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If you want to make your portfolio stand out then you need to do what it takes to make it stand out. You can’t be doing the same things that everyone else does and hope that your personal style will shine through somehow. You need to use these 10 tips to make your portfolio stand out.

Include Only Your Best Work

Your portfolio is not a place to store everything you have ever done. It is the place for you to show off your very best work and nothing else. Quantity is not what impresses people. Consistent quality does.

Your Work Should All Reflect Your Style

Your work should be your own. You will have your influences but you should still have your own personal style and all your pieces should reflect that style. This is not to say that all your pieces should be the same, not by any means. It just means that you need a style all your own that is clearly presented in your work.

Use Pieces With Compelling Content

You want to use compelling content so that viewers will take notice of your work. If your subjects are not interesting then your pieces probably will not be too interesting either.

Use Original Imagery

If you use the same old imagery that everyone else uses and that has been used a hundred times before then it will be difficult to get anyone’s attention. Seek out original imagery. This alone will make people look twice at your work.

Don’t Include Overworked Pieces

Using too many techniques to alter your pieces looks downright amateurish. That may sound harsh but it’s true. You don’t want faces too flawless or images that show off your ability to use special effects. Let your talent stand on its own.

Be Consistent With Sizes

In online portfolios especially, it is annoying when all of your pieces are different sizes. This is one time when some uniformity is good. Pieces of all different sizes looks like something you threw together instead of something professional.

Make Sure It’s Art

As a general rule, don’t include celebrity photos or sexually charged shots. These can be done well but for anyone who isn’t established it usually just looks like mediocre work no matter how good it might be and mediocre work is the last thing you want to be putting out there.

Avoid Current Trends

If something is popular then avoid it in your portfolio. If you include current trends then you will look like a follower and someone who is more serious about pleasing the masses than you are about creating true art.

Add Personal Touches

A piece or two based on yourself can be a classy touch when it is done well. Don’t overdo it by trying to appear too anything. Just let your work reveal what is already there.

Make It Easy To Look Through

Online or not, you want your portfolio to be easy to look through. If someone has to work to look through your pieces then they are less apt to be impressed by them. Small details like this aren’t as small as you think.

About the guest author: T. Rheinecker is very knowledgeable about how to earn an MFA degree online.