How to Stand Out with you Portfolio. Hint, your Brand Style!
We all know the industry is tough right now with high competition. Your portfolio’s first impression is paramount to get a chance. Here’s how to stand out and ensure viewers don’t click away.
Even with great work, you can still feel invisible to the world. Your job applications get ignored. Your work doesn’t get noticed. You feel underappreciated or lost in the crowd.
I strongly believe that if you have a problem, you should attack it from all angles. This also applies to your portfolio and your brand. Yes, it’s important to have amazing work on display, but that’s not the end of it. The way you present that work is just as important, if not more so.
Let’s do a small exercise. Imagine you’re the one who needs to hire a 3D artist. You come across a portfolio with a well-designed brand style, and then another without those elements. How do you perceive them? I’m pretty sure you would think, “Wow, that first portfolio really feels professional.” It feels like you can trust them more, that the collaboration would be at a higher level, and that this person cares about quality.
Yes, I used to suck at designing too. I could make good 3D models, but designing a poster or logo was difficult, and I would feel ashamed of what I produced. As a result, I never practiced that muscle.
So, let’s make this easy:
- Define your brand’s feeling
Think about how you want people to feel about you and your work. Brainstorm keywords like professional, creative, serious, playful, edgy, or mystical. - Translate feelings into visuals concepts
What do those keywords mean for shapes, colors, and fonts? A thick, square-cornered font might feel strong, while a rounded font might feel more creative and playful. - Explore and iterate on ideas Create multiple mockups
Take your name and apply different fonts to it. See how the feeling changes. Add small shapes if you like. Explore and keep iterating. - Refine your design
Once you have a good direction, explore adding color. Tip: In most cases, you want your logo to work in monochrome in case you need to print it. Also, keep it simple enough for tiny icon versions. - Design your media elements
How would buttons, banners, or website sections look? For example, at Mesh Masters, most elements are sharp playful triangle shapes with a drop shadow to convey depth. - Finalize your brand assets
Create high-res logo files (with and without transparency) and template source files for your thumbnails, banners, and portfolio images.
To make life easy for you, I’ve included our Photoshop template files. Make sure you grab them on our Content page.
Maximize how you present yourself to the world to give you the highest chance of getting hired or finding clients.
Robert