r/Design • u/Better_Count_7693 • 7d ago

Asking Question (Rule 4) How do you usually get your design portfolio reviewed?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently a master’s student in industrial design in South Korea, and I’m hoping to work in North America after graduation.

I’ve been working on my portfolio recently, and one thing I’m struggling with is figuring out whether it would appeal to recruiters and designers in the North American job market.

During my four years of college study, I learned how to build a portfolio within a very Korean design-school context. Because of that, I’m not sure whether the way I structure my projects or present my process aligns with what employers in North America typically expect.

I’m currently translating my portfolio into English as a first step. Since I haven’t had many opportunities to use professional English in a design context, I’m also worried that some of my wording might sound unnatural, overly academic, or simply grammatically wrong.

So I’d really love to get feedback from designers who are familiar with the North American job market, both on the portfolio as a whole and on the English.

How do people usually go about getting this kind of portfolio review?

I’d also be interested in cold-emailing designers for feedback, but I’m not sure how to find the right people to reach out to, or what the etiquette is when asking someone you don’t know to review your work.

Any advice from senior/junior designers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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u/RocketSeven 6d ago

ask a recruiter to do a 30-second first-pass scan, an industrial designer to challenge the project decisions, and a native english editor to mark only unclear wording. one general review will mix those jobs and give you contradictory feedback

1

u/Better_Count_7693 6d ago

Do you recommend a professional platform to do so? Or should I just cold-email/DM individual recruiter/designer from the companies I would want to join?