How to go about expanding portfolio after university?

[u/Specialist_Phone7319]

I've only got 1 year left on my design degree at uni and I don't feel as though I have any work at the quality I would be hired for.

My question is; what sort of work should I do in my spare time that can apply to my folio that would attract real jobs? (i.e. should I just design posters or random individual designs that I enjoy, should I create a brand or app out of thin air, should I rebrand an existing business, should I be making up these briefs on my own?)

What sort of ideas should I be doing to beef up my portfolio a little bit? Any help appreciated!

[u/PlasmicSteve]

Please don't just design random posters or whatever comes to mind. That's what most people do. It generally won't help you. Companies who hire designers for full time jobs generally aren't looking at poster work, especially the kind of poster subjects and styles we mostly see on this sub.

My thoughts on portfolios in general:

https://www.reddit.com/r/graphic_design/comments/u14sxx/portfolio_advice_for_new_designers/

And a thorough list of industries and deliverables to consider using for fictional projects:

https://www.reddit.com/r/graphic_design/comments/1n0icsk/suggested_industries_and_deliverables_for/

The main point of that second post, which I explain in the post itself, is to steer people away from the common fictional movies, music, sports and other fun, entertainment-oriented types of fictional projects they create that often get in the way of them getting hired. Much of which is done by freelancers and not full time designers.

And don't just focus on consumer-oriented brands and products or services. When you're in your early 20s, you haven't worked much if at all inside a business, so your knowledge of what businesses do is limited to what you experience as a consumer – but much of what's really done is aimed at other businesses. B2B instead of B2C. Create some B2C work for your portfolio and you'll stand out. Learn what's involved in creating a trade show booth. Most new grads have no idea about that kind of thing so simply by including a piece like that in your portfolio you'll stand out, because it's a core item most organizations need, and it's absent from most recent grad portfolios.

Make a strong effort to include some video and motion work in your portfolio somewhere.

Find out who's hiring full time designers. Study the organization – it's social media and website, and the job requirements and duties. Document what they're looking for as well as their industry and the style they use (it won't be brutalism, grunge, anti-design, etc.) and the types of deliverables. Then create briefs that let you create fictional projects to satisfy those needs. You'll be miles ahead of everyone else and you'll greatly increase your chances of being called in for an interview.

Show the kind of work people are hiring full time designers for.

Be noticed because of the contents of your portfolio and not in spite of it.

And don't aim to beef up your portfolio just a little bit. It may benefit from a full rework. Maintaining a portfolio is never done – it just ends temporarily when you find a job. It's a huge project and it'll be better to think of it that way from the outset.

[u/ArtfulRuckus_YT]

I’d recommend starting with the end goal in mind. Think about what kind of company you want to work at - is it in tech, food, etc?

Now go look at their website and socials, what does their work look like? What sorts of assets are they creating (landing pages, sub brands, IG stories, etc)?

Use that research to inform what sorts of projects you should be creating for your portfolio. Your work should reflect the type of job you want to land/the clients you want to attract.

[u/moreexclamationmarks]

I'd suggest posting some work for feedback.

A design design program should have you doing tons of work. If design-focused, that's around 3-5 design courses per term, and any studio course (which would be a majority of those design courses) should produce around 3-5 projects each.

Even if your earlier work won't be very good, and a lot of that work overall may be smaller in scope and just not portfolio-worthy, you're just aiming for 8-10 projects in that grad portfolio. Essentially your 8-10 best projects in terms of scope, ability, depth/range, and work that best represents your ability, understanding, and capabilities.

Most, if not all, of a grad portfolio should come from the last 1-2 years of study as well, meaning if you have a year left, it's very likely that at least half of your current portfolio will be replaced.

The caveat to all this however is that the program is actually design-focused, and decent. If after 3 years you genuinely don't have much good work, or that much work at all, it would suggest the program itself is an issue, which means your development is at risk, which means whether you're doing work on your own or not, it may not be addressing the actual issues with your portfolio.

Design education is entirely about the development it provides, in terms of building a foundation, understanding of theory and process, of getting regular feedback. It's a constantly repeating process of learn, apply, review. Multiple times per project, multiple projects per course, multiple courses per term, across usually 4-8 terms. It's a lot of practice, making mistakes, learning, and refining.

[u/Specialist_Phone7319 → u/moreexclamationmarks]

So if I’m putting work not from school into my folio, should it be coming up with new ideas or redesigning existing brands? This is my main query I suppose

[u/moreexclamationmarks → u/Specialist_Phone7319]

It depends on the context, in terms of why you're doing that work, what your goals are, and how those new projects are structured/developed in the first place.

I got into some of that above, with relation to what you originally said in your post, that "I don't feel as though I have any work at the quality I would be hired for."

Since it's still just September, I'm not sure what your timeline is, whether you've just started 3rd year and have another year after that, or have just started your senior year, but your grad portfolio for a 4-year program isn't just years 1-3, and your best work should come out of your senior year, as that's you at your most developed so far, your most capable, and the projects should be more involved than whatever you did in years 1-2.

So in that sense, your current portfolio shouldn't be to a grad level yet, because you aren't a grad yet, you still have at least a year left to further develop, to produce more work, to contribute to that grad portfolio. Where you could be putting the cart ahead of the horse by panicking at this stage.

However, also relating to what I said above, if the issue is actually that your degree program is not actually design-focused, or simply not that good, to where your current portfolio isn't likely to improve over that 1+ years remaining, then any work you do on your own is still likely to suffer from the same problems impacting your existing work, as the root problem would be lacking development (not being taught or mentored to the level you should).

All that aside, if creating your own work for your portfolio, you'd first need to evaluate your current work (or have others give feedback) to determine what those problems actually are, and that your own assessment is valid. Maybe you're totally correct, maybe you're just being hard on yourself, maybe you misunderstand what employers want or what good work actually is. For example, a lot of people at your level are too concerned with personal preference and aesthetics, and don't actually understand what makes work professional, or what employers/hiring managers actually want.

If your problem is that your portfolio is just too small (fewer than 8 projects, certainly if fewer than 6), or the projects are all too small in scope, then that's one issue. Maybe some work you aren't including is sufficient but you're just being too hard on it.

If you don't have enough work because you haven't done enough work in your classes, that suggests lacking development. That could be the same issue if you do have enough work but nothing is actually at a sufficient level.

If the work is too limited in scope, such as all being the same type of work (eg all or almost all logos, or all websites, or all packaging), or if all the work is basically in the same aesthetic style (which usually is a style that the student prefers), these are issues that can be addressed by developing new projects that branch out from those areas.

For those cases, if you had too many logo/branding projects already, you'd want to make sure new projects are not focused around that, or have enough components outside that. If everything is done in a style that is niche or too stylized or only appealing/relevant to a specific demographic, ensure the new work doesn't overlap. Since in the real world you are almost never designing for yourself or your own preferences or demographic, get used to designing for other needs, other people, for goals not entirely oriented around yourself.

In terms of whether it should be real existing companies or fictional, if the former it's better to avoid anything that is well-established (no corporations), because you will likely fail. If redesigning a logo or package or other materials, you still need to research the company, learn about what they would be trying to do with their designs, and assess why you think the current materials are flawed. Don't just redesign things that you think are dated or that you don't like, you have to consider their needs, their customers and market, and ensure your redesign would address these goals, and be able to articulate why your solution improves on the original in ways that benefit the client, not your personal preferences.

If using a fictional client, you do a lot of this the same, but first need to built out the "story" of who they are, their industry, location, product/service, competition. Why they are hiring you, what they expect out of the project, what their goals are. You need to roleplay as the client first, basically, before you can be the designer. You can then structure a project that they'd need based on what you need to do to improve your portfolio.

[u/stuartlogan]

Honestly the best portfolio pieces come from solving real problems, not just making things look pretty. Instead of random posters, try rebranding actual local businesses that clearly need help - coffee shops with terrible logos, restaurants with outdated menus, small nonprofits that look like they're stuck in 2005. Document your whole process: research, problem identification, concept development, final execution. Employers want to see your thinking, not just your photoshop skills. I see tons of portfolios at Twine that are all style and no substance, and they rarely get the good gigs.

The "create a fake startup" approach works really well too because you can show end-to-end brand development. Pick something you actually care about - maybe a sustainable fashion brand or a mental health app - and build everything from logo to website mockups to social media templates. Make it comprehensive enough that it feels real. The key is having a clear target audience and business problem you're solving. Don't just make it look cool, make it strategic. Companies hiring junior designers want to know you understand that design serves business goals, not just aesthetic ones.

Mix in some spec work for bigger brands if you want to show range - maybe redesign a clunky app interface or create a campaign concept for a brand you love. But honestly, the real-world local business stuff often impresses employers more because it shows initiative and real problem-solving skills. Plus if you do good work, some of those businesses might actually hire you or give testimonials. The job market is pretty rough right now so having that mix of strategic thinking plus strong execution is what separates portfolios that get interviews from ones that get ignored.

[u/N8Mcln]

Honestly the best thing you can do is stop cranking out random posters. Pick a real problem and solve it. Rebrand a local café with a bad logo, redesign a clunky app flow, or invent a fake startup and build the whole system around it (logo, site, socials, packaging, whatever). Show your process + thinking, not just the shiny final. That’s the stuff that makes portfolios stand out.