How To Build A Design Portfolio Without Any Experience?

How To Make A Design Portfolio Without Any Experience : Do you have no experience in the design industry but still want to create a good impression by making a design portfolio that could help you kickstart your career in the fashion industry? Even for beginners, making a design portfolio is not such a difficult task if the right approach is taken by students aspiring to enter a design school or looking for a job in this field. Admissions to design schools and industries are given based on how good the design portfolio of a student looks and that is why a student needs to make sure that their portfolio looks presentable. So, if you are looking for the answer to how to build a design portfolio with no experience in the industry, you have come to the right place. Scroll down to check out the 8 simple steps that you can take to build your design portfolio, with zero to no experience here.

Also Read: Importance of Portfolio for Admission in Design Courses

Steps To Build A Design Portfolio Without Any Experience

Add CollegeDekho as a Trusted Source

Having a creative design portfolio is a must if you wish to make a career in the field of design. It is only through a design portfolio that recruiters and panelists get to judge your work and subsequently, offer you a job or admission, respectively. Even if you don’t have any experience in the design field, you can still make a good design portfolio if you follow the right set of instructions as given below:

Specify Your Career Objectives

Putting out your career goals is one of the most important and foremost steps that you should take to design your design portfolio. Before you begin to craft pieces for your portfolio, you need to figure out why you wish to pursue a career in this field and draft both the pros and cons of the specialization you wish to enroll in. This will help you to determine the structure and presentation of your design portfolio beforehand. In addition to this, your portfolio could also contain information about your design education (if any) as it can prove to be a plus point during your selection process for a school/ company.

Choose a Design Specialization

After you have decided on your career objectives and have the answer to the question of choosing design as your career, you can move on to the next step which will require you to choose any one design specialization which has caught your attention and interest. Deciding upon any one branch of design is a tough job but important at the same time. The panelists would want to know your area of focus before considering offering you a job or admission. In addition to that marketing your skills becomes easier when you have a single area of specialization rather than multiple fields to cater to. Do not overthink this step, you can always change your area of interest once you have gained some experience in the industry. Here are some of the design specializations that you can choose from to base your design portfolio on:

• Graphic Design
• Interior Design
• Product Design
• Animation Design
• UI/UX Design
• Fashion Design
• Exhibition Design
• Motion Graphic Design
• Digital Design

Get Inspiration

After you are done selecting your area of focus, you can start building your design portfolio by taking inspiration from the works of some well-known designers and artists whose work resonates with your goals and thought process. Working on a design portfolio is a tough job without any experience, thus taking inspiration from other designers will help you to figure out what kind of designs you wish to create and put in your portfolio. List out all of your sources of inspiration and keep going back to them when you find yourself stuck or in the artist’s block.

Practice Regularly

Once you have figured out your design career goals, area of specialization, and list of inspirations in the field of design, you can now begin designing your artwork by trying something new and out of the box. Your work need not be perfect. Since you have zero to no experience in this field, your designing skills may take a lot of brushing and time, so be patient during this step. Keep trying new and different things till you end up designing something worth putting in your design portfolio.

Gather Your First Design Portfolio

Once you have garnered ample material and drawn some source of inspiration from across the industry, you are now ready to put all of your best pieces together to draft your first design portfolio ever. Here are some pointers that you must take care of while designing your portfolio:

• Ensure that your design portfolio has been titled correctly.
• Ensure that you add a brief description at the beginning of each of your artwork so that the panelist can figure out why you created a certain piece and who is this dedicated toward.
• Making a design portfolio with no experience is a good starting point, so even if you can include only 5 images in your portfolio, it is more than enough.

Reach Out To Friends, Family and Design Community

With a brand new design portfolio all set in your hand now is the time to start applying for opportunities in the field and begin the networking part. Let everyone in your circle know that you have started a career in design and are willing to gain some experience in the field. For beginners, you may find unpaid opportunities, but we would advise you to take them up. At this stage, it is more important for you to gain some experience first to grow as a designer.

Update Your Design Portfolio Timely

Now that you have gained some first-hand experience in the field with the help of your local community and network, you can update your portfolio to include the kind of work you have undertaken in these past months, who were your clients, and what services you offered to them. Include your take and a brief description of your experience as well so that the recruiter can see through your work in much more detail.

Start Applying to Jobs, Search for New Clients

Now is the time to apply for full-time jobs if you are looking for a stable career in this field. However, if you wish to enter the freelance arena, then you can start searching for clients who are willing to pay you a decent amount of money for the services you are willing to render. Your design portfolio is updated now, filled with design projects that you have undertaken and a portfolio that speaks of your experience and skills in your chosen field of specialization.

Also Read: How to Build a Portfolio for Admission into Design Schools

If you wish to pursue a career in the field of design, then building a design portfolio is one of the foremost steps that you must take. Even without any experience, if you just follow the guidelines that have been given above, you will be able to draft a design portfolio with perfection. For any further queries and doubts that you may have about creating a portfolio, reach out to us through our toll-free number 1800-572-9877, or fill out CollegeDekho’s Common Application Form . You can also type down your questions in our QnA zone to get our experts to resolve them for you.