How to Make a Good Architectural Portfolio

(A Guide for Architecture Students)

I am back with episode 3 of Archi-Tales, the Interview Series. In this blog post, I am speaking with Anisha Mitra, who was recently selected for the CEPT Exchange programme primarily due to her portfolio. She has also completed a mandatory course titled ‘Publication Design’ under the guidance of Rishav Jain at CEPT University. Moreover, she is one of my closest friends and the perfect person to consult about ‘How to Make a Portfolio’.

This post will address all your doubts and questions regarding the portfolio, helping you to create one that will secure your dream internship or job.

Q- Why Is It Important To Have A Visually Good Portfolio And Presentation Boards ?

She emphasized on the fact that a portfolio is the first thing that you get evaluated on. How the content is presented is the most important thing for grabbing attention. It is also necessary to communicate what you can offer as a designer, your ideals, your principles and how you can contribute to that firm. Apart from the work that you choose to show, attention to small details, composition also plays an important role.

She also mentions that choosing your portfolio to be digital or physical will also determine how you compose your portfolio.

Q- How Long Should The Portfolio Be Actually ?

She suggests showing 3-4 spreads per project but the entire portfolio shouldnt be longer than 25 to 30 pages. The portfolio could maximum include five of your best projects + your work beyond your academics

If you have to make it longer, controlling the pace of your portfolio is the key. For example A concept page will need more time to look at than the entire spread of rendered drawing. Important thing is that it shouldn’t get mundane and all projects shouldnt look the same.

Q- How To Select the 5 Projects To Put In The Portfolio?

It depends on the type of field you want to go in the future and on what kind of work you want to do in your internship. She also asks to check what kind of firm or role you have applied for and what beliefs or design principles you want to put forward.

She gives an example of sustainable design, and then out of all her projects, the ones that match the best it are selected and composed in a ranking order

It also depends on other things like

What are the projects you have liked or loved doing?
Which projects show your skills the best

How to Choose Within the Project

Is the concept development important in the project – Initial research, process sketches, show all the blocks that helped you put together that building
Or outcome is enough

Q- How to select a theme or a colour palette for your portfolio

From her experience, she suggested selecting a grid. ‘‘YOU CAN’T HAVE DIFFERENT GRID FOR DIFFERENT PAGES’’ she emphasised. It doesn’t make the portfolio look cohesive. If you have a square page – maybe divide it into 12-16 boxes and then choose like these 3 are not supposed to have anything on any page or these are the 6 boxes that I will put all my content in

Steps

Select a Grid
Start dumping your projects to get a rough idea first
Select what you want to put and what to reject while sticking to the grid
Then observe what colour scheme you see?
Do you want it to be minimal, vibrant, modern or whatever you want it to look like
Choose by the existing colour scheme of all your projects

[ If there are too many colours, she recommends making section dividers and language monochrome and only the renders could be in colour]

Tip from her side – Hit and trial is the key, try different palettes till it looks cohesive. And It is also an opportunity to show your personality.

Q- Which software do You Use For Your Portfolio?

She only uses Adobe Indesign for composition and for editing the work, its Adobe Photoshop.

Q- Things To Keep In Mind While Making A Portfolio?

Most important is to keep it CLEAN and ORGANISED,
Balance of Academic and Personal works
Make sure to highlighting your skills repetitively but in subtle way
Recheck for consistency in fonts, colours and visual elements
It should be guided throughout – for example; this is page 1 of 4, of this project
Only Short description, no heavy text
High quality images
Ensure less than 15 MB pdf

Q – What Should You Avoid At All Costs

Don’t put everything together, there should be a hierarchy.
Don’t use it text to describe everything [Simplify and divide it well – USE ONLY THE REQUIRED CONTENT]

Q – How Should You Design The Cover Page

Simple but eye catching – It could be just your name on the white page [the font and the alignment gives u that edge]
It could be graphic also but in accordance to the tone of your portfolio
You could also name your portfolio – give it a title. It should represent who u r as a designer

This is all you need to get started on your portfolio! If you’re looking for a more detailed guide on how to plan your portfolio before jumping into the composition, be sure to check out the free resource guide available on the homepage.
(Don’t forget to check your Promotions tab if you’re using Gmail!)

A huge thank you to Anisha Mitra for sharing such insightful tips on creating a clean and impactful portfolio.

✨ Comment below and let me know which tip was your favorite!
Thanks for reading!

About Me

Devanshi Jain

Hi! Welcome to my blog. I’m an architecture student sharing my journey, from personal stories to diving into computational design as a complete beginner. Join me as I explore new techniques, tackle challenges, and discover how technology transforms design. Whether you’re a student, professional, or just curious, you’ll find valuable insights and a fresh perspective on architecture.