Digital Portfolio Examples
Below are selected Digital Portfolios constructed by LSU Distinguished Communicators. Students are encouraged to review these examples and think critically about how they might construct their own portfolio. Students should not copy these portfolios but rather use them as guides to enhance and improve their own work and the collective work of LSU Distinguished Communicators.
While there is a public portfolio deadline for your Distinguished Communicator certification, student portfolios are always a work in progress. There are always things that should be updated and newer, and often better, samples could be included. The portfolio examples below have many great qualities.
Candidates should consult the Public Portfolio section of their DC handbook while building their portfolio and seek the guidance of their CxC Rep and Faculty Advisor.
Portfolio Examples
Matt Wyatt graduated from LSU in 2013 with a BS in natural resource ecology and management, majoring in conservation biology. His portfolio is very organized with easy navigation. Matt utilized his own photography skills to give readers a better sense of his passions. Since Matt graduated, we’ve followed his journey, which led him to the temperate rainforest of Washington. He recently reached out to let us know that prospective employers enjoyed looking at his digital portfolio, because it gave them a “better understanding of who I was and what my goals are.” He went on to say perspective employers could tell by his portfolio that he had a vision, a general plan for his future and how the role he was interviewing for fit into that plan. These are all important things to think about when designing and selecting content to your portfolio.
Megan Gibbs Talley graduated in May 2014 with a BA in mass communication and a concentration in public relations. Like Matt’s portfolio (above), Megan has an easy to understand navigation. On the homepage, she gives a more professional introduction of herself and her portfolio to the reader. The next tab in the navigation is the “about me” page where she gives a little more information to the reader about who she is as a person. Do note the distinction between the content and style choices she made on her homepage and her about me page. The homepage is a professional introduction, like a first handshake and introduction. And the about me page, while still professional, gives the reader a greater insight into who she is as person and what she might be like as an employee.
Jessica Shambra graduated from LSU in 2010 with a degree in Civil Engineering. Her portfolio is a great example of how DC candidates can use a graphic to express what a paragraph might accomplish but in a much more dynamic way. The bridge image immediately grabs readers’ attention and simultaneously lets them know she is a civil engineer. Her navigation is very clear. On her samples page, she includes several that are relevant to her field. As an engineering graduate, prospective employers would expect that she can work with engineering software, but by having the samples easily accessible, she is proving her level of expertise. Overall, Jessica’s portfolio is a great example because is informative and professional.
Logan De la Barre Hays graduated in May 2014 with a double major in international studies and political science and minors in Arabic, history and religious studies. Logan is an accomplished graduate as she was not only a Distinguished Communicator, but also an honors graduate and a finalist for the Marshall Scholarship and a Rhodes Scholarship. Her portfolio is a great example because of her easy-to-use navigation, extraordinary photography samples and the breadth of communication samples. For DC students, the main objective of your portfolio should be to show that you are a qualified and accomplished communicator. That is why the samples you include will go a long way in convincing future employers and graduate school admissions counselors that you are the candidate they want.
For more information on how to make your portfolio even better, please contact your CxC Rep to schedule an appointment today!