How to Upload a Project to Behance

How to Build a Better Behance Example Study

After more than 3 years of being part of the awesome Behance community, I experience a need to requite something back and I would like to share my knowledge to assist other designers improve how they build Behance instance studies.

The following tips are based on my own experience later publishing more than xv projects and observations by being a part of the community. Let'southward bound straight into them at present:

ane. A Good Case Study Takes Fourth dimension

Don't expect to cease your next project over night if you plan to go big. I tried it myself and failed. Multiple times. Usually, I got lost in the content, because I wanted to attempt so many ideas at one time, but they never played well together. I ended up with sleepless nights thinking about what I should do first and how the terminal version will look. Try to accept small-scale steps instead. And you'll non be scared of the large steps after on.

If you actually desire to testify your work properly endeavor to approach your instance study more responsibly. Don't do it only considering you have to show something chop-chop. You'll miss an opportunity. I often compare building a case report to designing the whole project all over again. I hateful seriously:

• Offset with enquiry/inspiration
• Select the content you lot want to prove/highlight
• Sketch a few layouts or construction on paper
• Create a wireframe
• Work with the final designs and play with its visual presence
• Plan your publication (plan your own small social media campaign)
• Maximize the reach (additional blog post/article/unused parts…)

2. Combine Multiple Media Formats

You don't necessarily demand to show simply terminal screens from your app or all subpages. You can combine everything together and try to tell the story of how your project was built. Use first sketches, "making of" videos, GIF animations, unused experiments, even internal documents, reports, research data, behind the scenes photos and and then on. Simply annihilation that has some value for other designers to show your process.

I love combining different media formats because of its kind of breaking my example report into blocks. I can be more than creative with the layout, guide the audience through the process and highlight the most of import parts that I recall could be inspiring for the others.

"Everyone is super curious and wants to know how the hell yous designed this thing. Give them what they want. Become them inspired for their next project."

3. Highlight the Most Interesting Parts

Don't bother people with common screens that expect the same in every projection (ex. login screen, settings, a filigree of photos). There is actually nothing to show. Instead of that try to highlight something that is unique, where y'all spent nearly of your time solving a problem or design a special layout. Focus on something that may atomic number 82 your visitors to share or similar your project and spread it.

Besides, it always breaks my heart to come across the same mockup photos in every 2nd project. It'south ever just a sign of not putting enough effort into creating something nice. If you have the resources and hardware but create your own content that is unique for this project. I can guarantee information technology has a really loftier bear on in general and could exist one of the near interesting parts.

"Highlight something interesting that is non in 10 other Behance projects in your feed."

4. Don't Look People to Read

Behance is about showing your pattern work, not writing long paragraphs. I'k pretty certain you may feel a need to describe some of the decisions you lot made or explicate the process. I don't call up Behance is the correct place for that. If y'all want to write a lot, try information technology hither on Medium or on your personal/company blog and so link it with your instance written report (link in the top/lesser).

Y'all can show the visual part of the projection on Behance and then depict how you made it somewhere else. Take advantage of both channels.

My personal experience: I showed some of my work to other designers at meetups/events and watched how they looked at my case study. Headlines and 2 rows of text are fine, but everybody scrolled almost immediately when they reached a section with more than 3 rows. They only wanted to skip information technology and focus more on the pattern work instead.

Small tip: If you lot want to have information technology to some other level you tin can record curt walkthrough videos, talk well-nigh some of the details and adhere it to the end of your case study. This is what I personally really like to do and it'southward neat for more than experienced people, who want to empathise the details.

5. Try to Be Different

Almost all layouts are already used and people are just repeating themselves. I actually spent a lot of fourth dimension figuring out what can I do differently to make my work stand up out more. It's 1 of the hardest parts of every project I do, but it'south non incommunicable.

I'm currently experimenting with a different approach for this part:

When I'm working on a mobile app example report I'm trying to get inspired by everything except mobile app example studies. I want to avert repeating myself or someone else and I'm searching for other types of case studies/stories out there. It's awesome to encounter how graphic designers, move designers or industrial designers are presenting their projects.

Yes I know it'due south a different blazon of content but what I'grand focusing on is the grade/layout and the fashion it's presented. It works swell so far and I can't expect to show you the first results!

vi. Choose the Perfect Thumbnail

If you don't accept at least some followers already, it's a bit harder to go more attending from the community. So, what I recommend you lot to try is to figure out kick-ass thumbnail for your next projection. Something people just can't miss while they're scrolling through the feed.

Look at your Activity or Discover page. What projects practise you notice at first glance? Why? Is there something special about them? You need to exist 1 of these catchy thumbnails!

Small tip : You don't need to employ just one thumbnail at the time. Attempt to experiment and rail what gets more attention. You can change thumbnails over fourth dimension to see when you lot get more than traffic (views).

On the other mitt, it's besides great to fit the remainder of the thumbnails on your profile page to keep some kind of consistency of your portfolio (if you are a perfectionist like me). So you can combine both: Use super-catchy thumbnail for the first week or two and then change it to fit the remainder of your projection in your profile.

vii. Get Featured

My approach is simple: Try to build something people take never seen before, some interesting layout or design that has not been published this mode yet. I believe curators only feature something that can inspire other people. Something special that has a risk of being appreciated for a long fourth dimension.

Your primary goal for creating a new project should not be getting featured in the first place. If yous create something great and spread it properly among your friends and followers in that location is actually a large chance of being seen and then mentioned somewhere.

I never tried to approach curators and ask them to check out my work. I don't even know whatsoever of them. But what I practise is to make sure my project is seen by a lot of people, considering you never know who is going to encounter it (and share it).

More views = College chance of being seen past the right people

"I don't recollect getting featured on Behance or Served Sites is a existent "award," simply information technology'south a great mention in the community and it helps y'all to spread your work to fifty-fifty more people."

8. Break a Big Example Written report Down Into Small Posts

Publishing a new case study is also about the right promotion. We already talked almost edifice case studies using "blocks" and combining different media formats together at the beginning of this article. When a project is published I usually practice the contrary and interruption a big projection downwards into small parts so I can share them individually. The main purpose is to take advantage of each platform and bring traffic back to the original "big" project.

Nosotros can name the whole process something like "cross-channel promotion" and basically link everything together so it spreads everywhere and supports itself. These are the main channels I use:

• Dribbble — Selected screens/subpages, design details, UI elements
• Instagram—Sketches, behind the scenes photos, "making of" photos
• Medium/blog—Story behind the project, design process description
• Vimeo/YouTube—Concluding video, "making of" video, walkthrough video
• Pinterest — Dribbble posts, Instagram posts, parts of the Behance project
• UpLabs — Reposting everything from Dribble

And so regularly sharing everything mentioned higher up on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or transport information technology every bit a newsletter.

Show Me Your Next Projection!

Promise these tips help you with your next project! Connect with me on Instagram and transport me a message. I would dearest to know (and come across) if some of my tips really helped and maybe I can give y'all more personal tips!

Thx to Maggie Appleton for helping me with illustrations and EN corrections & Tomas Matis for a nifty animation!

Let's be friends!

Ales Nesetril — Digital product designer with passion for minimalism, simplicity and new concepts, focusing on interactive experiences and mobile apps, currently co-leading a design team at STRV

Twitter, Dribbble, Behance, Instagram, E-mail

STRV is a 1-stop mobile app development shop working with top-tier startups from Y Combinator and 500Startups, among others, across offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Prague.

Follow STRV design team on Dribbble or Behance.

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Source: https://medium.com/design-insights/how-to-build-a-better-behance-case-study-14837583a432

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