Creating an architecture portfolio is not a quick process, but it can be done in your own time frame depending on how much time you have to devote to it. If you’re working full-time or are busy with other commitments, then creating an architectural body of work may not be possible at this moment in time.

That is totally okay! You do not need to feel obligated to create an architectual career after reading this article – especially if you don’t have any money right now!

Instead, just use what resources you have and add some additional things to your repertoire later. For example, you could take up photography or painting as hobbies that will help you develop your artistic talent.

You could also read books about designing buildings or studying interior design. These would all contribute towards developing your creativity and knack for looking at things from a systematic perspective.

Many people start off by taking arts and crafts classes before moving onto more advanced studies. This way, they find their passion and learn new skills along the way.

There is no wrong time to begin doing anything creative, so why not give it a try? Even though it might seem like there isn’t enough time in the world, I hope I’ve inspired you to put your efforts into making art something you enjoy.

Take photos of your work

After you have finished all the assignments in this series, it is time to start thinking about how to showcase your architectural skills.

Most architects are not famous people with big budgets that can hire professional photographers to take pictures of their business for them. Therefore, most architect’s portfolios are usually made up of either self-shot photographs or ones taken by friends or colleagues who paid to have theirs done.

If you feel that your photography is good enough to put into a portfolio then do so! You will eventually need to show off the talents that you possess if you want to be recognized for your craft.

By practicing your own photography now, you will know what works and what doesn’t when you run out of money and resources later.

Create a website

After you have gathered your materials and are ready to start creating your portfolio, now is the time to pick a platform where you can house all of your designs. There are many ways to do this, but most professional architects use Adobe Photoshop as their main design tool.

This is not necessarily true for every architect, but it is a very popular way to showcase your talents. By using Photoshop as your designing software, you will be able to save your work online and access it anywhere!

There are several free web hosting sites that allow you to create a small webpage with limited features. Most people use Google or Facebook to find such websites.

Get a printed portfolio

While it is okay to take your smartphone pictures of your designs, it is not professional to do so. A printout or PDF version of your design portfolios should be taken by a person who will professionally edit them for you.

This takes away some of the stress of having to take good pictures and editing them yourself!

There are many sites where you can find free or low cost printer friendly versions of most any architectural diagram, floor plan, or model. Many even have advanced features such as layering which most websites don’t offer.

These printouts are also much more durable than using smart phones or computer files. If you lose power or need to re-format, they survive that better!

And if you ever want to update or redesign your architecture portfolio, just go back into mode and start printing out new ones.

Make a video portfolio

While creating your architectural design career, most people do not give enough consideration to how to showcase your skills as an architect. For many, just taking pictures of buildings and putting them up on social media is all that they feel requires their talent as architects.

Running out of ideas or no longer interested in doing architecture related projects makes it difficult to keep developing and showcasing your talents.

It’s like trying to play the guitar when you haven’t picked up the instrument since middle school!

In fact, some experts say using photography as your main form of displaying your architectural expertise can actually be detrimental to your future career success.

Architectural photographers are sometimes paid very little, if anything at all for their work which can make it hard to motivate yourself to succeed in your craft.

As such there are now lots of free resources available online for anyone to take advantage of to improve their architectural photo-taking skills.

You may also want to consider starting your own account as an amateur photographer to add depth to your portfolio.

Practice making an architectural sketch

While creating your portfolio, you should strive to create as many sketches as possible! Architectural drawings are one of the most fundamental drawing types that every artist must learn how to do at some point in their career.

Sketches can be categorized into three main groups: perspective, plan, and figure-ground (or compositional) studies. Perspective diagrams show buildings or landscapes lying next to each other, while a parallel diagram shows two objects side by side. A floor plate is a drawn picture of what a room looks like from outside the window, and a vertical cross section is a drawing showing a slice through a building’s structure.

A plan view is just like a map — it gives us a visual representation of where things are located in relation to each other. And a figure-ground study focuses on establishing which elements are part of the background and which ones stand out.

All of these basic forms make up the framework for advanced drawing. By practicing using them, you’ll find yourself producing more complex drawings faster than ever before.

Practice making an architectural drawing

The first way to make your portfolio look more professional is by practicing creating design drawings. These can be from existing buildings or designs you like, but need to be modified slightly to fit your style or concepts.

Creating architectural drawings takes lots of practice, so do not feel overwhelmed if you are trying for the first time. Many architecture schools have free online tools that can help you draw foundations, windows, doors, and even whole rooms.

These sites also often have easy modes to use where you can create shapes and lines easily. By doing this several times, you will get better at it!

Another way to learn how to draw in architecture is looking through our famous blogs. You can find many beginner tips here on How To Draw Architectural Forms, for example.

Practice making an 3D model

The next step in having an architectural portfolio is creating three-dimensional (3D) models. There are many ways to do this, but most use computer software or your own creativity to create them.

Many students choose to design their model using free or low cost designing softwares such as SketchUp, Adobe Illustrator, or Inscape. These programs can be used for both professional and novice users.

Designing with these apps takes some time to learn how to use correctly, but it is very worth it! They allow you to edit textures and colors easily which gives you space to experiment.

Using your own creative skills, you could draw your designs directly onto the model or find pictures of buildings that you like and trace them into the model.

Create an app for your portfolio

After you have gathered enough materials, it is time to pick a platform and create an app or website using that software that can be accessed from anywhere!

Most good web hosting sites allow you to choose between paid and free versions of their software. If you already know some HTML then picking the paid version will probably not make much difference to you, but if you are looking at this as a way to hone your design skills then going premium may help you get more recognition.

There are many easy to use drag-and-drop template systems such as Squarespace, Wix, and WePower which give you all the basic functionalities like creating pages, editing content, sharing items via social media, etc.