1. Professional Portfolios
Real Projects = Real Results
Louellen S. Coker Content Solutions

2. Louellen S. Coker
Founder, Chief Content Coach
Web: www.yourcontentsolutions.com
Blog: www.yourcontentnotes.com
LinkedIn: louellencoker
Facebook: Content Solutions
Twitter: @ContentNotes

3. Real Projects = REAL Results
• Dissect portfolio options
• Choose your platform
• Choose your projects
• Present your project
• Pull it all together

4. Goals of your portfolios
• Intrigue
• Call to Action
• Showcase
• Get a Gig

5. Define YOU (aka your brand)
• Who are you?
• What qualifications and experience do you have?
• Do you seem trustworthy and reliable?
• Are you looking for work?
• Can I see some examples of previous work?
• Can you alleviate our current need?

6. Dissect Portfolio Options

7. 20th century definition
“…a representative collection of one’s
work. As the word’s roots suggests (and as is
still the case in the arts), the sample of
work is fashioned for a particular objective
and carried from place to place for
inspection or exhibition.”
—Wiggins,
quoted by Barrett

8. 21st century definition
“Portfolios are living, breathing things that
change and evolve with your purpose and your
audience. ... With careful planning, organization,
and ongoing assessment, your portfolio in its
various forms—hardcopy and digital—will be an
indispensable asset.”
—Coker,
intercom, February 2007

9. Forms of portfolios
Hard copy (Traditional)
• Archive
• Presentation
• Sample
• Elevator (Business Cards)
Virtual (Web 2.0)
• .pdf
• Website/Blog
• Social media
• Coffee shop (skins on devices)

10. Choose your platform

11. Best practices
• Keep it simple
• Keep it organized
• Keep it succinct
• Keep it optimized
• Keep it targeted
• Keep it consistent

12. Tools
• Software for capturing/creating pieces
– Open source
– Office products
– Adobe Suite products
• Wireframing/Organization tools
– Mindmeister for mind-mapping (www.mindmeister.com)
– Jumpstart for wireframing (www.jumpstart.com)
– Toodledo for project management (www.toodledo.com)
– Basecamp for project management (www.basecamphq.com)

13. Tools, cont.
• Online services • Social Media
– www.elance.com – LinkedIn.com
– www.qfolio.com – Facebook.com
– www.wordpress.org – Slideshare.net
– YouTube.com
– Flikr.com
– Wordpress.org/Blogger

14. Finding the Muscle
• Elbow grease • Training
– Blogs and Forums – www.lynda.com
– Use help – Blogs
– LSC Help Desk – Workshops
– Trial and Error
Hire some help

15. Case Study: .pdf

16. Case Study: HTML & .pdf

17. Case Study: CMS (Joomla!)

18. Case Study: Social Media

19. Choose your projects

20. First steps, FIRST
• Know your audience
• Know your goal
• Know your work
• Know your capabilities
(and how you’re different!)

21. What projects do I consider?
• Those that the hiring person wants to see
• Those for which you won an award
• Those created in your day job
• Those created for volunteer organizations
• Those created specifically for your portfolio
• Those created for fun
• EVERYTHING and ANYTHING

22. What projects do I include?
• Pieces that speak for themselves
• Pieces that translate across platforms
• Pieces that show skills
• Pieces that show interpersonal skills
• Piece that is the product of a difficult situation

23. Leverage proprietary information
• GET PERMISSION
• Limit to outward facing information
• Redact if necessary
• Collect as you go

24. Leverage proprietary information

25. Leverage your work
• Select pieces that are relevant to varied
audiences
• Reflect about process
• Blog in deeper detail about process
• Show level of professionalism

26. Present your projects

27. Put your best foot forward
• Optimize your files
– Print = CMYK 300 dpi (.tif, .psd, .eps)
– Web = RGB 72 dpi (.jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif)
• Error FREE
• Professional
• Relevant
• Appropriate

28. Essential elements
• Cover Page – must have name; may have your
mission statement, short introduction, or bio
• Table of Contents
• Navigation – some method to guide a reviewer
through your artifacts
• Artifacts – your best (mostly)
• Reflection – optional

29. Reflection
• Metacognition – thinking about your thinking
• Not always necessary
• Important
– For contextual clues
– To show growth
– For those in educational settings
– When being assessed

30. Pull it all together

31. Present your work
• Determine a presentation theme
• Organize your works in a logical manner
• Compile your artifacts in a consistent manner

32. Protect intellectual property
• Watermark
• Limit scope
• Low resolution
• Remove “copy & paste” ability
• Put your footprint in the metadata
• Copyright

33. Protect yourself
• NEVER leave your portfolio behind
• Make copies of portions of the artifacts in your
presentation portfolio
• Organize your artifacts in a less expensive
presentation folder
• Consider including a thumb drive with soft
copies of included and/or larger works
• Maintain consistency when possible

34. Lather, Rinse, Repeat!

35. Questions?
Wri$ng Design Web Solu$ons

36. Wri$ng Design Web Solu$ons