How do I ensure my design portfolio stands out on Upwork?

The first impression is key in client acquisition for any job position both online and in-person. Clients meeting a designer for the first time have to review his or her portfolio to check the potential of the person and if you were to go for an interview dealing with a job position in design, your portfolio is the most important asset to be interviewed in addition to your expression and maybe certification or qualification. One of the areas of work in freelancing on freelance platforms with so high competition is Design.

Nevertheless, there are a few determined designers who are able to maneuver and catch the attention of clients and end up landing a job.

WHAT IS A PORTFOLIO?

Completing a course of study is the award of an accredited certification that gives an endorsement of a person's skillset or knowledge. In design, the story is totally different and in another way.

A portfolio is a collection of a designer's best works that are able to tell about his skillset, ability, and potential. Portfolios work in place of a certificate or in addition to a certificate to tell a client how capable a designer is or can be. 

Upwork has a lot of designers with mixed experience levels both on the platform and outside the platform. Top-rated plus freelancers mostly have very good portfolios that give clients good impressions about their skills or services.

View my profile on Upwork to see what it looks like and add something to make yours better.

Three proven ways to project your portfolio on Upwork

1) Add your best works

A portfolio is not supposed to hold all the works that you have produced but the works in a portfolio must be carefully and intentionally added. Since what is seen in your portfolio creates a visualization of your skills, abilities, and potential, be sure to create that visualization by yourself rightly to send a laudable image about you. At times invitations are sent to freelancers like me without a proposal and this might possibly be a result of a client finding you in the research and further engaging with profiles and portfolios. 

2) Spend time reviewing portfolios of well-performing freelancers

There is this statement in Ecclesiastes 1:9 [NIV 'there is nothing new under the sun']. Remember in the design process and even design thinking there is the stage of RESEARCH where people's work has to be reviewed to generate potent and concrete ideas. Find time to check how high-performing designers in your field are making it, carefully observing the kind of specificity they inculcate into their portfolio design. With design and client interaction, and especially in the digital or online environment, the preceding voice that speaks to the client is the voice of your portfolio before and interview is scheduled. It might be boring to do but it is worth it to bring the desired results.

3) Categorize the portfolio into sets with contextual consideration

Clustering design works like logos, posters, flyers, book cover designs, illustrations, animations, video projects, etc into one portfolio is absolutely a failure and would not attract clients to view it. Let there be distinct portfolios with distinct items inside that relate and this speaks of how good and organized a designer is. Saying this means that you value your portfolio so priceless that you spend time to give it a professional arrangement. If you are really serious about freelancing as a designer, then you need to make use of these realities being shared with the world here.

How do you get clients easier?

Try sharing your profile and projects in media spaces where potential clients are located so that you create higher chances of you getting noticed and in the long run being offered the jobs you anticipate.