Digital Hitchhiker

“Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” I’m sure you’ve heard that before many times. Its good advice that can also be applied to your portfolio. You need to be showing off the work you want to do. It can take some time to figure out the type of work you love doing and want to be doing. But once you figure it out, you need to immerse yourself in it and work with the businesses and companies that do that type of work. And make sure the work is heavily represented in your portfolio. If your website is dedicated to wedding videos, you’re not likely to get a music video project. You have to show prospective employers or clients that you can handle their specific job. They may have seen the work you’ve done in the past but sometimes they just can’t visualize how your previous work applies to them and their needs. And doing a free animation for them just to win a job usually isn’t a great option. If you want to model mobile phones for commercials then you need to have a mobile phone commercial in your demo reel or on your website. I love working with startups and social apps are some of my favorite projects to work on. On these projects I’ve created primarily 2D characters with simple shapes. This is the type of work I continue to get and I rock out every one I have the chance to work on. Clients trust that I’ll be able to deliver a quality product for their brand because I’ve proven what I’ve done for similar businesses. If you’re not happy with the types of projects you’re currently working on, make sure you portfolio reflects the types of projects you want to work on and leave out the projects you don’t.