You’ve spent hours agonising over your folio — should you show those rough sketches, the scribbled ideas, the messy middle bits? Or do employers just want the shiny final product? It’s the classic creative catch-22: do they want to see how the sausage gets made, or just the feast at the end?

Nick Hunter — Co-founder, CEO and Executive Creative Director at Paper Moose — knows what really makes a portfolio sing. He’s flicked through more folios than most of us have had hot dinners, and he shared exactly where process does (and doesn’t) fit in.

The uncomfortable truth about process

Let’s start with the honest bit that might sting a little: when Nick’s reviewing portfolios, the final work comes first. "Process is really process is important but if I cannot when I'm looking at followers I'm looking at the end work and I'm looking at how how clear is the idea and and How Deeply rooted is it into a human Insight."

Translation? He wants to see the thinking — but it needs to live in the work itself.

Your work should speak for itself

Here’s where it gets real: if your finished piece needs a three-page essay explaining why it’s clever, it probably isn’t landing. "I don't generally look for process in in a Folia but I might be unique in that way I I'm I'm just one um CD in a handful of CDs."

So, do the work. Show your thinking. But make sure the final piece tells the story on its own.

Let your process shine through the outcome

The magic sweet spot? Make your process so good that it breathes through your final piece without needing an explainer. That human insight, that spark of originality, that clear solution — it should be obvious. "If I can see your thought process but I should be able to see the thought process in the work um if you need to explain to me how you got there then I think the the work probably hasn't hasn't done the right thing."

Don’t hide your mess completely

This doesn’t mean you have to pretend you’re a creative wizard conjuring ideas from thin air. Nick knows the messy middle is a joy: "People love talking about [process] and that it should be a joyful one it should be awesome it should be really fun and playful."

So keep your sketches and iterations handy — especially if you’re walking someone through a case study or chatting through your folio in an interview. Just don’t rely on it to carry work that should be standing on its own two feet.

What this means for your folio

Good news: you don’t have to cram in every rough page and every half-formed idea. Let your best pieces show your thinking. If someone can look at your folio and see the insight and problem-solving without you saying a word, you’re on the right track.

Your process can still have a place — a behind-the-scenes page, or part of a case study, or something you talk through in person. But lead with the outcomes that make the strongest case for how you think.

The bigger picture

Of course, Nick is just one creative director — others might weigh process and outcome differently. But his advice holds up: your goal isn’t to pick sides. It’s to make sure your process and outcome are so tightly woven that they’re inseparable.

The folios that stand out? They show that you’re not just a pretty-pictures person — you’re someone who can find the human insight, crack the brief, and bring it to life in a way that feels both surprising and inevitable.

Just starting out? There’s help for that

If you’re fresh out of school and figuring out how to nail that balance, Never Not Finishing School can help. It’s a 7-week program designed to bridge the gap between graduating and landing your first creative gig — with real talk about portfolios, job hunting, and even workplace wellbeing. Learn more about Never Not Finishing School and get your folio working as hard as you do.

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