If you find yourself in the unenviable position of having no work for a Portfolio, there is a solution. Do fake projects. Here are some ideas you do yourself to start building your portfolio.
Social Media campaign for a brand you love
- New or Relaunch of a Product
- Contest
- Spotlight on the company
- Awards
Influencer collaboration strategy
The influencer economy is growing and you can show you have your finger on the pulse. Choose a well-known influencer in your industry and create a fake campaign collaboration. For marketing, you can outline a strategy to generate leads through the use of discount codes and show a fictitious strategy.
Develop a business pitch for stakeholders/clients
This can be a presentation deck you would create to show how you would pitch a fake company to an investor, partner, supplier, etc.
Make a hypothetical business plan
Use a fake company. There are many business case studies you can use to base one off of. Here is one https://guides.library.ubc.ca/businesscases/free
Rebrand an existing business
This can be a fake company you made up or an existing one. You can go on Behance, and many people have done.
Examples are:
- Redesigning packaging
- Redesigning their website
- Redesigning their logo and branding
Target market consultation pitch
- For marketing show how you would break down a target audience and your outreach plan for them.
- For a graphic designer, design for example a post for three different target audience.
- This shows you understand personas.
Video campaign plan
This can be a variety of things. For example
- Tutorial
- Commerical
- Company spotlight
- Social media videos
Plan a seasonable/national awareness day campaign
You can use http://unescocenterforpeacenys.org/international-days-celebration/ or https://www.daysoftheyear.com/ to pick a day and build a campaign around it.
Develop your own personal brand
This is your chance to show who you really are and articulate it.
Hope that helps and I wish you the best of luck!