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If you’ve ever asked a professor or game developer what steps you should take to get hired by a game company, chances are they’ve mentioned a game design portfolio at some point.
Since making games is a costly and challenging endeavor, game studios are very careful about who they hire to join their teams.
Once you’ve decided to put the time and effort into making your own portfolio, then comes the hard part: actually building it.
If you’re confused about what goes into a good game design portfolio or where to start, you’re not alone.
Keep reading to see all the advice and information you’ll need to get started on building a great design portfolio for yourself.
Getting your foot in the door as a game designer is no easy feat. With competition fiercer than a final boss battle, you need an exceptional portfolio to show off your skills and stand out from the crowd. But what exactly makes a winning game design portfolio?
In this comprehensive guide I’ll walk you through the key tips and best practices for creating a portfolio that wows potential employers. From choosing your best work to organizing and presenting your projects I’ve got you covered on how to showcase your talents in the best possible light.
So power up and get ready – it’s game on for building your dream portfolio!
Select Your Strongest Work
The first step is choosing which of your projects to highlight. Quality over quantity is the name of the game here. Carefully curate your portfolio to exhibit only your best and most relevant work.
Show Off Your Key Skills
Pick projects that align with the type of game design role you’re pursuing. For example, if you’re applying for a level designer position at an RPG studio, feature work that shows your skills in crafting intricate gameplay spaces and challenges.
Highlight Your Biggest Contributions
Include pieces where you played a major role that led to success If you designed a hit mobile game that topped the charts, or created fan-favorite levels in a big franchise title, those are huge resume boosters.
Feature Your Most Innovative Ideas
Portfolios are the perfect place to flaunt your creativity. Show off projects that exhibit original game mechanics, unique concepts and fresh visual styles. This proves to employers that you can think outside the box.
By carefully curating only your best and most relevant work, your portfolio makes a strong first impression right out the gate.
Organize Your Projects Logically
Once you’ve picked your prime portfolio pieces, the next step is organizing them in a way that tells a compelling story and clearly conveys your skills.
Start With Your Best Foot Forward
Kick things off with one of your most impressive and eye-catching projects. You want to grab their attention from the very first click.
Structure Content in a Logical Flow
Group related projects together into categories or arrange content chronologically to demonstrate your professional growth over time.
End on a High Note
Close out your portfolio with another standout project. This leaves viewers with a powerful and lasting final impression of your abilities.
With a logically structured portfolio, employers can easily navigate and understand the full range of your work and capabilities. Organization is key!
Weave an Engaging Narrative
While you want to arrange your portfolio logically, you also want to craft an interesting story around your work. Incorporating narrative elements can bring your projects to life.
Connect Projects to Showcase Your Journey
Tie pieces together into a cohesive narrative showing your evolution as a designer. Maybe you started with simple 2D mobile games and progressed to 3D console blockbusters as you honed your skills.
Spotlight Your Thought Process
For each project, briefly explain your initial concept, challenges faced, and solutions discovered through the design process. This reveals valuable insights into how you think and problem-solve.
Share Your Passion
Let your excitement and love for game design shine through. Convey what inspires you about each project and why certain pieces are so meaningful to you.
By weaving an engaging narrative, you transform your portfolio from a plain collection of projects into an intriguing story viewers want to see through to the ending.
Demonstrate Your Versatility
While it’s great to feature your specialized skills, it’s also important to showcase range. Including diverse projects proves you can adapt to different game genres, styles and platforms.
Mix Up Game Types and Mechanics
Have an RPG dungeon crawler? Toss in a retro pixel platformer too. This shows you can design engaging experiences across game types.
Vary Visual Styles
Showcase your art skills across projects with different aesthetics – from cute and cartoonish to dark and edgy.
Feature Work Across Platforms
Have some mobile games in your portfolio? Add console and PC projects too. This displays your ability to design for various hardware capabilities and inputs.
Flaunting your versatility indicates to employers that you’re flexible and eager to take on new challenges.
Document Your Process
Employers want to see not just your final products, but also how you got there. Walk them through your creative journey for each project.
Share Early Concept Art and Prototypes
Include initial sketches, draft animations and early gameplay prototypes to showcase the evolution.
Explain Your Experiments and Pivots
What ideas did you try that worked? Which didn’t and why? Let them see how you iterate.
Break Down Complex Problems and Solutions
Detail out how you overcame tricky design obstacles, like balancing a difficult boss fight.
Show Collaborations and Teamwork
For group projects, outline your contributions and how you worked with others.
Giving insight into your process displays problem-solving skills, critical thinking and collaboration abilities highly valued in game design roles.
Craft an Appealing Presentation
Once you’ve selected projects and documented process, it’s time to pull together an aesthetically pleasing portfolio. First impressions count, so make sure it looks professional.
Organize Content Intuitively
Structure your portfolio so viewers can easily find projects and information. Clear labels and navigation are a must.
Optimize for Mobile
Many employers will view portfolios on phones and tablets, so ensure your portfolio looks great and functions smoothly on all devices.
Incorporate Visual Flair
Liven up your portfolio with original banner images, logos, icons and other graphical elements. But don’t go overboard – you want the focus on your work.
Show Personality and Passion
Sprinkle in some personal touches, like a “About Me” bio conveying your game design philosophy and inspirations.
A presentation that looks amazing and allows viewers to easily access and understand your work leaves a polished, professional impression.
Keep Your Portfolio Current
In the fast-moving game industry, keeping your portfolio up-to-date is crucial for showing you’re an active and relevant designer.
Feature Your Latest Work
Employers want to see your current skills and experience. Replace older projects with your newest and best work.
Reflect New Industry Trends
Add projects utilizing fresh game design trends and emerging technologies employers are seeking. For example, showcase work integrating multiplayer or VR.
Revisit and Refine Older Pieces
If you don’t want to remove an older project, give it a polish pass to improve upon it before adding it to your current portfolio.
Iterate on Portfolio Presentation
Regularly upgrade portfolio visuals and layout to keep things looking sharp. Tweak your “About Me” to reflect new achievements and ambitions.
By continually evolving your portfolio, you signal to potential employers that you’re serious about keeping your skills fresh and at the cutting edge of the industry.
Gather Valuable Feedback
It’s easy to become blind to issues or opportunities for improving your own portfolio. Lean on others for constructive critiques to level up your portfolio.
Ask Fellow Designers to Review
Your peers will give honest, thoughtful feedback from a designer’s perspective. Join online communities to connect with fellow game designers.
Get Input from Friends in Other Fields
Friends outside game design provide an outsider’s viewpoint. What parts confuse or excite them? Their input can reveal strengths and weaknesses you may have overlooked.
Talk with Former Colleagues and Mentors
Who better to ask for portfolio advice than former teammates and managers? They’ve seen you in action and know the types of skills employers will be evaluating.
Critique Your Own Work
After taking time away from your portfolio, come back and review it with fresh eyes. Look at it from an employer’s perspective – does it sell your skills in the best possible way?
Embrace criticism, remain humble, and keep working to refine your portfolio based on the feedback received. The more eyes on your work, the better it will become.
Create an Online Presence
Don’t just upload your portfolio then forget about it. Promote your portfolio online to get it in front of potential employers.
Link to Your Portfolio on Job Sites
When applying for game design roles on sites like LinkedIn, include a link to your online portfolio on your profile and with job submissions. This allows hiring managers to dive deeper into your work.
Share Your Portfolio on GameDev Communities
Post your portfolio on game developer forums and sites like Reddit for feedback and exposure. But make sure to read each community’s rules regarding self-promotion first!
Promote New Projects on Social Media
When you add new work to your portfolio, announce it on your professional social media accounts. Twitter is great for connecting with studios and designers.
Build a Personal Website
Having your own website showcases your broader design and technical skills. Just make sure your portfolio is easily accessible from the home page!
What Does a “Good Portfolio” Look Like?
Studios are impressed by portfolios that show the person has experience making games.
Like mentioned before, this can include anything from s videos of games you have worked on to mods, levels, prototypes, and anything else related to the game design process. A portfolio where you just talk about your favorite games or explain why you’re good at game design (without any proof) will almost always be overlooked.
Does a portfolio matter if you only want to work indie?
Independent developers, just like publisher-backed game studios, want to make sure their next addition to the team will actually fit in and help make great games.
Having a game design portfolio is still very important if you look to make games for a living and an indie dev.
Since most indie designers work remotely and with different teams, a portfolio is the best and only way to showcase their experience and abilities.
These days it’s easier than ever to get your own online portfolio up and running for the world to see.
In fact, here are some of the best websites where you can make a portfolio for the wonderful price of free:
CoroflotCoroflot is one of the biggest creative portfolio sites on the net with more than. There’s even a job board where you can post your portfolio make it more likely to be seen by recruiters.
Carbonmade A pretty straightforward portfolio site that’s very easy to use, even if it’s your first time making a website of any sort. More than 400,00 people have used Carbonmade to make their online portfolios.
Behance NetworkBehance has a great list of tools that allow you to make just the right portfolio for you. They even offer social network features like activity feeds, collections, groups, and more.
If you want to make your portfolio look even more professional, consider purchasing a domain for it so you have a URL that’s easier to link and includes your name. In a nutshell:
What Do These Resumes Have In Common?
- You have a degree from a video game school. Having a degree from a video game school communicates to others that not only are you a passionate designer, but you have credentials from an institution to back it up.
- You have experience working on real projects with real teams. Besides education and knowledge of computing and designing, getting your hands dirty in game design is a huge plus. If you’ve been involved in a project, especially any unique or impressive ones in school, flaunt them!
- You have qualities that a gaming company is looking for in its specific studio and teams.
