a project. That’s a fast first impression, so you want to avoid making people dig because unfortunately, most will not.
[Editor’s note: I don’t know if I am the art director Alysia is talking about here, but I can confirm that this is true.]
And speaking of your work…
2. ORGANIZING YOUR WORK:
This is often the hardest part about building a portfolio website but it’s also the most important. Good organization is what makes a portfolio website shine and to do so while maintaining sanity, I like to use the following four steps:
Curate.
You do not have to include every project you have ever made on your website. Instead, lay out all your projects in front of you (probably in folders on your computer) and take time to reflect on the work that best represents your skills and the work you want to be doing currently. What work excites you the most? What are you most proud of? This may change over time (and actually should be ever-evolving) but it’s important to start with this step so that you’re displaying your best.
Categorize.
There is no magic number for the amount of projects or work to have on your website; the key is in how you organize those projects for ease of viewing. You can do this by creating categories. For example, if you’re an illustrator that works across multiple mediums, you might have categories that look like this:
— Fashion Illustrations
— Editorial Illustrations
— Client Work
— Paintings
— Drawings
— Comics
— Zines
…and so on.
Organizing your projects by category makes it easy for viewers to find what they are looking for and allows you to display more of your work effectively.
Provide context.
It’s easy to forget that most people are coming to your website with no understanding of who you are or what type of work you make. This is why it’s important to provide some sort of context to each of your projects or artworks once you’ve organized them. Potential clients especially like to know your thinking behind your work and what your process or approach was.
Context will look different for everyone depending on the type of work you do, but in general, context can look like:
— A project name
— A project description
— The brief or the problem you solved
— Process images and sketches
— Credits if you worked with a team
— The client name if this was work for hire
— The exhibition name
— The artwork name and dimensions
Sort for Relevancy.
Once you’ve curated the work, organized it into categories, and provided context, the last step is to sort it all by order of relevance.
For instance, let’s say you’re a filmmaker who primarily works on commercial projects but you also do photography and community organizing. All of it speaks to you as a creative and makes sense to have on your website, but currently you’re actively seeking work as a commercial filmmaker. This means your commercial filmmaking work should be the first thing people see when they come to your website. Then, if they’re able to spend more time looking around, they’ll see your photography and community organizing categories and can easily navigate the site because you’ve organized everything so clearly.
Essentially, your homepage and first few projects should solely be about the type of work you want to be doing or the work you most want to be known for, if you’re not actively seeking clients or jobs.
3. “IF A PORTFOLIO WEBSITE IS BORN ON THE INTERNET BUT NOBODY GOOGLES IT, DOES IT EVEN EXIST?”
By now you’ve gathered that the most effective portfolio websites are ones that get your story across, feel intentional and easy to navigate, and create an environment that makes someone want to stay a while and get to know you and your work more. Organization is queen, context is key, and relevancy is your secret weapon!
But none of that means anything if nobody sees it. The chance of someone stumbling across your website randomly on their own is pretty slim, so don’t forget to share it! Everywhere.
Once it’s ready to shine you can add it to your résumé, link to it from all of your socials, and most importantly, share it with your creative community! I hope you’ll share it with me too.
Okay hi, it’s Ali again. Do you see why I go to Alysia for every one of my little questions? A genius. If you’re looking for resources in the art world give her a follow on Instagram—every Wednesday she shares a roundup of jobs, grants, programs, art shows, and more. She’ll be back here again in a couple of weeks with more helpful advice for creatives (this time in a paid subscriber newsletter, so upgrade if you don’t want to miss it.)
See you next week.
x
Ali
In case you missed it:
Last week’s Notes Of was library themed! I wrote a bit about what I do when my idea just isn’t working and, per usual, shared ten book-themed links.
Paid subscribers were introduced to a new column called Specials last month. Each month’s Specials will include 15 things (thoughts, articles, life updates, etc.) that I’ve been collecting over the few weeks prior…they’re sort of the open tabs of my brain.
I gave a little tour of my inspiration bin and talked about my dream organization system.