(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As you prepare to meet with new clients, attend a networking event, or interview with potential employers, nothing could be more important than a professional portfolio for a creative professional.  Always remember to keep a sample of anything you make for a client, so you can add it to your portfolio.

Things to include (in random order):

• Business card (a few different types)
• Brochure (bifold and trifold)
• Flyer (full-color graphics!)
• Letterhead (and any other matching stationery sets you’ve designed)
• Photos of large signage (banners, vehicle graphics, window decals, posters, etc.)
• Websites and landing pages (screen shots)
• Before and after (if you have anything you’ve redesigned, include the before and after)
• Book, CD, DVD covers
• Writing samples (if you have them, create a page layout and print it out, like a newsletter or flyer)
• Magazine pages
• Any other multi-media samples

The portfolio presentation needs to reflective your creative instincts.  A simple binder with glossy page protectors will work, but you could also do a scrapbook-type portfolio, or a magazine style.  Incorporate your personal design style, and the type of work you do.  Building the portfolio will not only challenge your creativity, but it will ultimately win you more jobs and make lasting first impressions.  It’s a worth-while investment!

In addition to a physical portfolio, I recommend a digital portfolio.  It’s easy to adapt a blog or even a facebook page into a digital portfolio that showcases all of your work by category or chronologically.

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