Be picky and show how it’s done – 5 tips to improve your portfolio

Last week Adobe was present at the very first night edition of OFFF in Antwerp. Bram Vanhaeren and Musketon, both well-known graphic designers, spread their knowledge during workshops and portfolio reviews. Young creatives had the chance to have their portfolio reviewed by Bram and Musketon in one-on-one review sessions with lots of personalized tips and advice. Missed the whole thing? No problem these creative magicians created 5 tips to improve your work.

TIP 1 – DO WHAT YOU LOVE
Create things you like. Your portfolio needs to reflect your personality and style. Audiences who don’t know your work, will recognize that you are creating work you like and support. It may not seem like it, but when you’re creating things without some form of ‘warm’ feelings towards it, it will reflect in your work. Lesson one: “Find your passion and stick to it!”.

**TIP 2 – BE PICKY
**Dare to say ‘no’ to projects you don’t fully support. Really reconsider each offered assignment. It can be very helpful if you have a good vision on what kind of clients you want to work for in the (near) future. The next step is to create your portfolio with this in mind. Ask yourself: who do I want to reach? Do I want to work for magazines, big brands or maybe a top notch creative agency creating several portraits or illustrations? Make sure that your portfolio is a good reflection of what you want do.

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**TIP 3 – BRAND YOURSELF
**Self-branding is really important. Think about who you are and who you want to become. What are the goals you want to achieve? Stand out from the crowd and show your own personal style.

**TIP 4 – SHOW HOW IT’S DONE
**Don’t build your portfolio around one single visual. Show a lot of diversity in your work. Give a sneak peek at the process of your work; let others see the different layers you’ve build to achieve the final result. If you show the whole picture or story about your work, people will more likely appreciate the portfolio you delivered.

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**TIP 5 – CHOOSE A PLATFORM
**There are many different types of (social) platforms suitable to showcase your work: Behance, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube etc. Choose the platform that’s right for you and your work. It is better to showcase your work at one or two platforms and really use all the networks possibilities. Get familiar and get to know all the possibilities of the chosen channels. For instance, on Behance you need to think about the right categories, tags and content. Talking about channels, hope you’ll enjoy Bram’s YouTube video about OFFF By Night including some cool insights.

Got inspired? Don’t hesitate any longer and get back to work!