So I meet a lot of people in the design community, many of which are just starting out in their work. I'm always interested to see other designer's work, so I always ask them where I can check their stuff out online.
You'd be surprised how many designers don't have an online portfolio - at least I always am.
I realize that especially for graphic designer who aren't headed into the world of web (haha, yeah right - we all are...) it may not seem like a huge priority. Or for those just getting out of art school, you maybe just haven't had a chance to put your work on the web yet.
But most often I think the biggest barrier is not knowing how to get your work online.
You don't have to have your own website
(I'm speaking primarily to graphic designers here...) While it's great to have your own website, it's not necessarily required for everyone In fact, the way more important thing than having your own site is just having your work on the web!
So how do you get your work on the web without a website? I'm glad you asked...
Three great sites for posting your work online (and even for free)
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Behance.net
Behance is a free community where you can create a profile, then create projects and post them to your profile. You can also add contacts and message people, making it like the Facebook of the creative community. You can also get loads of input from people if you engage them for it.
It's also a fantastic place to find inspiration. There are so many users and projects that you're likely to find lots of inspiration among the community, although I'd say it's strongest areas are print design, photography, and fashion.
Web designers are using Dribbble much more than Behance these days. If Behance is the Facebook of the creative community, Dribbble is Twitter.
The other nice thing about Behance is in addition to having a LinkedIn widget to showcase your projects, they recently launched a pro service where you can make a more legit portfolio website for yourself out of your profile and projects from your Behance.net account.
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Cargo Collective
While I'm not nearly as familiar with Cargo Collective (CC) as I am with Behance (because of personal experience with Behance), I can tell you a lot of really great graphic designers I know have their personal websites via CC.
CC offers a portfolio oriented CMS for creatives where you can upload images from projects and use one of their plain themes, then customize it a bit more if you like.
Like Behance, CC offers a basic free service which is quite sufficient for most designers to simply get online. But if you want your own domain name, higher online storage, and advanced HTML and CSS customization - there is also a premium account for that.
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Carbonmade
While I'm the least familiar with Carbonmade, I am familiar enough to know it's pretty popular these days. It appears to be pretty comparable to Cargo Collective in that it's a hosted portfolio solution with a free version, and a premium version.
From what I hear it's a snap to set up.
The truth is, these days if you aren't interested in web design or web development, there isn't necessarily any good reason to build your own site from scratch. With services like Cargo Collective and Carbonmade, even if you really want your own URL you can use their service and pay for the premium options - both of which include the custom domain option.
Save yourself the hassle, and more importantly - stop using lack of HTML and CSS knowledge as an excuse to get your work on the wonderful interwebz.
So what are you waiting for? C'mahn! Do it now! </arnold voice>
So there you have it. No more excuses. Get your work online now. Because next time you are pitching a potential client on a project, or submitting a resume for an entry level position or internship, there is no way in H-E-double-hockeysticks you're going to get hired without showing off your work.