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The Perfect Portfolio | How to create a portfolio for Architecture & Design.

A course by Radu Fulgheci, Senior Architect at world-renowned practice BDP.
This course guides you through the process of creating a professional architectural portfolio, from understanding its purpose to crafting a visually compelling design. Learn to curate your projects, design effective layouts, master typography, and develop a cohesive graphical style. With practical tips and InDesign techniques, you’ll assemble a portfolio that showcases your skills and leaves a lasting impression, whether for job applications, freelance projects, or academic submissions.

Skill level

Beginner

Duration

Approx. 3 hrs

Certificate

On completion

Closed Captions

English

About this course

Creating an architectural portfolio can feel daunting—questions like “What does an architecture portfolio include?” or “What is expected in an architecture portfolio?” often arise. This course answers these questions and more as we delve into the intricacies of crafting a professional-quality portfolio. You’ll learn how to structure and layout your portfolio, how many projects to include, and whether A3 or another format is the right choice for your work.

Through carefully designed lessons, we’ll explore the key elements of a successful portfolio, from curating and sequencing your projects to establishing a clear and visually compelling design. Discover how to tailor your portfolio for job opportunities, freelance projects, or academic admissions, ensuring it communicates your ideas effectively and leaves a lasting impression.

The course also examines the qualities of a good architecture portfolio, offering insights into creating one that stands out. While Adobe InDesign is used as a practical tool, the principles and workflows can be applied to any layout software, making this course accessible regardless of your preferred platform. By the end, you’ll have a portfolio that showcases your talent and potential, positioning you for success in your next endeavour.

Skills you'll gain

Why ArchAdemia?

Syllabus

Lesson 1 – Understanding the Portfolio (5:00). Gain a clear understanding of the portfolio’s purpose and its critical role in your career. This lesson outlines what to include, how to present your skills effectively, and the key differences between academic and professional portfolios.

Lesson 2 – Content and Projects (6:38). Learn how to select and organise your projects to create a compelling narrative tailored to your audience. This lesson also examines the types of media to include and how to sequence your work for maximum impact.

Lesson 3 – Format and Paper Size (9:45). Discover how to set up your pages in InDesign, choosing the appropriate format and size for your portfolio. This lesson covers industry standards for print and digital outputs to ensure professional presentation.

Lesson 4 – Layouts (24:32). Master layout design to create organised, visually engaging pages. Explore strategies and InDesign tools that streamline the process, enabling you to present your work with clarity and precision.

Lesson 5 – Text and Typography (12:18). Refine your portfolio’s text with professional typography techniques. This lesson covers font selection, text setup in InDesign, and how to ensure your written content complements your design work.

Lesson 6 – Graphics Colour and Style (33:04). Create a cohesive and polished graphical style for your portfolio. This lesson explores colour schemes, page elements, and visual markers to enhance the overall design and achieve a professional finish.

Lesson 7 – Assemble the Project Pages (47:24). Bring your portfolio together by assembling your project pages. This lesson guides you through applying everything you’ve learned to create a cohesive and professional document.

Lesson 8 – Contents and Chapter Pages (27:36). Organise your portfolio with clear navigation tools. Learn to design a professional table of contents, create chapter pages, and implement automatic numbering for a structured and seamless flow.

Lesson 9 – Cover Pages (18:59). Craft a standout cover that sets the tone for your portfolio. This lesson explores essential elements, design principles, and inspiring ideas to ensure a strong first impression.

Lesson 10 – Print and Export (11:38). Prepare your portfolio for final presentation with expert advice on exporting. This lesson details the settings and techniques required for high-quality digital and physical outputs.

The importance of a strong portfolio.

A good portfolio is essential for architects at every stage of their career. For your first job, it demonstrates your potential and ability to think creatively, often bridging the gap between academic work and professional practice. For your next role, it highlights growth, versatility, and how you’ve contributed to projects. A well-crafted portfolio also provides the foundation to start your own business, showcasing your expertise to potential clients. As designers, every element of our work—including our portfolio—is a piece of design in itself. Careful curation is crucial, as it reflects your attention to detail, design philosophy, and ability to communicate ideas effectively.

Meet your tutor - Radu Fulgheci | Architect | BDP

Hi, I’m Radu. I’m an architect with over ten years of experience using many architectural design and modelling applications, for both professional and academic purposes. Working on challenging, high-profile projects, and international competitions, I’ve continually sought ways to optimise my workflow, from single to multiple applications, in order to achieve the best results in the shortest time. I believe in constant learning, so regardless of what knowledge level you may be, there is always something new that can help you improve. I want to teach you how to do the same.

Unlimited Content & Support with an ArchAdemia Membership.

Transform your career & join our community, offering unrestricted access to expert courses, tutorials, downloads, mentoring, weekly bonuses & more.

What our members say.

With 1500+ active members, we must be doing something right!
Faye Doyle
Faye DoylePractice Owner
I recently started my own practice and wanted to get some inspiration for how my fee letters and other documents should be set up. I got the Architects Tool Kit, and it was fantastic. The purchase process was quick & easy, and I had my products immediately via email.
Mike Donaghey
Mike DonagheyArchitecture Student
As an architecture student, I struggled getting grasp of some software such as Revit and Photoshop. I started using ArchAdemia for their extensive and cohesive courses and my I found my work excel to levels I did not think I could achieve.
Christopher Gatus
Christopher GatusFreelance Architect
If you’re an Architect or an Aspiring Architect, the ArchAdemia community is something that you want to be a part of. They offer in-depth courses about anything you need to learn about the field of Architecture. They teach based on their experiences in the real world and not the usual things we learn from Architecture school.
Ufuk Bahar
Ufuk BaharManaging Director
We have been really impressed with ArchAdemia. What makes this platform unique is the in-depth training videos designed for real life practice. We currently incorporate this platform for the training programme of our new colleagues which also removes the tedious process of assembling different training videos from different sources.
Tom Daniel
Tom DanielArchitectural Assistant
ArchAdemia is a great source of information! They have plenty of courses which I am sure I will use, but also the packs they have contain a variety of sketch up models, revit models and planning/ design and access reports, which are really helpful when you are looking at how to graphically lay out your work.
Rica Selva
Rica SelvaFreelance Architect
I have always enjoyed and benefitted from all the content they provide for they are very useful and explained in exceptional detail. Thes guys are very passionate about what they do, and it shows. Keep up the great work!

FAQs

We’re the only architectural educator that teaches all aspects of what an architect goes through each day, through architecture courses, one-off lessons, podcasts and mentoring. We have to know and deal with a lot; concept design, technical design, graphics, construction, dealing with clients & consultants etc. Our platform gives insight into all of these areas and more through a range of mediums such as; online classes, one-to-one coaching, podcasts and downloadable resources.

We have two forms of membership, monthly and annual. The annual membership is unlimited, including all course content, download packs and a greater allocation of live tutor support. The monthly plan is more stripped back, focusing on core course content, plus a modest allocation of live tutor support to help with content specific queries.

Annual memberships are £139 paid per year and monthly memberships £39 per month. Head over to our pricing page to find out exactly what’s included with each. FYI – both memberships auto-renew.

Our teaching style is relaxed and specific to the needs of an architect or similar construction industry designer. All of our premium courses are centred around an iconic piece of architecture, which provides a dual benefit of learning the software and diving deeper into exceptional pieces of design.

You can watch your lessons on a desktop, maybe with a split screen or you can consume our content via mobile utilising two options. The first option is simply viewing our mobile optimised website, where the second is to download the Kajabi app and use the credentials you made with us to login and view your lessons anytime and anywhere!

Joining us is easy, simply scroll to the top of our home page and start by hitting the button in the top banner. We also have a handful of other buttons positioned around our site. Head over to the pricing page to find a detailed breakdown of what’s included.

Once you’ve created your account you’ll be taken to the members area. There, you have easy access to your account information, where you’ll receive instructions on how to cancel if you wish to do so.

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