Social Media Design Portfolio? Is this a thing?

Question

I want to apply for design jobs, where I create the social media posts of companies. Obviously, I need some sort of related reference / portfolio.

During design school, I did graphic design like visual branding. For a portfolio, I just create a fictional brand with the respective visual guideline.

What can I do for social media posts? Social media posts usually use a lot of corporate images, like actual photos from the office, restaurant or place. It seems kind of pointless to combine just a bunch of stock images with text. But I don't have any "volunteer work for portfolio" either.

Maybe I could just create a good instagram account for myself?

Do you know any existing social media portfolios or what do you recommend?

Answer 1

There are some Graphic Design jobs where the focus is mainly social media content but you might also be tasked with doing web banners and email campaigns as well, I personally have not held this kind of role, but I have interviewed some people with this as their job.

A lot of the time, people will design a graphic that isn't just a photo. Just like a web ad, a flyer or an ad in a magazine, you want to show something that will get the readers attention. The difference is you have a specific size you need to design for.

Besides just the graphic that would be posted, I would suggest included what the post would actually say below the image and any relevant hashtags.

Example social media post you could create:

• Selling a product
• A retail post for a coffee shop or something similar
• An event post for a concert
• Holiday closing post

Example of how you could show the post on a portfolio:

Use a mockup image of a phone. I have also seen some cool animations where multiple photos span in Instagram and the background transitions to the other images like a panorama.

Answer 2

I think it depends on where you are from. I'll share a bit of my experience from India:

It seems kind of pointless to combine just a bunch of stock images with text.

I don't think so. It is certainly more than that. I know things like this happen in my small agencies or startups, but most of the time you'll be asked like:

create something unique, don't just make Shutterstock/Freepik design, show some creativity by doing image manipulation etc.

My point is, there's lot more to explore in social media. You don't necessarily have to depend on images and text. You can do typography or illustration based social media posts too. I mean there are many varities of things to do. Of course, photos would be an essential part depending on type of the business, but you'll often need to explore other than that too.

And you can create image manipulation based ads for social media. In my case, I made social media ads around festivals. Like how can you relate a brand or product with a festival. It's just an example. There are many things to do.

Maybe I could just create a good instagram account for myself?

Many people say Instagram is not a portfolio thing. It's just social media. Despite that, you'll see a lot of people using it as portfolio. I know many of my friends especially freelancers use Instagram as portfolio. But you have to spend a lot of time in it. It will totally depend on how you approach it. In my case, I really don't have energy (or I'll say intention) to grow my Instagram for portfolio. So yes, at least in India, if you have some good content and engagement on your Instagram profile, it can benefit you while getting a job or get a freelance job.

Also note that social media is changing rapidly. You might need to invest into videos too to create engagement.

But if you have that much energy and dedication, you'll surely be able to create your portfolio at a better platform. Maybe Behance or maybe your own simple website.

I don't know any recommendation, but you can find many accounts easily online which are curated like a Portfolio. You can go through them.

Note: My intention is not to suggest something like make a portfolio on Instagram. Or create any advertisement or social media post the way I mentioned. I'm just sharing my experience and what can be done.