Many artists/photographers/designers carry a “portfolio” with them when they see a prospect. A portfolio typically showcases the best samples of your work – your artwork, photos, product packaging, etc. so that your prospects can actually see your style and samples prior to deciding if they will want to hire you.
Over the past several years, artists have started showcasing their work on a website instead of carrying around a physical portfolio. That allows people to see work samples more easily. It is also expanding the market immensely… An artist’s portfolio could now be easily viewed by anybody in the world where Internet is available!
So, what is a “Portfolio” Site?
The websites with the main purpose of displaying the portfolio is called “Portfolio Site.” Although there is no solid definition of “portfolio site,” here are the typical characteristics seen in a portfolio site:
- It’s not a technique; it’s just a way to display your content pictorially.
- Visuals are the main focus. You don’t typically see a whole lot of text that accompanies it.
- It displays images in some kind of grid form so that multiple images are shown on the screen in a very organized way.
Do I Need to Use a Special Theme for a Portfolio Site?
There are many excellent themes that are suitable for a portfolio site, and using one of those is the quickest way to create a portfolio site in most cases. Here are some themes that I think would work great for a portfolio site:
Premium Themes
- Modern Portfolio Pro* from StudioPress is a nice one (See it in action at thebestthemes.com)
- Divi* from Elegant Themes comes with “portfolio module” that makes it easy to insert your portfolio images anywhere in your site
- Many InkThemes‘* themes offer Gallery page that can be easily used as your portfolio page
Free Themes
- My Favorite free theme is Portfolio Press ! It’s simple, easy to understand and setup ( https://wordpress.org/themes/portfolio-press/ )
- Pinboard – has a slider homepage that you can use like a portfolio (https://wordpress.org/themes/pinboard/ )
- Pure & Simple You can use this for a non portfolio site as well (https://wordpress.org/themes/pure-simple/ )
- You can find many other free portfolio themes in the WordPress theme repository here: https://wordpress.org/themes/search/portfolio/)
Can I use a Plugin to Make a “Portfolio Page”?
Yes! If you don’t want to change themes to a portfolio theme, take a look at these plugins to see if any of these will do the job for you:
Plugins for Portfolio Pages
Or you may want to utilize one of the image gallery plugins for this, too. (Here is my post on Image Gallery: https://websitecreationworkshop.com/blog/wordpress-tips/image-gallery/)
Well, the possibilities are endless… Find something that you like and start showing off your work to the world!
*Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. And if clicked and purchased, we may receive a small compensation for the recommendation.
I really appreciate this portfolio info Christine. And, I must say – overall your program has been the best learning experience I’ve had online. You have such an easy going style, content galore and the easiest tutorial structure one could ask for.
I’m a little frustrated only because I have so much going on my pace to complete my site has slowed down. In fact, I will be creating two different sites for two business involvements. My second site will be more in line with the portfolio style so I plan to dig into all this timely information.
Thanks from very happy customer.
Larry,
Thanks for your kind words about the Website Creation Workshop program!
So glad you are enjoying it 🙂
And yes, take your time creating your sites. And use this blog as a reference to
find this portfolio site information. You can use the search box on the right sidebar to find anything I’ve posted on this blog
One day I will get someone to create a portfolio theme for me. I’ve tried several themes and plugins, without being able to get it to look good, The reason being that my art is in several different formats. Not just 4:3 or 3:4. Do you have any free recommendations for something that works with both horizontal and vertical images?