RESEARCH

Online portfolios are an essential tool for the digital media industry. Designing a professional portfolio enhances who you are as an aspirant, provides a visualisation for employers, uniquely sets you apart from other candidates, and grants you the opportunity to get creative. (According to Banto, 2021) The word portfolio gets its origins from the Latin word portfolio. The stem porta means “to carry” and the root Foglio refers to “a leaf”, or loose sheets of paper”, leading to the full word that is defined as a case like folder to carry loose papers, usually documents or drawings. (The Evolution of Portfolios, N.A) The meaning of portfolio has evolved over time and is now recognised on digital platforms and are commonly created with a website and includes the creatives designs, contacts, and biography. Digital portfolios help develop soft and digital skills. Soft skills ‘require people to articulate their experiences and present them in a way that is easily digestible to others. The digital skills gained from portfolio creation ‘include using technology in creative ways to reach goals and the ability to assemble information from multiple sources’. (The Portfolio Difference, 2020) Developmental, reflective, and representational (showcase) portfolios are examples of portfolio types. Many portfolios contain aspects of more than one type of these and can be considered “hybrids”. (Bancroft, 2014) Developmental portfolios are used to journal or log the authors design process. Reflective portfolios showcase the thought process behind the creators designs and the meaning of each art piece. The purpose of Representational portfolios is to present achievements and mastery in a subject area. Representational portfolios according to data is the most effective tool in the digital media industry. This is the seen as the new form of a resume and is commonly in the form of a website. (Bancroft, 2014) Mat Zucker, digital marketing and content strategy leader, uses portfolios as a reference to keep track of past work and to meet new objectives. “Portfolios curate your best stories to impress and convince the prospective client or employer that you are brilliant and can tackle things as in the past, but for them in the future,” (Mat Zucker) The skills gained from creating a digital portfolio benefits everyone, not just creatives. These are skills today’s employers are looking for and the skills educators are teaching. Evidently, the global need for digital portfolios is being realised. (The Portfolio Difference, 2020). Learning the fundamentals of portfolios and the impact they can have has only encouraged myself as a soon-to-be university graduate to see the value in portfolio creation and the future it may dictate for me as a designer.