Creatives Need Online Portfolios

In an age where "Googling" has become and adjective and social media is one of the top providers of quick-access info, the emphasis of an online portfolio is crucial.  Though rewarding, the creative business is sometimes a challenging one with all the competition.  One way to make the step-into-a-creative-career a tad easier is creating an online portfolio and website.  Although many employers ask for a resume when they post a job, the first step before even looking over resumes consists of a quick-glance over a portfolio.  (Thus, creatives sans online-portfolio have a disadvantage.)  Smashing Magazine has a great article about perfecting the portfolio and a list of what employers want to see.

Need help getting started?  One of the most overwhelming parts of the online-portfolio process is figuring out physically where to set it up.  A great entry-level solution to this would be joining an online portfolio community.  (Remember, you can always transfer photos and files to a personal website later.)   Portfolio communities provide exposure and networking opportunities that can work to a freshly-graduated artist's advantage.

Our art department here at Stritch recommends Behance Network for students who are looking for a great online, free portfolio website.  Behance partners with large online networking communities such as AIGA and LinkedIn; Behance Members can also add contacts to their "inner circle" (contacts list) and choose to follow other works that inspire them.  

Benefits of Behance Network:

• Multi-User—This is probably the best part about Behance.  This site is not limited to just graphic designers or photographers: it is seriously open to everyone!  Painters, printmakers, sculptors, videographers, branding professionals and even more come to Behance to display their work.  The possibilities are endless.
• Tagging—Once you post a project you have the option to tag it to make your projects easier and more accessible to find.
• Customizable interface—Colors can be coordinated with personal branding
• Clean and sleek—Everything flows easily on the site and displays the way you want it to
• Free!—Behance Network offers a free package that has unlimited storage and projects.  
• Two views—You can link employers to the Network View or Frame View.   
• In the Network View viewers will see your profile photo, a short bio, your link up information, and a few frames of your work; ads are minimal and run at the bottom of the page.   
• In the Frame View all viewers will see is your work and that's it!  You can use this link to get ads and other contact info off the page so the view can simply focus in on your work.
• ProSite Upgrade—Should you want to transform your portfolio into something even more awesome, you can choose to upgrade to a ProSite which is $11 a month.  You can add "pages" to your site and even create your own domain name.
• Resume Imports—Employers can view your resume easily and can even download it for print... no formatting necessary!  

If this doesn't convince you already, you can read more about Behance here.  You can also look into 7 other portfolio options in this online article.... good luck!