Designed by former Yoobee student: Renato Da Silva Caglisto
Programme: Digital Media (Advanced)
Career: Designer & Illustrator, Freelance
Professional Portfolio
This is just a snippet of the image above. Click here to view the entire work, including the creator's signature. It is with gratitude we use this design.
We asked Renato what he would say to our Yoobee students:
I do love changing styles, helps me to improve and learn new skills. I think specially for students, either art or design, it is important for them to know that they must have their own style. That's a pressure a lot of people feel, but in reality, most advertising, design, illustration or animation jobs require you to follow certain styles or guidelines.
Online portfolios are expected for creatives because they are easy to share. The benefit is that they can be quickly and easily updated. They can also be edited to suit the types of work you are trying to attract.
Five considerations when creating a digital portfolio
Select
Start by setting a goal for your portfolio. Are you aiming for a promotion? Or are you looking for a new job? With your goal in mind, select the pieces of work that best demonstrate the qualities your audience will most appreciate. You may only have creative pieces from this programme, and that's not a problem! Be sure to use your favourites, and consider including the assignment instructions and your process for completing the work.
Assemble
Begin assembling your digital material. Start saving and moving digital copies of your work into one place. If you have printed or physical copies of your work, take photos that match the aesthetics you want to achieve and that fit with your mood board. Remember to adjust the exposure when taking your photos. You should edit your images to ensure the colours, brightness, and contrast are consistent.
Reflect
Look at everything together. Think critically and evaluate if this is the best way to represent yourself. For example, if you are trying to secure a job using this portfolio, have you provided testimonials?
Peer reviews are also a great part of the reflection process. Ask someone you respect and trust to look at your portfolio — this can give you a great outsider perspective.
Direct
Your portfolio is not always about where you have been but where you are going. Having a direction that can be seen in your portfolio shows viewers that you are committed to growing in your field.
Think about where you would like to be in five or ten years. Does your portfolio show these visions and aspirations?
Connect
Once you are confident in your portfolio, it's time to let it go into the world. Remember to include contact details. You can include your portfolio on your LinkedIn profile and other social media platforms.
Here are a bunch of portfolios we found and thought were amazing — look at the images and videos below for inspiration. Looking at other online portfolios is encouraged to inspire you to drive your creative flair and style.
The following video walks you through a series of portfolios to analyse what works and what doesn't work quite so well. The analysis includes suggestions to make it better, which makes this a really useful video.
The next video walks you through creating a 'solid and eye-catching portfolio post'.
Building and hosting your portfolio
Choosing the right way to build and host your website is important. Creating your own website from scratch will make you stand out from the crowd, but it can be quite challenging. You can start with a template or a blank page, whichever allows you to show off your best creative self.
When selecting a site, it is important to consider the cost of hosting, the look and feel, the types of media that can be used and whether the site will cater to your creative flare.
Adobe's Behance
You'll use Adobe's Behance to set up your portfolio for your assessment. This video will help get you started.
Additional online platforms
Online platforms are a fantastic way to start exploring different aesthetics and styles to present your portfolio.
The following is an excellent list of online portfolio hosting platforms.
Exploring different platforms will help you see what is 'out there'. You can see what style appeals to you and will best represent your work. The more you expose yourself to distinctive styles and creative ways of presenting work, the more able you will be to come up with your concepts.
Adobe Portfolio
Adobe Portfolio is a website builder for creative professionals to deliver eye-catching experience design while showcasing creative projects.
As the programme winds down, we want you to take a moment to see where you will get up to!
Practising Activity – Portfolio planning
This activity requires you to put some focused time around prepping and planning a real-life usable portfolio. Your assessment will require you to develop one in Adobe's Behance — Adobe's creative sharing platform.
When you answer the following questions, enter the name of the design or project. You cannot upload anything to this activity; it only accepts text.
Haere rā
Tino kino te pai. You have done a remarkable job to get to the end of the programme and you should feel ready to complete your last assessment. The mahi you have done here will help you to jump into any career, as design thinking, design techniques, and practices will serve most professions.
Karawhiua. Good luck in your future endeavours!
