Graphic Design Resumes & Portfolios (Part 2)

Here is the long awaited Part 2 of my discussion about Graphic Design portfolio and resumes. I know you’re excited, please maintain your composure.

In my last blog post I discussed some differences between what makes a good resume and a bad resume. This time around, I will be talking about portfolios and what makes an effective portfolio. There are three important things to keep in mind when creating your portfolio site.

1. Navigation – Can the viewer navigate your site easily? Can they find what they’re looking for? Keep your navigation clean and simple so that visitors to your site do not have to search for it. Also, if you want to have a splash page when someone first views your site, make sure its easy to navigate. There is nothing worse than being greeted by a splash page and then being stuck there with no hope for escape. Simple is best!

2. Work – Obviously you will need a page to display your work. You want to keep the gallery portion of your project page very clean and simple too. If you want to separate your pieces such as print and web, certainly do so but don’t get confusing with it. You want clear titles so that the viewer knows what they are looking at. Make sure your thumbnails are large enough and contain enough detail about the projects to peak the viewers interest. Tiny images are not going to look attractive on the page and neither is a thumbnail of the corner detail of the serif of a letter form. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

3. About You – This is your portfolio, include some information about yourself. You can also include your resume on the site so that potential employers who find your site have easy access to it. Keep the about you section short and concise. There is no need to ramble on about your childhood, simply talk about how you got to where you are today, what inspires you, and where you hope to go.

Now for the examples of portfolio sites!

Foundry Collective

I think this site is a really great example of a portfolio site. Now, this isn’t a personal website but still take note! The navigation is really easy to see and easy to understand. There is a fantastic use of a grid which makes the web page look very organized and clean. The page is not too simple that the viewer would become bored but rather entices the eye with large, interesting images. Also, I am really loving the text. It’s a good balance between the clean, modern white space and the serif typeface.

Buffalo

Also not a personal site but another great example of using the grid system (in a new and interesting way). The site uses a great sense of symmetry to create a clean space. The color scheme really pops against the light background and the design uses the black logo and type to create hierarchy (I’m really digging the logo). The navigation is also easy to see and neatly organized. Clicking on an image takes the viewer to a page where they can learn more about the project. Remember, when creating a website, you want to emphasize your work above all.

Made Like Me

And here we have a personal portfolio site! Now this one is a little different than traditional sites simply because the home page is the portfolio page. This designer opts to showcase his work first and foremost without messing around with silly things like home pages or splash pages (who even needs those?). He is very clear about what he wants the viewer to see. Look at his work. Look at it! The thumbnails are a great size and show just enough detail of the projects. The only critique I would have for this is that there is no description for the projects. I have absolutely no idea what these are for. Does he do them in his spare time? Are these illustrations commissioned? Any information would be fantastic.

I’ve been giving a lot of love to grid based designs (I can’t help it, they’re too sexy) so I’m going to shift my focus to something a little different…

Jesse Willmon’s 2013 DESIGN-TACULAR

“What is this monstrosity?!” you may be screaming at this exact moment, but lets take some time to examine this website. This is actually a splash page and any picture you click will take you to the actual website and the page of the project. Yes, it took me a second to figure it out, but those doodles were too fun to pass up. Another important aspect when making a portfolio website, inject your personality into it! Add some color, add some spice. When looking at this portfolio, I get this person’s aesthetic and personality right away (Whovian? Right on man.)

The navigation is clear, and you can see that this guy has done some really awesome projects. I may or may not be a little jealous. There could be more white space around the site and each project title but at this point I’m just nitpicking.

As you can see from the above examples, they kept their portfolio pieces the main priority. Remember to keep plenty of white space around your images and text and use big thumbnails. Add a little of your personality into your portfolio and show employers how great you’ll be to work with. After all, employers are looking for exciting talent and personality, not robots (yet).

Graphic Design Resumes & Portfolios (Part 1)

I have browsed the internet for portfolio and resume design inspiration many, many times. I have read countless posts showing fun and innovative resumes. I have seen so many crazy, over the top resumes and portfolio designs that I’ve lost track. Why do designers do this? The most important thing I’ve learned in class is from a design professor who absolutely adores crazy and colorful things. His designs are over the top and gorgeous and he’s not afraid to break boundaries. However, when it came time for the class to create their portfolio sites he said something very important to us,

“Let the work speak for itself.”

As designers, we are tempted to throw as much skill and talent as we can manage at potential employers. We want them to notice our work and notice how good we are at it. However, crazy resumes and portfolios are not the way to go. The most beautiful, innovative designs I’ve seen are from designers who use their resources to make their work the most important thing. They realize that potential employers are not there to look at their website but to look at their work. They want to see how you develop ideas and create innovative solutions to design problems.

I’ll break down a couple of examples of good and bad resumes and website designs and explain what works and what does not. In this post I’ll break down some resumes and then move on to portfolio sites in a later post.

Bad Resumes

This is a fantastic design piece, however this is a bad resume. There is so much information on the page that the eye doesn’t know where to look. A resume should have a sense of flow and a sense of hierarchy however this doesn’t highlight any specific points and the information gets lost in the design. I’m not saying that a resume should be thrown together in a word document but it should be clear and easy to understand. Obviously this designer is really good at what she does, however the important information that a potential employer would be looking for is not clear. Resumes are no place for an infographic.

Again with the infographics. Employers will not want to dissect everything on your resume to make sense of the information. It’s too much work, they’ll move on to the next resume. Most recruiters only look at a resume for about 20 seconds. Of course this will vary between job types, but that is a very small amount of time to gather information. How much information about this person will they be able to read in 20 seconds?

Good Resumes

Easy to read does not mean boring. You can make your resume clear to understand but still insert a little bit of personality into it. Take this example, the information is separated into clear columns, The most important information is at the top and there is fantastic use of type throughout the resume. You want to use the type to create hierarchy information and highlight important information. There is a good use of white space throughout the document so nothing is too cramped and there is a good break up of text so that the information is not running together.

Another clear, easy to read resume. Again, just because the resume is clean and easy to understand does not mean it’s boring. This designer has displayed that she understands layout and typography really well and uses color to emphasize certain points of the resume. The only problem I could potentially see with this resume is that the blue might fade out a lot if it gets copied which could make the type hard to read. However, the overall design is very strong.

So the next time you get the temptation to throw all of your design talent onto your resume, stop. Think about what the most important information is and what you want the recruiter or potential employer to get from your resume. You only have a short amount of time to make an impression. Make it count.