Good Portfolio examples

Hey guys, new here. Looking for some great portfolio resources. I’m applying to a new job after working at the same agency for 5+ years. The last portfolio I made was my student one and I think things have changed a bit since I was a student.

When I got my job now I had a behance page and then during the actual interview I brought a big case of my work printed. I don’t want to make a website because most of the work I’ve done is for big clients and I don’t think they’d be comfortable with having these design concepts exposed to the world. Would just sending a PDF be acceptable still or is that frowned upon? Should I still display my work in a big case or would it be ok to print it in a booket or bring an iPad?

You should have something online simply because your competition does.
I have a free sitey website with designs i created for fun that were not projects that were published.
You could use parts of the design without “revealing the comfort level of having those design concepts exposed to the world” as you stated.
Having a paper portfolio is easier than an iPad in my previous experience.
-I hope this helped!

Do you still have a Behance presence? I’ve noticed lots of places require that applicants have a website and that Behance will do (unless, of course, you’re applying for a web designer position). None of this might apply to your situation, though.

Your reasoning for not wanting client work on your website is sound. It might even play to your advantage to inform the company that the clients you’ve been working for will not want their work on your personal portfolio site. They might be impressed by the big clients and your sensitivity to those clients’ wishes. In this case, I’d consider putting together a really nice PDF portfolio and sending it to them.

As for bringing things in, a physical portfolio is still a necessity. By the time you’ve arrived, they’ve already seen your work, but there’s nothing like physical examples to pass around. There’s a huge difference between seeing an image on a computer and holding it in one’s hands. I’ll also suggest putting some surprises into that physical portfolio that they haven’t seen yet. Personally, I’d avoid the iPad to pass around. It’s uncomfortable and doesn’t supply any of that in-person, hands-on, physical sample appeal.

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EB and B provided some great advice above.

If you are open to taking a non-traditional approach as a means of standing out, I’d suggest making yourself a good capability deck and let that contain your private brand work. This type of deck is something that’s typically reserved for B2B, but making one about yourself and sending out to a prospective employer could put you a cut above the rest. It’s an opportunity to speak on what makes you important to them, how adaptable/knowledgable you are, provides examples of obstacles and solutions, your best work, etc; meanwhile all other applicants are likely just showing a traditional portfolio page and only get to speak about themselves IF they get an actual interview.

If you are unfamiliar with these decks, there are some tremendously bad ways to go about it. This article highlights those: http://info.duvalpartnership.com/blog/lets-talk-about-your-agency-capabilities-deck

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