How can you balance your skills and experience in your motion design portfolio?

1 Choose your best work

Your portfolio should be a selection of your most impressive and representative work, not a collection of everything you have ever done. When deciding what to include, consider the quality, quantity, diversity, consistency, relevance, and originality of your work. Aim for 10 to 15 pieces that demonstrate your technical skills, creativity, attention to detail, versatility and adaptability, signature style, problem-solving abilities, innovation, experimentation, and storytelling skills. Your portfolio should reflect your current goals and interests as well as the expectations and needs of your target market. It should also showcase your personality and passion as a motion designer.

3 Present your work

After organizing your work, you need to present it in a professional and effective manner. You can use various tools and platforms to showcase your portfolio, such as creating a website with a domain name that reflects your brand, using an online platform that specializes in hosting portfolios, or creating a PDF file with software like Adobe InDesign or Illustrator. Regardless of the tool or platform you use, you should adhere to some basic guidelines when presenting your work. This includes using high-quality images and videos that showcase your work clearly, a simple and clean design that enhances your work, a consistent and professional style that reflects your identity as a motion designer, clear and concise captions that describe your work, and a logical and intuitive navigation for viewers to browse and access your work.

4 Update your portfolio

Your portfolio should be a dynamic reflection of your skills and experience as a motion designer, so you should update it regularly to keep it fresh and relevant. This could involve adding new work that showcases your current goals and interests, removing old work that no longer represents your skills or is outdated, revising existing work to better showcase your skills or align with your target market, and rearranging your work to optimize the order and structure of your portfolio. You should also periodically review your portfolio to evaluate its effectiveness and identify areas of improvement. This can be done through self-assessment using a checklist or rubric, peer feedback from other motion designers, colleagues, friends, or mentors, and client or employer feedback from current or potential clients or employers.

5 Showcase your portfolio

As a motion designer, you need to showcase your portfolio to reach your target audience and achieve your goals. You can promote your portfolio online, through social media, blogs, newsletters, and other channels. Additionally, you should network with your portfolio offline, using events, conferences, workshops, and other opportunities to meet and connect with other motion designers, clients, or employers. You can also apply with your portfolio online or offline, utilizing job boards or referrals. To further tailor your portfolio to different situations and opportunities, research your target market to learn about their needs and preferences. Customize your portfolio using the methods and guidelines mentioned above to select and present your work based on the specific project or position you are applying for. Lastly, use your portfolio to highlight how you can create value and deliver results for your target market.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?