Portfolios

Taken from https://learn.unity.com/tutorial/introduction-to-portfolios

Overview

Portfolios are collections of your work that showcase your ability and improve your odds of success when:

• Applying for a job

• Applying to higher education

• Pitching to clients

Types of Portfolios

• Showcase portfolios: Highlight your expertise by showing examples of your best work.

• Skill growth portfolios: Hilight your ability to improve your skills by showing examples of your evolving work, even including several versions of the same project during its evolution.

Where to Host Your Portfolio Online

Note

Nowadays portfolios are mostly electronic and web-based. This makes it easy to quickly share and update.

Community Portfolios

Allows users to quickly create a portfolio of projects and get feedback from the community.

• Behance

• ArtStation

• Sketchfab

Custom Portfolios

You can choose to create your own website to host your portfolios. There are also websites you can use to create a portfolio from a customized blog.

• Wix

• SquareSpace

• WordPress

Portfolio Alternatives

• GitHub: Your push/pull history can be enough to show your coding skills, engagement commitment, and time management.

• itch.io: Your profile page can showcase all the various games you made and share game jams you participated in.

Portfolio Structure

• Introduction:

  • Skills

  • Training

  • Career Interests

  • Goals

  • Relevant professional experience

  • Outline of projects included in portfolio

• Project Pages:

  • Has commentary explaining your work and demonstrate the critical skills for your chosen career areas.

• Optional features:

  • If the portfolio showcases skill growth, include a learning plan page that shows the skills you may lack now but want to gain in the future

  • A download button that gives a way for employers / investors / educators to share your work with others.

  • Slideshow on the front page as part of the menu that highlights your portfolio content.

Portfolio Examples

• Ethan Bruins: Unity Developer

• Joy Horvath: Unity Developer

• Chris Castaldi: Unity Live Help Expert & XR developer

• Maarten Braaksma: Unity Live Help Expert & Programmer & Agile Scrum Master

Portfolio Structure Tips

• When structuring your website create a flow cart first. Use this to:

  • Model possible ways to organize your content

  • Identify the journey a user will take through the information in the portfolio.

  • Identify how all information is linked together.

• When creating your portfolio, make sure the structure / appearance of the portfolio answers the following questions.

  • What is the purpose of the portfolio?

  • What is the intended audience for the portfolio?

  • Will users find anything missing from the portfolio (gaps in content)?

  • Is the portfolio easy to modify or expand with new projects?

  • Does your portfolio have a narrative and does the organization support it?

  • Does your portfolio contain only the personal information you want to display to the public?

  • Is the portfolio free of spelling or gramatical errors?

Portfolio Design Tips

• Make sure pages are consistent and uniform (or uniform in their lack of consistency if that is your style).

• Provide universal navigation to make it easy for users to travel to sections they want to see.

• Make sure the layout is logical instead of elements placed randomly.

• Make sure links are labeled clearly.

• Make sure visitors are able to find information easily.

• Make sure the portfolio loads quickly.

• Make sure the website is accessible for most users and accomodates screen readers. For example Images including alt-text and the alt-text is easy to read for viewers.

• Make sure the portfolio style can be easily modified and that new entries can be easily added.