Question as above. Those of you that have full time jobs 40hrs a week plus, how often do you keep on top of your portfolio? Do you constantly update it and revise graphics or do you only touch it when you’re thinking about changing jobs? Just curious!
Only work on it when I think about it, and have spare time to do so. I should probably be a bit more diligent keeping it updated though…
I had an old boss that worked on his once a week for an hour or two. That way it was always up to snuff and he didn’t have to do intense binge updates to it.
I like to spend a couple of free weekends during the year. It is nice to know that if needed my portfolio is ready to go. I also get board of my last portfolio and tend to do full revision to format and graphics. I can never settle. I am currently in the process of updating right now.
I haven’t worked on my portfolio for almost 7 years. However I did amassed terabytes of images files and CAD model in a separate external drive at work in case I need to start working on it.
Putting in the work to keep it constantly up to scratch never seem worth it to me. But I recently ran into the results…
Even as a freelancer, I didn’t update my portfolio properly (had enough work coming in organically, word of mouth) and it got so bad and out of date that I pulled it down (from Flickr) a month or so ago. It was so un-representative that I though having no images up would be better.
And I thought radical action would break through my penchant for procrastination, because now I have to put together a proper, updated one. But no 
.
Everyday! 
More seriously, I do keep a record of all work I deem portfolio worthy, so when I do decide to update it I have the images and just have to compile it.
My portfolio layout is such that it’s relatively easy to add new A3 landscape slides, though when I show a physical portfolio this is always at A4.
It took me 3 or 4 years to get on top of it when I started working full time, but now I just add to it when I have a new piece. I’ve developed a simple, but consistent layout, and stopped bothering with print.
At the hotel on business trips.
I’m actually just revamping my whole portfolio for the first time since college (7 years!). Somehow I managed to change jobs without redoing it in that time frame. I have a design director at work who told me it’s your responsibility as a designer to always keep your portfolio updated. It’s nice to hear that from someone who you work with and is over you at the same time. With that in mind I’m trying to do it in a way that is easy to update. Modular portfolio if you will . I just spend a few evenings a week in a coffee shop tinkering so I don’t burn myself out.
I used to work on it a couple of hours every week. Whenever a product was released I would immediately post it to coroflot, to my personal site, and to here in the projects section… now I barely touch it, but as a staff designer, I think it was important to always be working on it.
I have a “process portfolio” indesign doc I keep continually updated with new work. No layout, no text, just sketches, final work, a compendium of everything to date. Currently about 200 pages and just an easy go to if I need to show something in a meeting related to anything I’ve done (output a PDF I keep on my ipad/phone- I don’t send the doc out).
Actual portfolio I update with new projects about once a year. New format and text about every 3 years. Web I used to update every 6 months or so in my blog format site. I’ve just relaunched a new behance prosite and with the simple CMS I’m hoping to keep up to date more frequently.
R