Portfolio Review

Hey, guys hope y’all are well.I am a self learner Graphic Designer. But after 3 years of my practicing now, I am very much confused and messed up by my current scenario. I need a guide to understand my position as a creative individual what are my drawbacks.
I am pursuing my bachelor’s this is my last year of b.tech from university. I’m currently searching for job in this Graphic Designing industry.
However, I would like to know if my portfolio at the moment, is ready to be sent out to employers, or does it still need to be refined. I’ll be looking into internships and junior roles in and around branding, packaging, etc.
I am hoping Honest feedback and opinions please.
how I can improve it.

I have Behance Profile
Tanuja Majumder

Welcome.

Can you put a link in your profile to your portfolio please. New posters can’t put links in messages at first, but I believe you can put one in your profile.

I am a little confused, you said you are self taught, yet then say you are doing a tech, then a degree. That’s definitely the right way to go.

Post a link and we can all give you a critique.

Finally, please, please call the profession by its correct name, Graphic Design, not Graphic Designing. Drives my mad when I hear that term used.

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Thank you for your kind response.
I will definitely use the correct one “Graphic Design”.
Yes I am self tough Graphic Designer.
But my academic is in Technical field ( I am a final year student of Electrical Engineering as per my degree :slightly_smiling_face:)
And, Yes i am new here, thats why i can’t able to put my portfolio link.
Aslo don’t know how to add link profile.
Could you please let me know how to do that.

I’ve bumped up your posting privileges. You should be able to post links now.

Welcome to the Forum, Tanuja.

Hmm … Graphic Designer. Electrical Engineer. Any sane mind would pick Graphic Design.

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Thank you let me add my portfolio link here to check

I noticed a few spelling problems.

image

image

image

Yes i have realised the mistakes…
Thank you again…

Anything apart from this!?..

Quite a few typos in the resumé section - I appreciate English may not be your first language, however, these types of typos can often become make or break in deciding who gets the job if it came down to you against 2 or 3 other candidates - or even a big project when working as a freelancer.

The software has spellchecks. But not all ‘spell checks’ ‘pickup’ on grammatical errors, as I am demonstrating here, with subtle ‘clue’.

spellcheck - pick up - clues …

In your portfolio, you have Book Marks - where it should be Bookmarks.

You should really have someone proficient in English read through your portfolio to fix things.


That being said already I’ll leave you to fix the typos - it’s a pretty big deal.

What I don’t get is all the great work you have done - then your portfolio is nowhere near the same standard of design as the work you have created for others.
The design of your portfolio looks really outdated.

I don’t get the About Me page - you say you’re a graphic designer on the cover then the About Me page has you taking photos… I don’t get that.

Bachelors 2019-2003 - in what?

2019-Present you are holding down 3 jobs?

Skills section - it took me a minute to realise that you’ve ranked your own skills in the software by using an arc around the AI PS AE and PR to show your proficiency in each piece of software.
-------->>>>Don’t do this.

Typography section - looks ok. It doesn’t give enough examples.

After this I’m not sure what you’re doing
Text Masking - you don’t need to include a description defining what it is. Show more examples
Same with Logo Design - more examples and less text.

When it comes to Events - you’ve shown the poster.
Why just this piece?
For me it’s about the entire event - event posters are a great way for you to ‘upsell’ what the customer needs.
For the poster I’d present Pull Up Banner Stands, key chains, pens, mugs, Lanyards, the Stage Design.
Each event should have it’s own page of the portfolio showing various elements required for that event.

As a designer - if you’re freelance or working for someone else you don’t want to just design the Events poster - you want the entire event. If you’re asked to do a poster - what about:
Brochures
Leaflets
Lanyards
Merchandise (pens, bookmarks, stickers, magnets, mugs, stress balls, tote bags etc)
Clothing (t-shirts, hoodies, caps, etc.)

Branding pages
I can’t tell what’s going on here - branding for who? What have you done branding wise?
There’s no font selections - no colour breakdowns - there’s no consistency between them.
On the yellow and blue pages you’ve used the same box - are these pages the same branding? It’s not very clear.

Facebook covers
Text too small to be read on facebook


Back to the Skills page

You list Illustrator as your weakest.
You list Photoshop as your strongest.

AE and PR as stronger than Illustrator.
I’ve seen none of this work in your portfolio.
Plus these are different skillsets for print/web design.

Your facebook covers could be again be some upselling to include Video and Animation to clients whether for yourself or for your employer.

Upsell upsell upsell.

The more you can offer the client the more they are tied to you for future business. If they get a great Events poster from you - they might go to 5 or 6 other vendors for 5 or 6 other things - you should offer all these options.

Don’t let 5 or 6 other opportunities walk out the door.


And I still don’t get it - the work looks great - but the portfolio design it’s presented in is very weak in design.

It’s out of kilter.

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Two things for you.

Regarding your portfolio, I would say this: it is better than I expected for someone that has been self-learning for three years, but I don’t think there is anything there that will help you land a solid job with a reputable company earning a living wage. When I look at your work, I see someone that might understand the software, but I don’t see any design ability that sets you apart from a very crowded field. That’s not to say you can’t get there, but you’re not there, yet.

Here is the best advice I can give you. I would strongly suggest you spend some time doing career research. Interview graphic designers in your area. Interview EEs in your area. Talk to hiring professionals / recruiters / head hunters. Talk to your professors. Find out what entry level EEs earn vs. entry level graphic designers. What are career paths for EE vs. graphic designers. It seems to me that you are at a fork in the road and need to decide which route to choose. This is a serious decision and should not be taken lightly.

Here in the U.S., the graphic design market is fairly saturated. On the other hand, I have several friends who have kids that graduated from college with engineering degrees. They have all been hired by rock solid companies and are making good money with benefits.

If I had a crystal ball, I’d say you are going to come back and tell me that “graphic design is my passion.” To that I’d say, make sure you’re career choice is based on logic rather than emotion. Design might be something you enjoy doing, but you might find out there are hundreds or thousands of graphic designers in your area that are looking for work.

Assuming that EE will provide a better career path, that doesn’t mean you have to give up creativity altogether.

For example, you’re portrait on your website shows you with a camera. Are you interested in photography? Do you have a good eye? What about pursuing photography as a side hustle and putting together an Etsy store? I’m also looking at your Facebook covers and, assuming those are completely original to you, think you could possibly sell graphics on a microstock site like iStockphoto or Shutterstock.

The point that I’m getting at is that you could have a good career as an EE and pursue a creative outlet on the side.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

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