INTRO PAGES
Firstly, what is an intro page? An intro page is the 1st page that will be seen when someone opens your portfolio. It holds an image that will set the viewer in the state that you want them to be in as they view the rest of your portfolio.
This brings up the question as to why we don’t just start off with a piece of work, a great piece of work. Surely that would put the viewer in the right state.
If you thought that, you would probably be right… 80% of the time. Considering we are trying to orchestrate this whole process, of how someone examines our work, 80% odds are not good enough.
Imagine that your 1st piece requires some serious thought to understand the concept. Their 1st impression of your portfolio is going to be that your whole portfolio is going to involve some serious thought. That means it’s going to require some effort. Effort equals pain (for most people anyway.) What if they don’t like the subject matter that you’ve chosen, and not for any fault of yours, maybe they just don’t like the colour green. Before we go on with this, lets talk some basic psychology.
1st impression is made after 3 or 4 seconds. A lasting impression (that could last up to 3 weeks in the face of opposite evidence) is made after 3 or 4 minutes.
This means that if you make a bad 1st impression you have 3 or 4 minutes to change their mind. It also works the opposite way – make a good 1st impression and the viewer is left in that state for at least 3 minutes. If you stack all your good work near the front… how long do you think it’ll take them to look through them? Probably longer than 3 minutes, even if they’re rushing. Providing everything’s gone to plan they are now thinking positively about you and will continue to do so throughout the portfolio. Isn’t science great!
If you think about it, this is not a new concept. Websites have splash pages, novels have covers, music has CD sleeves…at least they used to. All these things are there to create a good 1st impression. The intro page does exactly the same thing. It introduces and sets up the portfolio in the way you want it to be seen.
So what do we put on the intro page? It’s really up to you; ask yourself, how do you want to represent yourself? Funny, serious, professional, weird? Do you want to highlight some of your beautiful photography? Maybe you’ve got some great artwork that everyone loves but just doesn’t fit anywhere else.
Whatever you choose, remember to remove yourself from the process and think about how someone, who doesn’t know you, would view what you’ve chosen.
What does it say about you?
What do these ones say about me?
___________________________________________________________
GIVING THINGS A COMMERCIAL SPIN
Whilst its nice to have your photos of cockatoos in your portfolio it's infinitely more interesting to have a selection of spreads from a book about cockatoos.
It still uses your photos but gives you a chance to show off your typography skills, layout skills, identity... to name but a few. Also by giving it a commercial bent you show that you understand that this graphic design game is not just about pretty pictures.
Think about these things as well, could some of your pieces work on them:
1 / Book cover (front, spine and back)
2 / Magazine (spreads and cover)
3 / Postcard (front and back)
4 / Wine bottle (label and neck)
5 / Packaging (food, electronic)
6 / Poster (exhibition, movie, art)
7 / Advertisement
8 / CD (cover, insert, back, inside back and disc)
9 / DVD (Slick and disc)
10/ Brochure
11/ ...
There's countless other ways that you could show your work that would show a greater range of what you can do.
___________________________________________________________
INSPIRATION + EXTRAS
