How-To: Print Portfolios for Graphic & Web Designers

Even as a graphic and web designer, though, I've learned that having a printed portfolio of my work is a must. Great. A daunting, sweating over every free moment project is exactly what I need. But that printed portfolio will definitely do something cool: No more will I have to point to my work on a computer screen during an interview or client proposal meeting. The effect is much more spectacular when that person can flip through printed pages of my work at their own pace.

This article is a thorough guide for graphic and web designers (and digital artists of all sorts) on the details of creating a print portfolio. Format and size are up to you, the artist, but I'll lead you through all the steps so that you can create a print portfolio that's all you.

What a Print Portfolio Is and What it Does For Graphic & Web Designers

In most artistic fields, creating a portfolio of an artist's work is an aspiration. It's a goal that is worked towards and almost ceremoniously compiled.

For the digital artist, a print portfolio seems like something alien and unnecessary.

So let's start by understanding what a true portfolio is. From the French porte folio, a portfolio literally means "page carrier". Simple enough. Instead of being in a digital format, our works of art are on pages of some size bound to protect our hard work from damage.

And what of those works of art? There is no restriction on what, exactly, can be placed in your printed portfolio. Everything from digital sketches, full-fledged pieces of digital artwork, photographs of in-use designed pieces, and collages of projects are all fair game. We're also ahead of the game this way; all of our pieces have been designed to have optimum color and won't need pre-publication adjustments for image quality.

One of the biggest rewards I've found to having a printed portfolio of my graphic designs is simply this: the ability to look at my work on paper, tangible proof that I'm an artist instead of just some hack behind a computer screen.

What to Include in a Print Portfolio

Graphic artists and web designers are usually great with outlines. We're constantly brainstorming, making lists, and generally outlining projects so that they complete in the least amount of time with the most amount of stun-factor.

Beginning our print portfolios starts the same way. We're going back to grade-school basics here and creating an outline of what will become a sort of "Table of Contents". Your design specialties are your own, though, and not all of these contents will apply to you. Pick and choose the ones that fit your needs, and either jot them down or copy-paste them to a word editor (even Notepad will work fine) but make sure they're in the order below, which is standard.

Table of Contents

1. A cover letter that contains a brief bio, your mission statement, and all contact information including the URL of your online portfolio or website. If you work in a special niche (e.g. "Corporate Websites" or "Boutique Graphics") you might want to mention this in the cover letter.

2. A list of services you offer, with a very brief description of each service and the particular advantages or benefits afforded by working with you instead of another designer.

3. A list of your standard rates; to save time and make it easier for the viewer, copy-paste your list of services and replace the description with your standard rates and how - if any - discounts apply.

4. A client or industry list that shows off the people and companies you've worked with as well as where that work can be viewed (online or offline addresses). If the client has given permission, you can include a contact link so that the viewer of your portfolio can get in touch with the client for a referral.

5. Your work, grouped by type. You might consider a "tab" system that allows the viewer to switch between different types of work you do such as logo design, character design, website design, etc.

Not too daunting, right? You will want to play with the design of each element later on, but for now focus on the writing. Work with your words or, if you feel more comfortable, get someone who is familiar with professional writing to help you complete the written pieces of your portfolio.

Up to number 5, the sections should be no more than three pages long. Try to keep it short - one page for each section is best. This is a portfolio to showcase and focus on your art, not a catalog.

Choosing the Art for a Print Portfolio

Beyond your own creativity, there is very little that's "concrete" about what art pieces should be showcased in your portfolio ... nor how long they should be. These decisions will be entirely up to you, but be aware that the work you choose to include will have some bearing on how you decide to format the final piece.

Take some serious time considering the pieces you want to showcase in your print portfolio. As a graphic or web designer, you'll probably be searching in a variety of places to even find the favorites that are at the top of your mind.

Gather all the art you are considering into a single folder, then consider these general guidelines to narrow your choices down:

Show Off Your Best Work - A print portfolio should speak for itself and the digital artist behind it. If there's a chance you're going to have to explain the piece of work you're considering including, don't include it.

Quality Trumps Quantity - It is much better to have a small portfolio of 10 stunning pieces of artwork than a bunch of prints you're not beaming with pride over. Don't "stuff" your portfolio with average work. This goes right back to showing off your very best pieces.

Variety vs. Theme - There are two schools of thought here, and you'll have to choose which suits you best (or try each and see what you like better). The first idea is that having a variety of pieces, all showing off vastly different aspects of your skill set, will prevent viewer boredom. Following this school of thought, you should showcase a very mixed set of pieces. The other school of thought is that you should theme your portfolio. Going this route, you would want to consider themes based on colors, subjects, area of design, etc. Then, choose your pieces accordingly.

Available Information - Every piece included in your portfolio will be accompanied by specific information about that piece. You will be able to easily narrow down your selection of possibilities if you pay attention to which pieces have readily accessible information that you can include.

The Best at the Start, Middle, and End - Identify your very best, strongest pieces of work. Choose pieces that will really grab the viewer's attention, is a great representation of your design skills, and shows off what a talented designer you are. These three pieces will be placed at the start, middle, and end of your portfolio - regardless of the portfolio's end size. This will help keep the viewer engaged, and hopefully keep them looking through all your work until they reach the big-bang finish.

Adding Info to the Art for a Print Portfolio

This is where some real organization skills come in handy. At this point, you should have your portfolio elements written (don't worry about design yet) and all of your chosen designs in order. Now, you need to add the following information to each chosen design:

1. Client's name and industry

2. Brief project description (the overall goal of the project and how the piece was created)

3. Your role in the project (designer, art director, etc.)

4. Where the work appeared or appears (give specific info so that it can be looked up)

5. Any awards, publications, or recognition the project received

Pretty simple. In whatever software you've been writing the text for your portfolio so far, create an [IMAGE NAME or NUMBER] tag and write the information below that tag. This will help you tons when you pull your graphic and web design portfolio together to start formatting and designing it.

Choosing the Graphic and Web Design Portfolio Size and Format

Now things start really moving along. This step is pretty simple, and will just require a trip to your local art or office supply store.

Head right for the scrapbooking, binding, or book making section of your store. This is where you'll decide what kind of "outsides" you want your portfolio to have - and this, in turn, will determine the size of your portfolio prints.

There are no hard and fast rules here, but what is most common? The 11 x 14 and 11 x 17 inch landscape formats are extremely popular with designers that work often with high-resolution photos or graphics, as well as designers that create a lot of scalable vectors. This size allows printouts to be large enough to really show off small details, and several images can be combined to create a collage at this size. The most common size, though, is 8.5 x 11 inches simply because so many digital designers have high-quality laser printers at home so they can save money printing their work out themselves.

Beyond size, you'll need to consider the assembly of your graphic and web design print portfolio. Choices range from mounting work on archive-quality board, using a case with handles, or a book bound by spiral coils, screw posts, or a print-on-demand service like Lulu.com.

Page Design for Your Print Portfolio

For this step, I highly recommend taking inspiration from some of your favorite art books, museum showcases, and photographer portfolio websites. You can design your pages in everything from Microsoft Word to Illustrator, but the important thing is to keep a strong, consistent look from start to finish that will work with the format and size you've already chosen.

In general, keep all page backgrounds the same color and keep to a maximum of three fonts. Don't cram your images on a page just so that you can print fewer pages - allow your work to really stand out. If you have already established a personal brand identity, include your own logo where necessary and stick to the fonts, colors, and symbols you currently use.

For a great example of page layout (although this is a website-only portfolio) can be found at One Creative. If you're really feeling brave, take a look at the magazine and catalog layouts created by Long Island Print Design for examples that could easily be adapted to a high-impact, totally untraditional print portfolio. Once you're done with this step you're done designing, ready to print and assemble!