Good Portfolio Guide
When it comes to portfolios we cannot give
you a set of prescriptive rules to follow or a neatly presented recipe
for success. With applicant portfolios each portfolio is as
varied as the individual who creates it. We can however, share with
you some of the key ingredients we always look for and explain
why.
|
DO's |
DONT'S |
| Show us you can draw | Just fill your portfolio with endless ‘still lifes’. Certainly show off your drawing skills but also include abstract images, graphics and photography. Try to relate your drawings to ready made imagery |
| Feature a variety of media and subject matter | Be a ‘one trick pony’ - show us the breadth of your experience and expertise |
| Express yourself – this is your chance to sell yourself and your design perspective | Show us what you think we want to see |
| Continuously record your ideas, observations, research, preliminary sketches and written notes | Leave your sketch book at home |
| Celebrate your creativity – show us how you’ve explored and experimented with colour, texture and form | Be too literal or restrained |
| Show us how a person, place or object can inspire you to create something new | Just provide unexplained images or photographs of people, places or objects |
| Tell us a story. Show us how your ideas evolved; include your initial sketches and concept development work | Just show us the outcome or end product |
| Demonstrate your interest in Design. Include images of historical or contemporary designers you admire or exhibitions you have visited and how that has impacted your work | Hide your enthusiasm and the motivation behind your work |
| Be selective. Think about what you include in your portfolio and be ready to explain why it’s there | Fill your portfolio to overflowing with unedited work |
| Indicate the running time of any time-based media that you’ve included | Include any films that run more than a few minutes |
| Include work that reflects the course you’re applying for | Include all the projects you’ve worked on |
| Be practical – where appropriate, photograph your finished 3D or large scale work | Try to transport over-sized 3D models or bring suitcases full of work with you |
| Remember presentation is important, so consider how you put your portfolio together. Think about using plastic sheets, creating a ‘book’ but keep it simple –you don’t want to distract from your work | Pull it together at the last minute and leave loose pieces of work inserted in the pages |
| Talk through your portfolio with your teacher or tutor | Be afraid to ask for some advice |
| Plan your portfolio presentation; start with something that will make us go ‘Wow!’ Then finish with something that will help us to remember you | Bury the good stuff |
| Bring examples of your current course-work and or design-related projects done out of the classroom | Don’t come empty handed – if course-work is being sent away for assessment, make copies of it so that we can see it |
