What I look at first in a portfolio review

I look at a lot of portfolios on coaching calls. And at some point I noticed that before I say a single word about the work itself, I've already gone through the same 5 questions in my head.

Clients go through them too – they just do it silently, and fast.

Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology found that people form a first opinion of a website in less than 0.2 seconds, and within another 2.6 seconds their eyes settle on that impression. Can you imagine!? Less than a second for the impression.

I've seen it myself too: when I was choosing a freelancer for a studio project, I had 10 portfolios open in tabs, and most of them got about 5 seconds before I closed the tab. The difference on a consult call is that I get to say out loud what I notice.

So here they are, roughly in the order they happen! If you only have a few minutes, open your own portfolio in another tab and go through it with me.

01. Can I tell who you work for and what you do?

Before I look closely at any single piece, I'm trying to answer one question: does this person fit the project in front of me?

A portfolio that shows a bit of everything makes me do that work myself – and a busy client usually won't. They'll open the next link instead. A clear line at the top and a set of projects that back it up answers the question in seconds.

This is the one sentence most portfolios are missing.

Something as simple as "Brand illustrator for tech and SaaS companies" or "Editorial illustrator for magazines and publishers" already does more than a beautiful hero image on its own.

Knowing who you draw for and what you draw matters more than how. Your style will find you along the way – your positioning needs a decision.

Try this: write that one line for yourself today. If it takes you more than a few minutes, that's useful information too – it usually means the portfolio is trying to talk to everyone at once.

Want a second opinion on that line? I'm finishing a small free tool that checks your positioning sentence and shows you what to sharpen. Before it goes public, I'd love a few people to test it. If you'd like to be one of them, leave a ✏️ in the comments (or reply to this email), and I'll send it to you first.

02. What did you choose to show?

Then I look at the selection. Five strong projects that show the kind of work you want to do next beat fifty pieces that show everything you've ever made.

Every extra project is one more chance for a weaker piece to pull the whole set down. So a tighter portfolio almost always reads as a stronger one, even if the work in it is exactly the same.

The question I ask on calls is: would you be happy to get a brief for this exact project tomorrow? If the answer is no, it probably doesn't belong in the portfolio, however much you love it.

My own habit here is simple – I clean my portfolio at the end of each month, remove older work and keep only the projects I want to attract clients with. I wrote more about how I choose what stays in Portfolio strategy that attracts the right clients.

03. Do your projects explain anything?

Next is whether the projects tell me anything beyond the final image.

A beautiful final image tells me you can draw. A short case study tells me you can work. And that second part is what makes a client trust you with their problem – it's also the part most portfolios skip.

It doesn't have to be long. Three short answers already change how a project reads:

• What did the client need?

• What did you figure out along the way?

• What changed because of it?

If you only add this to your two strongest projects, that's already a big step!

P.S. I actually put a full case study structure into my Portfolio That Books Clients guide, so you don't have to start from a blank page.

04. Do the small things say "professional"?

After that come the small things that add up to "this person is a professional":

• a clear structure, so I know where to click

• consistent thumbnails, so the grid looks like one body of work

• projects that are easy to find, not buried three clicks deep

None of it is glamorous, and it's often what decides whether someone keeps scrolling or closes the tab.

One of my mentees, Sarah McGaughey, put it this way after our call:

"Your specific feedback for the structure of my site, improving thumbnails, consistency throughout projects, and not burying projects was super helpful."

05. What do I do next if I like what I see?

And finally, I look for the next step. If I like your work, how do I reach you? Is your email or contact form easy to find? Do I know if you're taking on new projects?

A portfolio without a clear next step leaves the decision hanging, and a busy client rarely comes back to finish it. They had a moment of interest – and that moment is gone once they close the tab.

Try this: look at your portfolio as if you were a client who loved it. Count the clicks it takes to contact you. One is great, two is fine, and anything more is worth fixing this week.

And once a client does write to you, that first reply counts too. The Email Template Pack in my Client Process Kit starts right at that first message, so you're never staring at an empty email.

What usually happens on a call

When I go through a portfolio with someone, we rarely talk about drawing skills. Most of the time is spent on these 5 things – and on what can be reworked from work they already have.

Laura Kaufman said it better than I can:

"She gave me very clear directions on what I need to do in order to build a stronger portfolio. Also, knowing that what I have currently can be reworked into more commercial looking pieces gives me so much confidence in what to do next."

That last part is my favorite. You often need fewer new pieces than you think – the work is already there, it just needs a clearer frame!

If you'd like to work on this on your own, Portfolio That Books Clients walks you through all 5 steps, with a checklist to score your portfolio and see what to fix first. And if you'd rather have a second pair of eyes on it, a Quick Check is a good place to start – we look at it together, and you leave knowing what to change first.

Which of these five did you notice in your own portfolio? I'd love to hear in the comments!

As always, thank you for reading,

– Irene