Most portfolios fail in the first thirty seconds. Not because the work is bad, but because the work is unexplained.
## Lead with the decision, not the deliverable
A studio lead scanning fifty applications is not reading your case study. They are looking for evidence that you can make a decision and defend it. Put the decision in the caption.
## Three projects, fully finished
Three complete projects beat ten fragments every time. If a piece needs an apology, it is not ready to be public.
## Show the process sparingly
Process shots are seasoning, not the meal. Two or three frames of exploration make the final piece feel inevitable. Twenty frames make it feel accidental.
## Keep it current
Work older than three years should either be canonical or gone. Your portfolio is a statement about where you are going, not an archive of where you have been.