On Tuesday, I got to have one of my first alumni experiences: being a critic for RISD's ID/Furniture Portfolio Review. It was certainly an interesting experience to finally be sitting on the other side of the table. I remember the year before, seeing a girl I knew, who had just graduated, being a critic for the Staples table. I told myself, "I want to do that someday."
As someone who obsessed over my own portfolio, this was a great opportunity to nitpick on other's work besides my own. I'm a stickler for alignment, so watch out!
Tips for making a Portfolio:Getting Started:
1.Content- You want to tell the story of who you are as a designer, and as a person. It's always nice to start out with a resume or an introduction about yourself. Once you've decided what projects to include, place all the images you think you are going to use into an InDesign file, so you can start to see how the images interact with each other. Find a way to categorize your projects, and find common themes to help express your interests and focus.
Some people want to see a lot of process, and others just want to see the money shot. Some students had nice iterations where the portfolio had the glamour shots, and they then had an additional folder full of sketches. I preferred this the best, because I like to know what the project is, and then if I'm interested I'll want to learn more about the process. It's nice to give people that choice.
2.Page Size- Once you know how much space you need, you can determine your page size. This size should be a NON-standard size (i.e. preferably not 8.5" x 11", it's a bit dull) and there should be enough room for plenty of white space.
3.Layout- Once you know the content, and page size, you can start developing a consistent layout for your format. Try fiddling with a couple different Master Pages in InDesign and see what works best. Remember to keep in mind the hierarchy of information. What is the most important, and how can you best convey your project with as FEW words as possible. Most people are not going to take the time to sit and read an entire paragraph. You want to make sure your font, alignments, and grids have a sense of consistency, without being too redundant. Yes, it's a delicate balance.
4.Paper Type- Before everything is done and ready to go, if you're taking your portfolio to an in-person portfolio, it's highly recommended that you bring a printed version. For this, you will need to consider what type of paper you will use, and where you are printing it. For ink-jet, on say your home Epson, I recommend double sided matte paper. If you're taking it to say RISD prints, a thin high-gloss looks nice when accompanied by some full bleed images. But be careful with gloss paper that it does not reflect your images too much, making it difficult to see.
5.Binding- Binding is an important decision as it determines your interaction with the viewer. Whether you hand it to them to flip through, or if you hold it and walk them through your work. For a not so thick book this can be
pamphlet/staple bound. If you have a thick book, with lots of pages, and you want someone to be able to flip through the pages very easily, a
spiral bound ( I prefer clear or white) is good for this, though I do not feel it always looks the best.
Perfect bind looks great, but is more difficult to have the pages lay flat, and sometimes poor binding can result in pages falling out. There are more labor intensive options such as the
accordion bind, which is a bit of a waste of paper, but if connected at the rim, makes for easy page turning. And there are some other hand sewn binding techniques which can turn out nicely if done right such as the
coptic stitch or
Japanese bind. There are of course almost endless ways to bind your portfolio, it doesn't even necessarily need to be a "book" so explore your options, ask people what they are doing, get some inspiration and find what best represents you.
6. Additional Formats- Additional formats are also useful including: printed teasers, a pdf teaser, a pdf portfolio, a website, and let's not forget...business cards are always great to include.
Your portfolio should be approached like any design project, with creativity and thoroughness. Do your research, and show your potential employee what you're made of.
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This Sunday I had the opportunity to attend part of the Inaugural Millennium Campus Conference, hosted by MIT's Global Poverty Initiative. The company I work for participated in the Career Fair, and afterwards we headed over to the Keynote event: a dual conversation/performance with John Legend and Jeffrey Sachs. What do a 5 time Grammy award winning R&B artist, and a leading economist and Professor at Columbia University have in common? The beginning of this answer starts with the the Millennium Development Goals, followed by the Millennium Villages Project, and finishes off with the Show Me Campaign.
