Your portfolio repels jobs
I look at game artists’ portfolios on a regular basis. These websites are usually designed so poorly that I close my browser out of disgust. They’re even bad enough to turn away potential employers, regardless of the quality of the artwork. Tragic!
Most artists make mistakes like these, but fortunately, they’re very simple to understand and correct. I’ve come up with a quick and easy way to help artists think about how to improve their chances of employment by building a better website.
The core truth here is this:
Usability is just as important as content.
A portfolio website should be a simple, effective, uncluttered experience from start to finish that leaves a lasting impression on the visitor. An incredible number of websites fail to do this. And it’s always for silly, completely avoidable reasons.
Your website should be focused on one purpose, be easy to use, and offer a clear line of action. Here are three simple questions to ask yourself:
1) What’s my website’s focus?
Your website exists to get you a job. Its only purpose is to showcase your art and present your contact information for potential employers. You should make your art and contact information so fantastically easy to see that someone find it accidentally. If someone wants to talk to you about a job, don’t be hard to find.
Include your name and contact information at the top of every page of your site.
For example, any visitor should understand clearly that you are an environment artist and you intend to get a job as an environment artist. Anything else is confusing. Silly MS Paint drawings, photos from trips you’ve taken or a blog about your daily life have nothing to do with that, and should be removed. These things are not added value. A portfolio is not a personality test! That’s what an interview is for.
The second common mistake is making a website that’s difficult to navigate. So ask yourself this:
2) Is my website easy to use?
You might be thinking “but I’m an artist, not a web designer!” This is a poor but common excuse for making a bad website. On the other side of the coin, many artists that are web designers make their website so flamboyantly artsy that it’s practically impossible to use.
The first thing a visitor should see on your website is your art. First impressions are formed in an instant. Attention spans can be shut off in an instant. Your top priority should be to make that first instant be compelling enough to keep the viewer looking and to give them what they’re looking for. Don’t tease… satisfy.
After all, did I go to your website to look at a splash page, or art? The faster I can see your content, the better.
Forget splash pages and news pages or any other starting page that isn’t putting art directly in my face.
Your portfolio’s highest purpose is to show off your art quickly, easily, and with the minimum of hassle. A good portfolio should be so easy to navigate that someone could view your work accidentally.
Anything that doesn’t support that basic goal breaks your focus and should be removed or relocated. Make another website for your personal stuff if you have to, but keep your portfolio clean and relevant. More isn’t better.
If it doesn’t help show your art faster or sell you as an artist, it shouldn’t be there.
Here’s a quick list of aggravating features that are common in portfolio websites:
Splash page -> News page -> Portfolio page -> 3D Art -> Characters -> Man with Axe thumbnail -> Man with Axe enlarged.
Do you expect me not to hate clicking through seven pages just to see your art? Flatten your site. Put the art in my face and show me the quickest, simplest possible way of navigating. One page full of art is better than any of the multiple layers shown above.
Hiring managers look through dozens of portfolios every day. All the portfolios they see blend together. It’s just a job. You are either on the “Portfolios To Review” list, or you’re not. A poorly designed website makes this poor hiring manager’s job a little more annoying. Accordingly, he is less likely to invest the time into looking at your entire portfolio. And he certainly won’t read your blog. Is he hiring a Metallica fan or a level designer?
Imagine that your target visitor is a tired, indifferent hiring manager whose only desire is to find the shortest path possible to looking at your art. Nothing else matters. So design your website for him. Give him what he wants. Remove what he doesn’t care about. The clearer your message, the better.
For example: “I am Phineas Fogbottom, environment artist. This is my art. Email me at mastapimp420@yahoo.com”
That’s all he needs to know. Keep it simple.
3) Do I provide a clear line of action?
This is also important. Sadly, good art doesn’t sell itself. It’s one thing to present art, and it’s quite another to funnel them toward offering you a job. First you serve up the art, and then you show them that they should offer you a job, and here’s how to contact you. The easier this is, the better.
Here are two huge mistakes people often make along these lines:
If they’re hiring a character artist, seeing you say “I do everything!” isn’t going to make them think of you for the job. It’s easy: Be the guy they’re looking for by being specific. If they’re looking for a character artist, the more ways you can match the pattern they’re looking for, the better. A good place to start is by saying “Hey, I’m a character artist.” :)
That’s all there is to it, really. It’s simple enough if you think about it, but that’s the problem: Most people don’t. If you start thinking about it, you’re already ahead of the game!
There are 42 Comments to "Your portfolio repels jobs"
Hey, could you post some portfolio websites that you like? I am making a new website and it feels a little uneven, getting all these tips but no interactive examples of how the whole thing should work IYO. Thanks!
lol, ur from irvine.
Seriously though, great text. It’s simple and more informative than a bucket of wisdom. Keep at it.
Thanks for the kind words, guys! :)
The only website that springs immediately to mind is one by a friend of mine, Chris Holden:
http://www.chrisholden.net/
He doesn’t go by every single thing I say, but it’s still a simple, straightforward website that has — and makes — a point.
If I can find more sites like that, I’ll call attention to them.
This was very usefull…
Thank you and take care my friend…
My site is http://www.stavrevstefan.3dk.org
I just won it,so it is not finished.Definetly will listen yor tips to finish my web…
This was very usefull…
A nice read, pretty informative. And I wouldn’t worry about flash sites, they’re blatantly dying out nowadays.
Thanks, all of you! :)
And flash sites are dying? GOOD. I’m happy to hear that.
Great article Jon. I’ve linked it at the end of my guide to quickly setting up a good, fast, cheap portfolio site:
http://www.rsart.co.uk/2006/08/26/setting-up-a-quick-portfolio-site/
[...] Go read Jon Jones article, Your Portfolio Repels Jobs [...]
Thanks man, much appreciated! :) I dig your guide too, definitely a helpful contribution to the community!
Thanks a ton man..very informative…time to make a new layout for my site :)
[...] This is a really important one that I only touched on briefly in my Your Portfolio Repels Jobs article. [...]
hi…good site.
I dont know what all that text and words above this stuff mean… I would read them… but that would take work.
hey when are we going to hang out and eat tapas again?
You mentioned that you should specify the type of position you would prefer. Would it be a no-no to list two – say character artist or environmental artist?
Yes. :) Those are two entirely different disciplines, and there’s no such position as a Character\Environment artist. Applying for two at once seems indecisive, and people love the idea of specialists.
Put your strongest foot forward and commit to one. Once you get the interview, or the job, then roll that out as a useful secondary skillset you have to increase your value. So it’s like “Hey, this character artist we hired is also skilled at environment art!”
hi
Hey Jon!
Just recommended this to a local art school. You never know, might make a dent.
I stumbled a bit on your sentence “You should make your art and contact information so fantastically easy to see that someone find it accidentally.” Accidentally? I think you meant something more like “…that someone can’t miss it no matter what.”
Thanks again for the great read.
That’s awesome, Eric, thank you for the recommendation! I really appreciate that.
Yeah, two ways of saying the same thing. When I wrote this for some reason the idea of something being so ubiquitous that you can find it without meaning to cemented itself in my head as “accidentally.” Your version is more readable.
Thanks for the kind words! :)
Thanks for the advice. What are your views on artists that host tutorials on their websites?
I think tutorials are awesome! Just make sure you’re right. :)
Anything you can do to differentiate yourself — in a good way — is a huge plus. Tutorials can also draw more traffic to your site and improve your overall visibility.
Wow! What a helpful article with many good points in it.
The article was very useful to me when it came to avoiding bad website design for my own site.
I do have a question about image branding I would like to ask though.
When it comes to image branding you said:
“should have your name, email address and website URL”
Is the name necessary in the image if the website address includes the persons name, or can it just be left out to save space for the image?
Example: My name is Warren Fuselier, my site is warrenfuselier.com.
Also, if the point of image branding is to remove it from context, so a person can find the pictures creator, why have the email and website URL together?
Seems to just take up space away from the image (even if it is just a small amount).
The website URL should be enough, with contact information easily found if a person really wants to get in touch with the pictures creator.
While I am nitpicking at the moment, these really are just minor points that are not big deal, that I was wondering about.
Great advices :) I’m just going to simplify and specialize my website, I’ll keep all you said in mind.
Regarding the layers of navigation on the page – it’s sometimes hard to put all artworks into one gallery; possible but messy if someone does a lot of different art – though I think here of a general gallery, not a specific portfolio. Alternative I would see in creating portfolio pages specific for a job one is looking for, with general gallery divided into sections deeper in the background. Is it good idea? I saw it on a few artists sites – separate links to portfolio and gallery.
Last question – what do you think of frames? Another article about portfolios advised against them, while for me they are good way to keep navigation accessible all the time. The argument was it’s impossible to link a certain image in the gallery with frames. I would link the image itself if I wanted to link, or right clicked and linked the sub-site with image only, but not everyone uses this function of browser. Gallery plug-in with easy navigation might be alternativn option, but then it will open the full view image in another window.
Regards,
Karolina Wegrzyn
Warren, thanks man! I appreciate the kind words.
As for image branding, yeah, if the website is your name you can leave the name off. You want it to be visible and obvious for someone that’s looking, without being intrusive — or too easy to remove.
For the URL and email address together, that’s just my preference. You can find an email address from a website, or request a URL through an email. If they want your email address immediately, it’s right there and saves them the step of going to the website first. It just depends on what the viewer’s intent is. And if it doesn’t take up *that* much space, I say, why not just do both? Just my preference.
Karolina, thank you! :)
When I see the words “portfolio” and “gallery,” at least in the context of my industry, I see them as interchangeable terms.
My first instinct before even considering separate sections would be to brutally edit down what I choose to show. :)
I greatly prefer seeing all the work in a single place at one time, but if there really is *that* much work worth showing off that’s all very different, I think it’s fine to have separate sections dividing them, as long as each section feels full enough on its own. i.e., each section has roughly the same number of pieces (8 – 10 or somesuch).
Frames are all about quality of implementation. As long as they load the right images in the right place the right way, and aid in navigation instead of creating more unnecessary complications, they’re fine. They can be a very useful tool in navigation. I used them in my own portfolio in years past. :)
Thank you for the answer :)
I don’t have that many images, in fact I will brutally limit what is worth being in portfolio. I just have images that I did for my friends, some old artwork which I thought to keep on-line, but not in portfolio. I can have them on dA or hidden in any other personal site then.
[...] For me, the desire to create a portfolio is purely based on client or interviewer convenience, and goes back to that “don’t send the design doc” comment I made in my other design portfolio article that targets designers who have yet to enter the industry. If I can show my prospective clients what I do and what I’ve done in a quick and painless DVD versus a large pile of games, I might have a leg up on another designer trying for the same gig. I am influenced here by one of my favorite articles: Jon Jones’Â Your portfolio repels jobs. [...]
You know what’s funny? This is the first time I’ve reread this entire article from start to finish since I wrote it. And now that I am in a position where I’m actively looking over peoples’ portfolios and making decisions on whether or not to contact them for work, I realize how crucial it is to nail the points I’ve highlighted here.
Self-aggrandizing though it may be, this is stuff I’m finding to be truer and truer by the day. Everyone can benefit from taking these steps to become more competitive and visible, and I hope they do. :)
Great article. I was planning to redesign my portfolio and I find your points very useful. Thank you.
Do you run into any web potfolios with video presentations on them ? Does it help ?
*portfolios
Great information, thanks for the advice.
I disagree with the pop-up theory : I hate having to come back and load the whole thumbnails gallery after I checked a pic. Just make sure the pop-up always open in the same unique window and that should do it.
I would rather suggest a gallery script like Lightbox which adds shade on the whole page and displays the image in the center, here is a list of such: http://planetozh.com/projects/lightbox-clones/
Jon Jones, how do you find those?
Indeed it’s a good alternative, had not thought about that.
Aleksandar, thank you!
Cru, if it shows off the work effectively, is well-edited, and relatively short (~3min), yes, video presentations can be useful.
Rob, thanks! :)
Sam, if it’s cached, it’s not that bad. Mainly it just annoys me when every thumbnail opens a new window. I really don’t mind if it it takes me to a new page that leads to the next page or quickly back to the previous page. The Lightbox plugin Karolina mentions is great.
Karolina, I LOVE those. They’re super cool, functional and simple. Can’t say enough good things about them! Thanks for the link, by the way.
Thanks for commenting, everybody!
Also, I recently gave a Your Portfolio Repels Jobs speech at the Game Developer’s eXchange put on by the Savannah College of Art and Design. You can view the video here: http://www.scad.tv/archive.php
Click on “Jon Jones” and voila, there’s me! In the video, I’ve updated the article quite a bit, added some new information and greatly expanded on some points.
[...] better, artist Jon Jones wrote an article called Your Portfolio Repels Jobs, describing the things you should and shouldn’t do on your portfolio site. The bottom line: [...]
[...] http://www.thejonjones.com/2005/10/07/your-portfolio-repels-jobs/ [...]
Some really great tips there. personally I never wanted to bother with learning to create websites so I used a free portfolio site. After scouring and trying out different sites I found that carbonmade.com worked best for me, and i plug it to anyone who asks me what portfolio site to use (I[m not affiliated with them in any way whatsoever). I find their direct, no nonsense approach when it comes to portfolios really refreshing.
What I’m not entirely feeling is the marketingon the image. I personally feel that any kind of unnecessary text on an image turns me off personally, so I try not to do it myself. I may one day just try updating all my images to see if this results in increased pageviews though.
Hey Jon, thanks so much for the information! You’re so helpful. I was wondering about what you felt about an amateur artist having a free domain as their site. For example the sites that end in “.co.cc” or “.uni.cc” etc are free and have short urls. Is having a site like this okay for beginner artists who want to get their work out there? Or should they spend on “.com” or “.net” sites?
4) Stop using white text on black background. Seriously, save visitors eyes.
haha! Yeah, this was a temporary colors\theme update. Going to figure out something else that’s more friendly.
You’re absolutely right and I’m glad you brought it up. Thank you!
Wow amazing advice I’ve been trying to build my first site and have been looking and looking and researching what it needs. I’m so grateful for your short list of dos and don’ts. I took a ton of notes and have tossed out all kinds of artsy ideas that I thought would be fun. You’re right its not about being cute its about getting a job. Thank you thank you. I hope others have learned something from this.