Make an Advertising Portfolio
An advertising portfolio is an ad for you. It's your tool to market yourself to advertising agencies. Most agencies look at portfolios before interviewing candidates for job openings. You may be asked to present a physical portfolio, and you will definitely be expected to have an online portfolio. Making professional-looking portfolio requires time, effort, and a little money. Tailor your portfolio according to each job application and regularly update it with new work.
Contents
Steps
Advertising Portfolio Planning
- Consider your resources. If you are an advertising student, there are probably people at your school whose job it is to advise your portfolio. Talk to your adviser about designing your portfolio, or bring your questions to the career counselor at your school. If you didn't go to school for advertising, but you want to become an art director, copywriter or creative director, then you should consider attending advertising classes.
- If you are currently getting a four-year degree in advertising, there are probably classes specifically geared toward portfolio design. Ask your adviser about these. Even if they are not a requirement, take one anyway.
- Consider going to a portfolio school. These 1 to 2-year schools teach advertising and give you occasions to develop copy or art for your portfolio. You should have a professional looking portfolio by the time you complete the school.
- Take a portfolio building class from a local college or community center.
- Visit an advertising conference and sign up for a class on advertising and portfolios. If you have very little knowledge about building a portfolio, then it will serve you well to hear about the latest advancements online and in print.
- Gather your advertising samples. You should have at least 10 professional advertising samples at hand. Most contemporary advertising happens simultaneously across many platforms, so you will do best if you include samples that span a range of media.
- If you have worked on multiple ads for one campaign, include them together. Advertising agencies want to see your brand-building ability. A well-integrated campaign is the most professional thing you can showcase in your portfolio.
- Generate more material. If you do not have enough samples to create a portfolio, then you should work on creating some. If you have work for class or "spec" work that has not been finished or published, consider including it. Make sure your "spec" work is as high-quality as your finished pieces. If you are designing work from scratch just to build a portfolio, consider donating your efforts to an organization that could use your help.
- For example, you could design the ads for a very-local campaign to raise funds for your child's elementary school arts program.
- Consider collaborating. If you are a copywriter, join forces with a designer. If a designer, join forces with a copywriter. Combine your efforts to produce professional-looking work for your portfolios. You might find someone whose skills compliment yours by putting out an ad online or by contacting other former students of your school.
- Commit to making both a digital and a hands-on portfolio. Whether you want to be an online ad designer or a logo or brand designer, you will probably need both a physical and a digital portfolio. If you have been asked to send a physical portfolio and are working on that, take a few hours to get images of your work scanned, and set up a website with your CV and a gallery of your work.
- Even if somebody has asked to see your portfolio in person, they may want to be able to send a link to your work to another office.
- Curate your selection. In each version of your portfolio, you should start with your strongest piece. If you have a series of ads for a campaign, start with that. Continue from there into another strong piece that shows different skills. Your selection will change for every job you apply to, but your strongest work should appear in every portfolio.
Bound Portfolio Building
- Buy your supplies at an art supply shop. These stores should have a wide variety of portfolio choices. The most professional looking options are a hard shell portfolio or a zippered leather or vinyl case. Make sure the portfolio you buy is big enough to hold your work without damaging it. Buy plastic sleeves unless you are laminating and felting your work.
- Buy pockets for television and radio ad samples. You may not need to include these samples every time you submit a portfolio, unless you want to work exclusively in radio or TV.
- Consider laminating and felting your samples. Take them to a professional print shop and ask for rigid lamination on black paper and opt for a felt backing. Not only do these samples look professional, they should also last longer than samples in a plastic sleeve would.
- Get your work printed. Pick a well-reviewed printer. Check your samples carefully before they go to press. Ask someone to proofread your new work. Fit the paper to the portfolio. Include your contact information, explanations and specifications for every part of your portfolio. You can print this at the beginning, on the opposing page or on the same page, depending upon the dimensions of your portfolio.
- Tailor your portfolio for each job application. Read the job description carefully and research the agency's clients to get an idea of what they are looking for. Keep 10 or more of your best samples on hand and put in the best samples that pertain to the industries, products and brand image they regularly produce.
- Don't include too many samples. You are trying to show your very best work. Choose around 6 of your best overall samples and around 4 others that are tailored to the work that the advertising agency is asking for. You should not exceed 20 samples.
- Do not include too much work in another medium. For example, if the company is looking for a copywriter for magazine ads, don't include more than one radio advertisement you've written.
- Keep your portfolio clean and wrinkle-free. If you decide to use plastic pockets for your printed advertising materials, replace them immediately if they get torn or wrinkled. Advertising is a competitive business and you want to stand out in positive ways, rather than negative ones.
Digital Portfolio Building
- Choose the best platform for your portfolio website. You can build your own portfolio website or use a template. If you are applying for jobs that include website design, then you should design your own. If you want to highlight copy or print graphic design, you can choose a pre-designed, professional template.
- Behance Network, Coroflot Portfolios and Cargo Collective are often used by advertising professionals.
- Brand yourself. Anytime you use a template or design a website, you have to make choices about how you want to appear. You should focus on a professional and original look that showcases your advertising work, instead of distracting the viewer from it.
- Purchase your domain name. Your domain name can be your own name, or your name plus a reference to your work.
- Even if you are using a free blogging platform to create your portfolio, it is worth paying the 10 dollars a year to register it in your name.
- Consider having more than one digital portfolio. Book-based portfolios allow people to change the samples according to the job interview. If you have varied advertising skills, consider creating a specific portfolio for each type, such as copy, logo design, online advertising or television advertising.
- You may want to include your 6 best samples on each of your portfolio sites, and then only add other samples that are specific to this type of portfolio. When you submit your portfolio, only submit the one that responds best to the job description.
- Include specifications, dimensions and details for each sample.
- Protect your work. Make sure to note the copyright of anything you post online. Consider watermarking images that might be especially tempting to steal, such as images of people, or images with little or no text across them.
Tips
- Add to your portfolio over time. As your work gets better, you should update your portfolio, rotating out the work that is not as strong.
