When you’re starting out, building and sharing a portfolio can be a challenging experience – filled with endless questions. This is where hearing from industry pros can help calm those concerns, and even better if those insiders happen to work the team at Google – a company known for its high standards of creative output.

As part of our partnership with Google, we hosted a Portfolio Review on Thursday November 7th at their Hoxton office in London, together with 11 members of the team, who connected with 32 emerging creatives from the Creative Lives in Progress community. Here, we’re sharing advice from some of the reviewers who joined us on the day:

• David Bruno, creative director at YouTube Creative Studio
• Phoebe Kirkland, interaction designer and collaborator with Google Creative Lab
• Reese Howard, creative lead at YouTube
• Patrick Glavee, one of the current Google Creative Lab Five
• Tom Healey, one of the current Google Creative Lab Five

Read on for some gems to keep in mind as you shape your own portfolio!

🧠 Understand what you want

Ahead of sharing your portfolio, have you considered what you really want? “I always suggest considering Ikigai when positioning yourself,” shares David Bruno. “What do you love? What are you good at? What does the world need? What can you be paid for?” This will all contribute to your ‘professional narrative’ and should come through in the opportunities you go for, the work you show and the story you tell.

🎨 Keep PDFs compact and curated

While portfolios can exist in so many ways, PDF portfolios are often the go-to format for job applications, mail-outs and meetings. For Tom Healey, it’s important to keep a deck of your PDF portfolio updated and ready to “send out to folks you want to work with, or just be on their radar”.

When selecting work to show, Tom advises being super-selective: “Pick three to five projects. Keep something back, make us want to see more.” This extends to how you display the work, for which Tom recommends picking the best three images; or in the case of film, a single link and a couple of still images. These should be supported with “a short write-up with insight and inspiration.” Finally, your PDF should be inbox-friendly, so ensure it’s “compressed for quick download!”

🧱 Tailor your portfolio to the situation

“It’s okay to have a general portfolio, but when you reach out to someone, you need to tailor it,” says David. For each new application or situation, he recommends making sure your portfolio highlights the appropriate work and skills relevant to an employer’s needs. This way you can easily demonstrate why you’d be a great fit.

This also applies to the way you present a portfolio, and for Reese Howard this is particularly important for multidisciplinary creatives. “Figure out the right hierarchy to present yourself and your work. You may consider yourself a great graphic designer and equally skilled writer. Lead with the most relevant skill; only bring up other talents once you’ve shown the most relevant work.”

🤔 Show how you approach a brief

Keep in mind that employers and clients are often looking for the way you think. As Reese explains, “I keep an eye out for cohesive ideas based on great insight.” So while “visually fantastic design, clever writing or well-shot films are all essential to a good junior portfolio,” Reese is interested in work that responds insightfully to a brief, demonstrating a strategic approach to creative problems.

This is something Patrick Glavee also stresses, suggesting that you can highlight your thought process by including “what posed a challenge; why it felt like the right solution.” But he also notes that “it’s also okay for things to be born of a gut feeling – not everything needs a detailed, rational explanation.”

🌟 Include personal projects

What if you don’t have real-world client projects to show yet? Great thinking can be just as well-communicated through self-initiated briefs, and in Tom’s mind, passion projects are more likely to “shine” than a portfolio full of spec (speculative) projects. Just ensure that everything you include represents the work you want to do more of.

👋 Add an introduction

“People want to know who you are, as well as what you do,” says David, which is why he advises crafting a clear introduction to yourself; something that can be used at the start of a portfolio. “Take time to describe yourself in 100 words. Interesting people tend to make interesting work, so grab a pen and start writing.”

💬 Write like you talk

As well as keeping this text on the shorter end, you’ll want to ensure it lets your personality come through. “Write how you talk – not how you think people want you to talk,” Tom suggests. “ Don’t worry about not sounding ‘professional’. Honestly, it’s refreshing not to be.”

💡 Share what excites you

Keep note of what excites you and “the kind of work you’d love to do in future,” advises Phoebe Kirkland. In her words, “It can be hard as a creative to weave between different types of creative roles, especially as a junior. Describing who you want to become, or listing exciting projects from others, is a powerful way of capturing what you’d like to do next!”

🌐 Make a website that reflects you

While PDF portfolios are adaptable to specific needs, a portfolio website is a great opportunity to demonstrate who you are more fully. As Tom puts it, it’s “a small corner of the world wide web that you literally own. You pay to have it, so use it however you want. Have fun with it.”

🔥 Passion makes you unforgettable

Talking through your portfolio is something that tends to get better with practice. In Reese’s mind, this is usually best done in-person, with plenty of enthusiasm: “You should be passionate about the work you have done so far, and eager to learn more.”

For Patrick, presenting a portfolio can be treated as a conversation; “You should enter that space curious,” he says, encouraging discussion around what makes the work interesting, or what could have been different. “That kind of conversation can convey a non-imposing, infectious passion, and passion is what can make you unforgettable.”

👀 Be honest

David has one clear watch-out, though. When sharing information about a project, be completely honest about the role you played. “Don’t ever take credit for work that you didn't do,” he warns. “A lot of people do and it catches up with them. Be true to yourself. If you worked on something, clearly define what bit you did.”

💪 Keep going!

Finally, everyone can relate to the early stages of a career – when knock-backs and unanswered emails can become all too familiar. As Tom relates, “It’s hard to put ideas out there, and be on the receiving end of a cold shoulder after weeks of craft. But this isn’t always a reflection of the idea. There might be ten other reasons that are way out of your control… You never know.”

His advice? “Keep going, keep laughing.” As we all know, it takes practice and experience, but the ultimate aim is to “be resilient; water off a duck’s back.”

• A guide to creating your portfolio website
• A guide to creating your PDF portfolio

• A guide to preparing for job interviews

• A guide to networking and making connections

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This article has been created in collaboration with Google, a Creative Lives in Progress Company Partner. Every year, we collaborate with like-minded brands and agencies to support our initiative and keep Creative Lives in Progress a free resource for emerging creatives. To find out more about how you can work with us, email [email protected]