How To Nail Your Archviz Portfolio Project Descriptions
The projects you feature in your archviz portfolios rely on two carefully crafted elements; the visual media, like photos and videos, and the written descriptions.
Being able to analyze your work and recount a project’s highlights adds a professional depth to the images and video you’ve provided; it shows that an impressive project was a calculated, controlled output of your decisions and skills. It should provide a mix of technical skill and knowledge, project management, creative direction and general architectural capabilities.
…intimidated? Don’t be. We’ve made an easy-to-follow template for you to follow that covers all the bases.
Top Level Bullet Point List
Categories (Project type, Discipline, Client Type)
List software used
Time frame of completion
1st Paragraph: The Concept
Questions to answer:
What was the client brief?
What elements of this project directly responded to that brief?
What are you most proud of with this work?
This is to show your ability to respond to client briefs and know how to prioritize focus and resource, to read and interpret plans (architectural, landscaping drawings etc), and to take creative direction from the design and marketing team, if this was a group project. Make the language client-centric - as much as your professional style matters, they also want to see that you can be responsive to the brief and easy to work with.
If it was a personal project, outline your intentions of the project, and what the measure of success was.
The last line should be about what you’re most proud of; what did you master in this project? Why are you featuring it in your portfolio? What do you hope it says about you, as an archviz artist?
2nd Paragraph: The Strategy
Questions to answer:
What were the challenges of this brief/project, and how did you overcome them?
What was your design approach? What technical features/skills were used?
What was the process of this project, from start to finish?
What exactly were you responsible for, if this was a team project?
At its core, architecture is solving problems in a beautiful way. This question gives you a chance to show your creative problem-solving skills, showing you can handle the pressure of the job. This is also where you can embellish on the creative decisions made in this project, which shows a keen eye for aesthetics and decisive design, in response to a client’s wishes.
It also offers an opportunity to show off your technical proficiency, going into software knowledge, plugins, workarounds, techniques, scripting, lighting techniques, material creation, rendering, etc. Remember to include the reasons why you used these techniques, too (quality? Efficiency? functionality?).
This is also the time to be very clear about what you contributed to the project; if you were only responsible for the lighting or the materials, communicate that.
Make sure to include a brief overview of the entire process, to show your ability to manage a whole project, hit milestones, manage client relationships and deliver projects on time, in a way that keeps the client engaged, involved and inspired.
Optional 3rd paragraph: The Feedback
Although this is optional, it’s one of the most powerful elements you can include.
If possible, try to get a quote from the client giving feedback about the project; nothing beats word of mouth, and a testimonial is proof that your work was positively received by the client, which is going to be music to a hiring manager’s ears.
Proofread
…and just like that, you’ve completed your first featured project. Congratulations!
Once you’ve had a chance to rest and come back to your portfolio with fresh eyes, check your first project and see if you want to make any edits. Proofread your description, catching any grammatical or spelling errors and tightening up anything that can be simplified.
Repeat!
Once you’re happy with your first project description, you can now use it as a template for the rest of your projects.
If you’ve been following our step-by-step portfolio guide, congratulations - you’ve now successfully created a well-planned, detailed, varied archviz portfolio!
Now, to make sure you’re getting the most out of it, make you check out our tips on getting your portfolio seen and keeping it up to date, to ensure your portfolio is winning you the work you want.
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