Graphic design portfolio: how to present your work to an employer
A graphic design portfolio should help an employer understand what you can produce and how you work. A final image alone may not be enough. Add the original need, your contribution and the decisions that make the deliverable useful.
1. Select work for the role
For digital communication roles, prioritise consistent adaptations that remain readable on phones. For layout work, show hierarchy, styles and document organisation. For print projects, explain your checks and the specifications agreed with the printer.
Choose a few strong projects and remove repetitive exercises. Show relevant variety rather than colour changes on one template.
2. Add a project summary
| Section | Useful information |
|---|---|
| Context | Authorised client work, coursework or a fictional brief. |
| Objective | Audience and message. |
| Your role | Original creation, adaptation or team contribution. |
| Choices | Hierarchy, typography, colours and constraints. |
| Delivery | Prepared formats, checks and limitations. |
Add one or two meaningful steps, such as a sketch or annotated revision. You do not need to publish every exploration.
3. Show an honest before and after
Fictional exercise: imagine a poster for a hair salon in Yaoundé. Version one gives equal weight to five messages; version two prioritises the service, followed by the location and fictional contact details. Explain your simplification and show the result at mobile size.
Label it “fictional redesign exercise”. Do not describe a real brand as a client without a collaboration. A before-and-after image shows a design change, not an unmeasured increase in customers.
4. Explain external resources
Distinguish your work from stock photography, templates, third-party illustrations and AI-generated elements. Identify significant resources and check their usage terms. Do not imply that you photographed or drew someone else’s asset.
For team projects, specify whether you handled layout, retouching, adaptations or the concept. Respect publication permissions and confidential information.
5. Test access
- Does the link work without your account?
- Can a phone user read the text?
- Does each project have a title and context?
- Are your contact details easy to find?
- Does the optional PDF open correctly?
Prepare a two-minute spoken explanation of one project: need, important choice, feedback and delivery. Tailor the selection to Kamerjob design vacancies.
Stock photographs; the people shown are not the authors of the example projects. Ninthgrid / Pexels ; The Oluseyi / Pexels.
The Kamerjob team
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