Friday 15 February 2013

Developing my Portfolio for studio visits

I am conscious I need to develop my Portfolio further before I go for any studio visits.  i found a couple of interesting articles:

Internships

Portfolio tips

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Examples of Portfolios

I want the digital portfolio to be like Lee Goater recommended, just a teaser so perhaps just five strong closeup images maybe.  I have been looking at ways of perhaps 'cutting' shapes out of images so the viewer only sees a small portion or maybe making all but a small portion coloured and the rest grayscale.


Friday 1 February 2013

Portfolio Surgeries

My first attempt my own portfolio:





Feedback

Lee Goater

Lee is such a warm inspiring person I immediately felt comfortable with him.  He was really positive and complimentary about the work.  He thought the portfolio demonstrated a wide range of skills.  He thought I should try and 'tease' more and not show so much work on one page. Let the work unfold more as I tell the story.  He thought it would suit a large Branding Agency like Gratterpalm.  With regard to my 'creative' CV he feels that they are better kept simple, nicely laid out and to the point.
Take out the Loft space banners as this does not compliment the other work and actually cheapens it.
Chris Jackson

From Elmwood.  Chris was very thorough and to the point.  What I hadn't really thought about for the portfolio surgery was it was 'me' telling the story of the portfolio.  I had thought it was him looking at the work and giving me feedback which was really naive.  I obviously didn't 'sell' the work very well as he said its important to show you are passionate about each brief.

The main points:

There was about the right amount of work and notation on each brief although he said to check the typography more accurately (ragging!)

Include more work on the Typo brief as I had got his interest on the first sheet and he wanted to see more.

Think about the order as the person usually will remember two pieces of work so have your strongest at the front and second strongest at the back.

Put the YCN Commendation at the front as it is a well recognised achievement

With collaborative briefs be clear about what your contribution is.

He liked the fact I said the reason for some briefs was to learn new skills as this demonstrated my willingness to develop my practise.

You don't really need a CV in your portfolio.

Explain design decisions, contexts, typefaces, colours.  Tell the story.  e.g. the crown in the Sweetie apple

Keep images consistent ie if using iphone mockups use wither illustration or photos not both.