A lot of people have architecture portfolios that are either very casual or overly elaborate, making it difficult for others to evaluate their skills as an architect. Some design too many pictures and spend lots of time talking about how creative they are, which doesn’t really show anything!

The thing about creating an architectural portfolio is there isn’t one standard length. What feels like enough time to you might not be enough for someone else. You also don’t want your portfolio to feel empty — even if you’re in school, active practicing architects probably won’t take a look until after graduation at the earliest.

This article will talk about some things you can do to make your architectural portfolio more effective while giving you the space to focus on what matters most – your career as an architect!

If you would like to learn more about how to start designing buildings, check out our article: How To Start Architecting!

Disclaimer: The content written here should never be used as a basis for financial decisions. We recommend reading other material from us first before investing in any products.

Obtain your licenses and permits

After you have gathered all of your equipment, there is another important step that must be taken before you can begin creating your portfolio- obtaining professional level licensing and permitifications!

Mostly, this comes down to ensuring that you are able to design buildings and get permission to construct them. This is not only limited to getting architectual license certificates but also construction permits for site visits, working with materials that require special permissions, and more.

These things take time so don’t expect to jump into it and show off your skills right away! A lot of people start out by buying some cheap software or picking up some basic shapes but very few continue onto other features such as designing layouts or even completing projects.

Fund your business

Now that you have gathered all of your materials and are in place to start creating your portfolio, it is time to fund your business!

The hardest part about starting any business is coming up with the money needed to invest into the company. This can be tricky as not everyone has a lot of money lying around.

However, most people do have something they own or possess that they could sell or give away to help finance their business. These items may include clothes, shoes, gadgets, and etc. If sold online, these things can make a good amount of income which can be put towards business funds.

Another way to generate revenue is by offering services related to your field. For example, if you want to be an architect, offer consulting services or hire freelancers to aid you in business projects.

This will at least get you started until you find more appropriate funding for your firm.

Create your website

Now that you have a destination for your portfolio, it is time to start creating content and linking out to other sites!

Mostly people begin by picking their area of specialization – whether it be interior design, landscape design, or both. After choosing this area, they pick a style they are passionate about in either field and keep practicing and refining it.

Next, they choose how many pieces they want to include in their portfolio and find a way to get those images. Some create a separate account with a photo sharing site like Flickr or Adobe Stock to contain their pictures while others make a free web page as their portfolio.

After all these preparations, users usually launch their own website or start building theirs on a platform such as WordPress or Squarespace. These websites offer easy ways to customize your site, edit pages, and add media.

Final word

Architectural portfolios take longer than what most people think due to the nature of the profession. Architects must prove themselves through education, experience, and references, making it more formalized process than just having a pretty picture.

Buy equipment

After you have gathered your materials, it is time to start editing your pictures! The next step in adding depth to your architecture portfolio is taking good quality photographs of yourself as an architect.

You do not need professional grade photography gear to take great architectural photos, but you will want to invest in some basic pieces to help you achieve that goal.

There are many ways to edit your images before presenting them to others, so there is no wrong way to begin practicing your artistic skills! Many people begin by experimenting with different angles, shutter speeds, and light sources before moving onto more advanced settings.

As such, we will discuss some important camera parts and how to use each one for inspiration. Then, we will talk about our budget and what types of equipment we should consider buying.

General tips

We will also address some other ways to improve your architectural photo-taking skills while using these equipment lists as a guide. These include: natural lighting, offbeat scenery, and overall design concepts.

Start taking pictures

All too often, aspiring architects will start trying to take their own design concepts seriously by creating ugly or vague architectural imagery. Creating weird shapes with ladders in them or random geometric patterns is totally fine! But you have to put some effort into it – creative visions can be worked on for years before they are really expressed through architecture.

It takes time to develop your style as an architect. Just because you can draw well does not mean that you know how to create interesting buildings. Taking quality photos of different types of buildings and using photoshop to edit them is a great way to begin.

Some basics like windows, doors, and roofs are very important parts of any building so making those seem authentic is helpful. Re-creating settings in your home or other areas where there is already content available is also good practice.

Edit your photos

After you have edited all of your architectural photographs, it is time to save them! Most software has easy ways to export images so that you can choose where to upload them and what format they should be in.

Some people organize their work by year or season (e.g., spring, summer), but I like to just categorize them according to type of architecture (office, house, etc.). This way, I can easily find my work later!

Google Drive and Dropbox are great resources for archivists to use. You do not need to pay monthly fees for Google Suite accounts to access these services. Many students our age already have free ones through school, or you can create one via Gmail.

General tips: Do not over-edit your pictures unless you want them to look very professional. Sometimes, less is more! If you feel that your picture does not really show the structure well enough, take another photo instead of editing the first one.

Publish your book

After you have compiled all of your images and information, it is time to actually publish your portfolio! While there are some websites that offer free architectural content, we recommend staying away from those unless you are very experienced in design.

Most good architecture portfolios contain around 10-20 individual pictures or drawings along with some written material. This article’s bullet point will talk about some things that can be difficult when trying to get started publishing.

The first thing people usually struggle with is choosing which style of architecture to include in their books. People may not know what styles exist nor do they seem to agree on what makes one style “better” than another.

This could be due to personal taste or if someone else made the style popular. There are many ways to pick out your favorite styles so no matter who puts them together for you, you would still have enough variety in types of buildings included.

Another problem that people face is knowing how to take better photographs of architectures. Many of these beautiful places cannot be photographed during certain hours because they are either too busy or closed for business.

People also sometimes feel uncomfortable taking artistic photos so most books feature simple ones that were mostly taken using off the shelf equipment. These kinds of photos may look nice but they lack any unique element that sets them apart from others.

Promote your book

After you have spent time creating your portfolio, it is now time to promote it! When I first started sharing my work online, I would spend hours per day promoting myself on social media, posting links to my website and portfolio, answering comments and questions, and developing my blogging skills.

These days, I only invest about half an hour each week in all of the above, but they are still important services to use to grow your audience.

By investing some time into marketing yourself, you will see results in growth and engagement for your art and design career. People will begin seeking out your talent and expertise as well as your presence on social media.

It’s hard to expect people to look up to you if you don’t make any effort to be seen by them.