Competition in the creative industries is uniquely fierce – and in saturated fields like graphic design or illustration, you’ll face a constant battle to get your work noticed.
It’s, therefore, vital to create a knockout portfolio and ensure it’s showcased on the best platforms that top clients use when researching and hiring talent. This article explores six of the best platforms that allow creative professionals to showcase their standout projects and grow their businesses.
1. Bēhance
Owned by Adobe, Bēhance is a free-to-use social media platform designed to help creatives showcase their work and be discovered by potential clients. With over 50 million members worldwide, Bēhance is one of the world’s biggest creative networks, spanning 120 creative fields, including illustration, graphic design, 3D art, photography, motion design, fine art, architecture, and more. It allows you to present complete projects without compromising on quality or quantity limits.
2. Dribbble
Dribbble is similar to Bēhance in that it’s one of the largest portfolio platforms for digital designers (it has around 10 million creative professionals as members). However, while Bēhance is heavily focused on networking and collaboration, Dribbble is more about showcasing visual concepts and final designs, as opposed to in-depth projects. Members can also share snippets of their work and get quick feedback from other users in the design community. You can create a basic account for free, but to message other members and create a stunning profile, you’ll need the ‘Pro’ plan, which starts at $8 per month and is billed annually.
3. The Dots
The Dots is a networking site for ‘the new world of work’ (non-collar professionals). It’s a place to connect with like-minded peers, clients, and mentors and covers the creative and tech industries. It offers a ‘Projects’ section where creators, freelancers, and entrepreneurs can showcase their work and use tags to be discovered by potential clients, employers, and collaborators. Joining, creating a profile, and posting projects is free.
4. Carbonmade
Carbonmade is a no-code-required website builder platform for photographers, 3D artists, graphic designers, and UX and product designers. It allows you to create your own online project portfolio and is different from tools like Wix and Squarespace as it offers more customisations and no pre-made templates. You can also join the Carbonmade talent pool to show off your work and get discovered by potential clients. It’s free to join and design your portfolio, but you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan before going live. The cheapest plan costs $9 per month and lets you add up to eight projects with unlimited images and videos.
5. DeviantArt
With 90 million registered members globally, DeviantArt is a massive online community and exhibition platform for artists working across all genres, including painting, sculpture, digital art, films, anime and pixel art. As well as expanding your social network, you can create a personalised ‘gallery’ and sell your work through DeviantArt’s integrated online marketplace. Pricing starts at $6.67 monthly for the CORE+ plan, which lets you create and share art.
6. Medium
You might know Medium as a highly popular publishing platform. However, designers and other creatives can use it to tell stories or present case studies about their work. Medium offers a user-friendly, accessible layout to help your portfolio shine on all device types. With some 223 million visitors each month, Medium could help you cast your net wider and showcase your work to new audiences. Creating an account and publishing articles on Medium is free.
Wondering what to read next? If you’re a designer, check out eight inspiring podcasts to fuel your creativity and these brilliant graphic design resources for your next project. You may also be interested in our Zoom Dive recording on experiential design and the art of shaping the customer experience.
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