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Creating an online presence on a shoestring

Posted 20 May 2010 - No Comments - leave yours now!

When I was at University the most important thing for me was my portfolio. At the time this was a big black case with clear plastic folders and neatly mounted samples of my work. Over the last ten years it seems that my physical portfolio has become less important than my online presence. While I don’t accept this, and still believe my physical portfolio is as important as ever, I realise that having work available to view online is an important facet of my self-promotion.

If you aren’t a web designer/developer this can be a tricky problem to tackle.

In my last article I voiced my opinion on the benefits of outsourcing work. In the comments section one readers explained that they found themselves in a situation where they were struggling to make their first website and had no money to employ a coder to realise their design.

I guess this article is targeted quite specifically at creative individuals that ply their trade away from the internet but still feel the need to have an online presence to promote themselves.

If you are a web designer/developer you should most certainly be using the skills you are trying to sell to create a website for yourself.
However, if you are ‘code challenged’ like myself, there are a few options available to you.

Portfolio Hosting Sites
You may not get a custom URL, but you get a stable infrastructure and a web presence that works.
A lot of the sites that I’m about to list have very good reputations and won’t necessarily be looked down upon by prospective clients or employers. In fact some professionals decide to have this kind of online portfolio as well as a custom website to be part of the community that they produce.

Behance Network

This is not only a place where you can easily create a portfolio, but you can become part of a thriving creative community. Plus it’s free!
“With the Behance Network, our mission is to help organize creative people and their work. The Behance Network was not developed to be a “social network” but rather a content-centric organization engine that empowers creative people and teams to rapidly disseminate their projects, solicit feedback, and get found by some of the leading agencies, galleries, and recruiters in the world. Many top agencies now cite the Behance Network as their primary recruiting source.”
Scott Belsky – Founder, Behance

Deviant Art

One of the biggest online showcases with over 12 million members. You can easily upload your work samples and it is easy to mix with the community, where you will be able to learn from others, gain feedback or even collaborate.
I personally see dA as a place for illustrators to display their work but know plenty of print designers that use it as a shop window.
You can upload an unlimited amount of work for free.

Coroflot

Coroflot works in a similar way to my previous suggestions. They host over 150,000 portfolios that encompass most areas of design and creativity. Here is a quote from their website:
“That’s why Coroflot is an open system. There are no membership requirements, application processes, or invites. If you’re a designer or someone who avidly follows creative work, we want you here. If your work is good, it will find its way to the surface; if you need inspiration or advice, the world’s most active professional creative community can show you what’s what. We are fiercely committed to providing the space and connectivity creative professionals and employers need to showcase their work, find talent, and build their network in ways never before possible.”

Carbonmade

This is a friendly looking portfolio provider that gives you a good amount of control over how your individual portfolio looks. It was made by designers with the specific problem of portfolio production in mind. They offer a starter package allowing 5 projects (35 images) for free of you can get a more substantial deal with 50 projects (500 images) for $12/month. There are plenty of example pages for you to look at and assess what can be done with the Carbonmade system.
Here is a quote from their website:
“With Carbonmade, you can manage your online portfolio with a variety of tools that allow you to change how you display your work. The core idea behind the design of Carbonmade is to keep your images or videos at the forefront.”

Freelance Alliance

A directory of UK only creative and media freelancers. It costs freelancers £5+VAT per month and it’s designed to showcase freelancers’ portfolios. Members can set their own URL and each profile is optimised in the major search engines for skills and location, so that members can be found by hirers searching direct on the FA site or in Google.

Flickr

Plenty of designers and illustrators have Flickr feeds, usually they are set up to compliment other pages, but in theory you could use this simple to use photo sharing site to showcase your work.
You may run the risk of seeming low rent, or depending on your creativity, you might figure out a new and interesting way of presenting your work through this medium.

DIY – With limited Knowledge
Perhaps you are a designer that would like to give coding a go, or you are looking to expand your knowledge in that field. If this is the case then ‘doing’ is the best method of learning. Here are a few resources that might help. I’m not going to try and outline any advantages or disadvantages of these services as I’m not in a position to judge their merits.
If you are interested and inclined to use these resources, you will be able to find plenty of advice via google! I will comment that not all of these resources are free.

Cargo

Indexhibit

WordPress

Networking – Finding the right person for the job
My personal choice is still to find another person that can perform the tasks that you cannot do yourself. Sometimes it really does come down to who you know and not what you know.
If you are a student there is a fair chance that there is someone else in your class or department that knows more about coding than you do. Perhaps you could propose an exchange of services. If you are a designer you could agree to design something for them if they are willing to code a site for you.

Another option is to pay a coder, but minimise the cost by designing a simple one-page website. Here is a link to a showcase of one-page portfolio websites from web designer wall.

Conclusion
The important thing is to find the correct way to display your work so it does the talking for you. No matter how you produce your online presence it is there to sell your skills, so you need to figure out the best medium that will convey your work and personality.

I’d like to thank the members of design forums who helped me to research this article. I posted a thread asking how others produced their first online presence and for resources that might be helpful to others. You can view that thread here.

Please leave comments below if these resources are of any help to you. Also, feel free to suggest other resources that I might have missed and others would appreciate.

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