How and Why You Should Integrate Instagram in Your Digital Portfolio

Instagram has become the biggest shop window on the internet, giving us a unique opportunity to show our work in a clear and simple way

It's no secret that Instagram is the social media of the day, and numbers speak for themselves–the platform has over a billion active users per month. Creatives, illustrators, designers, and visual artists worldwide commonly exploit the platform's potential to show their work and processes and have a more immediate connection with possible clients.

Many have started to use Instagram as an active part of their web portfolio, integrating their Instagram profile into the news section of their digital collection. 'Some illustrators are substituting their news section or web news with an ‘instanews’ section' says Sandra López, managing director of advertising agency Pencil·Ilustradores (@pencil), including the Italian illustrator Gianluca Folì.

'Clients won't ask for a business card but will ask you if you are on Instagram,' Sandra reminds us, underlining the importance of publishing meaningful content regularly on social media to be known in the creative world.

Advantages of integrating your Instagram profile into your digital portfolio

On the one hand, you have a feed on the web that allows the viewer to keep up to date with anything you've done professionally. At the same time, it is a simple way to keep both your portfolio and your Instagram feed updated continuously.

The interaction between Instagram and your digital portfolio offers another advantage. The very familiar layout of Instagram–the clean and simple, carefully measured tiles–makes it easier to include a lot of visual information at a glance.

Bear in mind, however, that by making this decision, your Instagram profile must show your activity in the most attractive way possible.
You need to become the curator of your Instagram content, carefully publishing each post so it is well received. You must also consider the feed's visual aspect as a whole, playing with the tiles to maximize its visual impact. Therefore, on occasion, you may need to omit content that could devalue this effect.

How to add your Instagram profile to your digital portfolio

To incorporate this function to the web, there are various free widgets such as EmbedAlbum and, specifically for WordPress, Social Photo Feeds. Once installed, they allow you to add your Instagram profile to your website relatively quickly.

The best option for you will be dictated by your technical and visual requirements, according to your professional and artistic character. By integrating the feed into your web page and social media channels, Instagram becomes a perfect tool for viewing the work of illustrators and visual artists. Therefore, it is imperative to look after its appearance and plan the work you publish carefully and strategically.

In Pencil·Ilustradores' course Creating an Illustration Portfolio on Instagram, managing director Sandra López reveals the keys to turning your Instagram profile into a portfolio that shows off your designs, illustrations, and visually exciting work.

You may be interested in:

- Freelance: Keys and Tools to Find Success as your Own Boss, a course by Martina Flor.
- Keys for Creating a Professional Illustration Portfolio, a course by Pencil·Ilustradores.
- Creative Portfolio with Own Identity, a course by Futura.
- Visual Storytelling for your Personal Brand on Instagram, a course by Marioly Vazquez.