25 Examples of Graphic Design Portfolios and Useful Tips On How to Create Your Own

A graphic design portfolio is crucial in every designer’s life, as it’s the main thing a potential client wants to see before hiring a designer. However, how do you create one that visually communicates your skills, personality, and experience?

With so many things to consider when making a portfolio, we decided to develop a list of graphic design portfolio examples and supplement it with tips on how to create your own. Keep on reading to get inspired and learn practical advice that you can put into practice right away.

 

Graphic design portfolio examples

1. Mike Perry

Mike Perry is an American Emmy-winning artist who creates illustrations, animations, art installations, and more. He is known for his pop culture artworks with bold colors, childlike typography, joyful patterns, and forms. Mike’s portfolio showcases a wide range of his works, spanning posters, books, ads, packaging, and TV shows. You can review the entire portfolio on his site’s home page by simply rotating the mouse wheel. 

Source: Mike Perry Studio’s website

2. Chris Labrooy

Chris Labrooy is a Scottish designer who works at the intersection of art and design. He uses CGI to transform everyday things into new and distinctive forms in his works. Chris has worked with Nike, Porsche, British Airways, Time Magazine, Mcdonald’s, and many others throughout his career. His portfolio is designed with a simple layout displaying his strongest works.

Source: Chris Labrooy’s website

3. Joasia Fidler-Wieruszewska

Joasia Fidler-Wieruszewska is a Berlin-based graphic designer, illustrator, and art director. Her work includes books, lettering, and print designs, as well as visual identity and branding. Joasia’s portfolio is filled with trendy fonts, vibrant colors, animation, and eye-catching graphics. Both left and right navigation bars on the desktop version change color as you scroll, making it even more engaging. 

Source: Joasia Fidler-Wieruszewska’s website

4. Steven Harrington 

Steven Harrington is an LA-based psychedelic-pop artist and designer who has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, and other cities. His California aesthetic artworks can be seen on sculptures, figures, watches, clothes, footwear, and packaging. Steven’s portfolio features a minimalistic design on a white background, emphasizing his bright works and iconic style.

Source: Steven Harrington’s website

— Find more creatives in our list of 14 famous graphic designers you should follow on Instagram.

5. Hattie Stewart 

Hattie Stewart is a London-based designer, illustrator, and artist best known for her “doodle-bombs”, which she illustrated over magazine covers. Her cartoon-inspired works are bold, playful, and childlike, with an abundance of vibrant hues. Hattie’s portfolio site has an interactive and engaging design, allowing users to place numerous stickers on the front page and put together a puzzle with Hattie’s illustration in the “About” section. 

Source: Hattie Stewart’s website

6. Sergi Delgado

Sergi Delgado is a graphic designer, illustrator, and artist keen on typography and lettering. His works are inspired by mathematical algorithms found in nature; psychedelic, surrealist, oniric, pop movements; and optical art’s greatest tricks. Sergi’s portfolio is full of experimental and eye-catching animation and images with psychedelic motifs that are fun to look at.

Source: Sergi Delgado’s website

— Want to make your designs more dynamic? Discover kinetic typography, one of the 2022 graphic design trends.

7. Tiffany Cruz

Tiffany Cruz is a multidisciplinary designer located in New York, specializing in branding, motion, and illustration. Her works encompass the creation of logos, ad campaigns, and typography. Tiffany’s portfolio has a trendy design that includes a set of interactive fortune-telling cards, each leading to different projects she has worked on.

Source: Tiffany Cruz’s website

8. Leslie David Studio 

Leslie David Studio is a Paris-based creative agency specializing in visual and conceptual solutions across branding, print, digital designs, photography direction, and illustration. Leslie David, a designer and art director, started it in 2010. Since then, the agency has worked with clients from the Beauty, Fashion, Art, Lifestyle, and Music industries, among which are Chanel, Isabel Marant, Farfetch, Hermes, and Louis Vuitton. The studio’s portfolio resembles a fashion magazine with editorial-style visuals and animation.

Source: Leslie David Studio’s website

9. Timothy Goodman

Timothy Goodman is a New York-based designer, artist, and muralist with a recognizable art style often seen in packaging, clothing, magazine covers, and walls. Notable clients include Google, Samsung, Airbnb, Netflix, Uniqlo, Target, MoMA, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. Timothy’s site features distinctive animated graphics that move when you hover your cursor over them. His work is shown in his portfolio with full-width illustrations, animation, and videos.

Source: Timothy Goodman’s website

10. Emily Zhao

Emily Zhao is a designer based in Shanghai, specializing in branding and visual identity, animation, and digital design. Her portfolio reflects her modest and peaceful nature through a simple layout, elegant fonts, and a muted color palette. You can see examples of work on typography, books, and web design on Emily’s site. 

Source: Emily Zhao’s website

11. Contino Studio

Contino Studio is an independent creative agency specializing in design, branding, and visual identity, led by Jon Contino, an award-winning designer based in New York. The studio’s portfolio has expressive design with big lettering, videos, animations, handwritten fonts, and a custom cursor. Project pages feature lengthy explanations and full-screen images of their works. 

Source: Contino Studio’s website

12. Tobias van Schneider

Tobias van Schneider is a multidisciplinary designer working at the intersection of digital product design and brand identity. Tobias formerly worked at Spotify in New York as an art director and lead product designer, as well as with Red Bull, NASA, BMW, Google, Wacom, Sony, Toyota, Ralph Lauren, and others. He has an easy-to-read and straightforward portfolio, where each project has a short caption, a set of visuals, and insights on the project’s creation. 

Source: Tobias van Schneider’s website

13. Pawel Nolbert

Pawel Nolbert is a designer, illustrator, and art director specializing in creating visually rich imagery through experiments with colors. His works have been praised by world-renowned brands and companies, such as Adidas, Adobe, Apple, Louis Vuitton, Nike, Polaroid, WIRED, etc. On his website, the home page is artfully designed with full-width visuals in bold colors, and includes Pawel’s collaborations as you scroll down the page.

Source: Pawel Nolbert’s website

14. Ylimay Zavala

Ylimay Zavala is a graphic designer, art director, and artist based in Brooklyn, New York. She partners with companies and individuals who value uniqueness, boldness, and thoughtfulness. This can be seen in her one-of-a-kind portfolio, which contains playful fonts, changing colors, and popping authentic visuals. Ylimay’s work is presented with editorial-style images and spacious layouts.

Source: Ylimay Zavala’s website

15. Ben Eli 

Ben Eli is a London-based multidisciplinary designer working at Lazy Oaf, an independent streetwear brand. His portfolio is inspired by pop and internet culture aesthetics, featuring a trendy layout, mixed-up fonts, a neon gradient background, and a custom cursor. Ben’s personality shines through a website design, notably in the lower right corner, where his favorite music albums are shown. You can find full-screen visuals on the project’s pages with an expandable footer revealing details about the work.

Source: Ben Eli’s website

— Who inspires Depositphotos users? Take a look at the list of top Instagram accounts run by photographers, artists, and designers.

16. Andrada Has

Andrada Has is a Romanian graphic designer who is enthusiastic about branding, illustrations, print design, and art direction. She is a Gen-Z girl, and her portfolio reflects her outgoing nature. Andrada’s site is simple and eye-catching, with project pages designed in a magazine-like fashion with full-width images and written details about the design process.

Source: Andrada Has’s website

17. Studio Chen Chen

Studio Chen Chen is a husband-and-wife-owned Australian graphic design studio based in Sydney. Thanks to Olivia Chen, Chen Chen’s creative director, the studio has wide global expertise and specializes in branding, visual identity, interior, website, and packaging design. The studio’s portfolio includes stylish interactive gradient balls on the main page, smoothly flowing into a list of their projects. Each page contains a detailed work explanation, full-screen images, and animation.

 

Source: Studio Chen Chen’s website

18. Aries Moross

Aries Moross is a British graphic designer, illustrator, art director, and founder of Studio Moross. Aries’ portfolio is a comprehensive archive of her most known artworks and styles spanning over a decade. Her clients range from music festivals like Parklife to major world-famous brands like Netflix, Adobe, Adidas, Uniqlo, New Balance, and Kiehl’s. Aries is a non-binary person who wants to make non-binary and LGBTQI+ people’s voices heard in the creative world. Her rainbow-themed website and vibrant designs reflect this.

Source: Aries Moross’s website

19. Alina Rybacka-Gruszczynska

Alina Rybacka-Gruszczynska is a freelance art director and graphic designer from Poland with a background in architecture, giving her the ability and competence to work on a wide range of projects. In her creative work, Alina focuses on visual identity, packaging, stationery, posters, book and album covers, web and app design, wayfinding and signage, and UX and architecture. Her award-winning portfolio, with its clean grid, tasteful colors, and elegant combination of fonts, reflects her engineering degree.

Source: Alina Rybacka-Gruszczynska’s website

20. Grif Studio

Grif Studio is an independent creative studio run by Shane Griffin, an art director and visual artist based in New York. The studio specializes in design and animation, creating original artworks and video clips for big brands such as Nike, Apple, Givenchy, and Louis Vuitton. Grif’s portfolio has an uncomplicated design that highlights his latest works, including high-quality images, animations, and films.

 

Source: Grif Studio’s website

21. Sandro Rybak

Sandro Rybak is a German-based freelance graphic designer and illustrator with a background in advertising, editorial illustration, and fashion. McDonalds, Airbnb, Spotify, and WIRED are just a few of his noteworthy clientele. Sandro’s website presents an optimal amount of work using his signature “digital airbrush” technique. Each project page consists of a brief notice and large high-resolution visuals.

Source: Sandro Rybak’s website

22. Tania Yakunova

Tania Yakunova is an award-winning illustrator, artist, and designer based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Her works have a childlike quality, with bright colors and unusual shapes. Tania’s clients include Coca-Cola, Apple, Yves Rocher, Upwork, and The Washington Post. Her portfolio features a Tumblr-like ribbon that fills space with images, and allows you to examine several works at once.

Source: Tania Yakunova’s website

— Learn how to stay on top of graphic design trends with these 15 eye-catching urban posters.

23. &Walsh Agency 

Jessica Walsh, a creative director and strategist, runs &Walsh, a New York-based creative agency specializing in design, brand strategy, and art direction. On the main page of the agency’s website, you can see an engaging video with sleek, metallic 3D elements, as well as full-width images of their work.

Source: &Walsh Agency’s website

24. Jonathan Barnbrook 

Jonathan Barnbrook is a London-based graphic designer, filmmaker, and typographer, with a broad approach encompassing activism, graphic, typeface, industrial design, and motion graphics. He is famous for designing David Bowie’s album covers and typefaces, such as Bastard, Exocet, Mason, False Idol, Infidel, and many more. Jonathan’s portfolio includes full-screen graphics of his most well-known works and exhibitions, while his project page has artfully placed photographs of all of his projects.

Source: Jonathan Barnbrook’s website

25. Ana Bea Fernandes

Ana Bea Fernandes is a graphic designer based between London and Lisbon, interested in branding, culture, and community-led projects. She works as a senior designer at Freehaus, a London-based architecture studio. Her visual arts and graphic design backgrounds have resulted in a diverse set of skills that she uses in graphic design, painting, and photography. Ana’s portfolio design is playful, with modern fonts and colorful thumbnails.

Source: Ana Bea Fernandes website

 

5 Tips on Creating a Graphic Design Portfolio

1. Put your strongest works to the forefront

When curating what artworks to include in your portfolio, there is no need to include all the projects you’ve been working on. Choose the best ones that demonstrate a wide range of skills, relevant to your area of expertise, and correspond to the job you are pursuing. If you don’t have paid works showing what you are capable of or what you want to do – create them in your free time. It will pay off in the long run.

2. Pay attention to the platform and formatting

Your online portfolio’s hosting platform and formatting is just as important as your presented works. Choose a platform that allows for quick page downloads and the use of a custom domain URL. Formatting is another medium where you can show your creativity and artistic vision. Therefore, your portfolio should be aesthetically pleasing, in line with design trends, and reflect your personality.

— For more inspiration, check out the 20 best website designs from Awwwards.

3. Include case studies, client feedback, and descriptions

Many graphic design portfolio examples listed above are doing a great job showcasing their works. In particular, they cover the problem, the client’s objectives, the process, and the project’s background, as well as any challenges that the designer or studio faced during development. In your case, you can also share some sketches or screenshots that led up to the finished work.

4. Make it personal

To give potential customers a sense of who you are, make your portfolio personal with a design that reflects your personality and unique style. In addition to your work, you should sell yourself too! Hence, everything you put on your profile matters: colors, layouts, fonts, backgrounds, text, visuals, and even small details, like a custom cursor or dynamic typography.

5. Display non-client projects

As a designer, you do not always get orders that reveal your potential to the fullest. Therefore, to land better jobs and opportunities that align with a job you’re pursuing, create personal conceptual works that showcase your abilities and artistic vision. It will also demonstrate your willingness to go above and beyond to get desired results.

— For more tips on making a creative portfolio, see this article.

 

FAQ About a Graphic Design Portfolio

What is a graphic design portfolio?

A graphic design portfolio is a collection of works in an easy-to-view format that demonstrates your skills, and presents you to potential clients as a designer. It usually contains the designer’s biography, best works, case studies, collaborations, and contact information.

What do I add to a graphic design portfolio?

It would be best to curate a graphic design portfolio based on your specialty, skills, and the job you are pursuing. Your online portfolio can include graphic illustrations, print and font designs, typography, web and video graphics, visual concepts, and stories behind the works. At the same time, you can create separate customized PDF portfolios to apply for specific projects or companies you want to work with.

How do I organize a graphic design portfolio?

To create the best layout for your graphic design portfolio, put your strongest works to the forefront. Make sure they are relevant and correspond to the job you want to do. Include various projects that demonstrate your skills. It can be illustrations for ads, postcards, books, magazines, album covers, packaging, or website designs. Augment your portfolio with case studies or describe the creative process behind your work.

How many pieces should be in a graphic design portfolio?

When compiling a graphic design portfolio, prioritize quality over quantity. It is advisable to include a few strong projects that demonstrate your skills and specialty, rather than dozens of ordinary projects that are repetitive. The recommended number of works in a portfolio is 5-10, but no more than 15.

What size should a graphic design portfolio be?

The optimal size for a graphic design portfolio is 10-20 pages in length, but no more than 30. This length allows you to tell your story and showcase 5-10 projects or case studies, as well as details of the creation process.

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