Welcome to your 1st class of VETIS Portfolio Skills, today we will be looking at what the course entails, what a portfolio is and starting the first of our assessments. It's the assessment that I'd like to cover first, with that in mind let's consider this famous quote:
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
This quote could quite possibly be said about the design industry. Skills are hugely important, but so is knowing who your competitors/contemporaries are and what they’re doing.
This is where research starts to play a big role in design. Research is hugely important to any designer/studio and has become a profession in itself in recent years.
It’s important for a number of reasons, most significantly; making sure you’re not doing something that’s already been done, current market trends of clients and buying public and… inspiration. Seeing great stuff done by others is a great motivation tool for creating great stuff yourself.
In this brief we are going to look at some of the top graphic designers/studios/artists of the world and research them, understand them and finally design for them. It breaks down like this:
Today
1// Research the designer/studio.
Look up the artist provided, find their site (provided), do a google search, read their 'about' page, look at their work and make up your mind what you think about them. You'll be required to write a 2 paragraph synopsis about them in your own words, no copying from the web (or at least not much) that will go on the back of the final book cover.
Your synopsis should include where the designer/group is from/based, how long they've been around for, what style they are known for (if any) and any other interesting facts that would make people keen to hear/see more about them. We will use this as the synopsis on the back of our books, so make it exciting. Look at other book backs and see what they have written on them.
2// Create some hype.
You'll need to locate (or write your own) quotes about the designers/studios/artists. One of these quotes will appear on the front of the book and one on the back - that's two in total. You should credit who said them. Make sure the credit makes sence (Woman's Day is not going to be reviewing the latest Banksy book).
3// Design a back cover.
Here we will design a book cover for the designer/studio in a style that works with or matches their style. Focus on their design style rather than your own. You'll be given a template with the size and format of the book. As mentioned above you'll also name the book and write the synopsis on the back. You should include; some pictures of their work (3), maybe a picture of them, the 2 quotes, the tag-line and whatever else you think is necessary. We will be working in Illustrator but you can build images in PhotoShop or by hand.
Tomorrow
4// Develop a name.
What name would sum up the designer/studio? What sums up their work, style and reputation? We are going develop a wordmark based on this name so we want it to be attention getting, visually, in meaning and not too long. You could also create a tag line that will accompany the name on the front of the book.
5// Design a front cover and spine.
The wordmark should appear here, your name (or the name of the writer if it's not you), tagline (if you did one), the front cover quote and a picture that sums up the designer/studio/artist. You can take visuals liberally from the chosen artist but I don't want it to be an exact copy. Do something to it, make it your own so you can show it proudly in your portfolio. Manipulate images in PhotoShop, redraw it in Illustrator, design a symbol for the artist, do it by hand, have some fun and see what you come up with. Just make sure it clearly represents the chosen artist/studio/designer and ties into your name.
Below are the designer/studios that I’ve chosen. Each student will be allocated one, some are harder to work out than others, some have less info and require more research on the web, some have more work, some don’t show any. It should all even out, just be resourceful and use the web to it’s full potential. Gather loads of info and then start sorting it all out. Once it's sorted, start your design.
Here are the designers, notice the links to their websites on the left-hand side of the page. We're going to pick a number from a hat, so good luck and I hope you get one you like (they're all good):
- Mathematics
- Rinzen
- Qube Konstruct
- Glue Society
- Tin+Ed
- Andrezza
- Anthony Lister
- Audrey Kawasaki
- Banksy
- Boogie
- Bruce Holwerda
- Greg 'Craola' Simkins
- Dalek
- Eamo
- Misprinted Type
- Post Secret
- Greg Lamarche
- James White
- Obey Giant
- Sam McKenzie
- Jeremy Fish
- Stunt Kid
- Tara McPherson
- Tiffany Bozic
- 123 Klan
- Phunk Studio
- James Jean
WHAT IS A
PORTFOLIO?
The graphic designer's portfolio in the past fifty years was usually a black book or large binder in which samples of the artist's best printed pieces were carried to show prospective clients or employers. Printed pieces are often protected inside by being mounted on boards or slipped into Acetate sleeves.Since the 1990's, portfolios have become increasingly computer digitized, and now may be entirely digitized and available on the Internet, or on CD, DVD, or via email.
Graphic design relates heavily to corporate identity, the branding and "persona" of a corporation, thus the portfolio should treat the designer as an identity or brand.
(Wikipedia)
port·fo·li·o (pôrt-fAfter teaching portfolio skills for quite a few years now I decided to put together a list of the most commonly asked questions. The thing you must never lose sight of is that YOU are the product. If you remember that you can never go wrong. The portfolio should show you as you want to be seen. If the consumer (the employer, the head of school) doesn’t like it then it’s probably for the best, as you wouldn’t have enjoyed working/studying there anyway.l
-
, p
rt-)
n. pl. port·fo·li·os(The Online Dictionary)1. A portable case for holding material, such as loose papers, photographs, or drawings. The materials collected in such a case, especially when representative of a person's work: a photographer's portfolio; an artist's portfolio of drawings.2. The office or post of a cabinet member or minister of state.3. A group of investments held by an investor, investment company, or financial institution.
Having said that often you will just need a job, whatever it is, whether it’s for experience or a money injection. In that case it’s best to find out what the employer wants and dress you portfolio to incorporate that.
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How many work samples should you include?
This a common question and much research has gone into it over the years. The obvious answer would be to say ‘all your good stuff’ – however being such talented people as you are, that would mean putting in all your work, and showing the prospective employer everything you did in the last 15 years could be seen as a cruel, if a tad unusual, punishment.
On the flip side you have to be careful we don’t show too little. Anything under six pieces, no matter how good they are, wont be sufficient to showcase the breadth of your talents or the range of clients you’ve served.
In a recent survey of studios and agencies, most Creative Directors said they expect to see an average of 11 pieces in a portfolio and typically know whether someone’s qualified after viewing 8 or 9 pieces. So if we say between 9 and 12 pieces we should be pretty much on track.
What do employers look for?
This is another one that has a lot of research behind it. Eye magazine probably did the most comprehensive survey and asked Creative Directors to list in order of importance what they looked for in graduate’s portfolios. Coming out clear winners were Creativity and Variety.
Two thirds said they wanted to see an overall creativity throughout the portfolio and were less concerned about neatness and computer skill if there was a solid idea or concept. A further concern was variety, to prove that the graduate had more in their toolbox than just one style or project.
Neatness and organization also rated quite high. Creative Directors cited that while a neat, well-organised portfolio might not be groundbreaking in it’s ideas, it did represent a certain amount of professionalism. Something that is needed more and more in today’s market.
©Emilie Mottet
What piece of work should you start with?
Again, the most obvious answer is not necessarily correct, and that would be – your best piece. While this sounds technically right it’s fraught with problems. What if they don’t like the client you did the work for, what if they don’t understand the brief straight away? A first impression is made after 3 seconds and it lasts for at least 3 minutes, do you want them to carry this impression with them through most of your portfolio?
Remember this idea that Design is all about control. You need to control how they are going to view your portfolio. So you need to control their impression of that first page, much like a movie title or TV ident does for their media. An intro page is a great way for you to get them in the mood you want them to be in.
©Daniel Barrett
Just to clear up any other opinions about this, I have heard people say that you should start with your 2nd best work and finish with your best piece…if we remember that most Creative Directors said they’d already made up their mind by the 8th piece then we potentially miss any impact that our best piece would’ve had. A lot of Creative Directors would also admit that they very rarely get to the end of people’s portfolios, due to time constraints… It would horrible to think they didn’t even see your best.
How many typefaces should you use?
Using as many as possible would show that you have a wide knowledge of fonts and how to use them…although it could also make you look like a kid in a candy store with $100 dollars in your pocket. More than anything it confirms that you are indecisive and unable to make decisions.
Equally, only using one typeface could demonstrate that you have a limited understanding of fonts and how they work together. Two or three is normally the best option. Keep in mind that each font should have its job (title, heading, body, descriptor etc.) and use hierarchy appropriately. Also worth remembering that each typeface normally has a family behind it (bold, light, italic etc.) and using to many variations from the same family can make it seem like you are using more than two or three fonts.
Lastly, choose you fonts wisely. Using Stencil, Sand, Comic Sans, Impact, Times, anything named after a city etc. is going to make you look like you graduated from a one week crash course in Graphic Arts. Remember the Creative Directors who will be looking over your portfolio has a lot of experience, has seen a lot of portfolios and knows what’s what. You should express in your typeface choice that you know stuff too.
Is it okay to swap between landscape and portrait layouts?
Yes, absolutely, it’s important to show the works as large as they can be… No, it’s important not to annoy the viewer. If they happen to knock their cup of coffee off the table as they are turning your portfolio around (for the 8th time) believe me they will be annoyed... and they will remember as they are trying to sponge the coffee out of the carpet. They’ll remember you every time they see the stain.
What you should do is decide on one way and tailor you work to fit that grid. If you let the grid do its job you shouldn’t have any trouble. What most people try and do is tailor the grid for each work…basically meaning they have a different grid on each spread, and therefore no grid. Remember just because it’s an A4 magazine cover you don’t have to show it as A4. Likewise letterheads don’t need to be full size. You wouldn’t do a billboard to actual size in your portfolio would you?
©Robin Ramsell
Single pages or spreads?
It’s really up to you; just make sure you keep it consistent. If you are going to use spreads than try and use spreads throughout. The same with single pages – don’t get the viewer used to one thing and then change things on them. Also bear in mind that the right hand page is normally the one people see first so make sure that has the impact.
Should I use the same portfolio for every client/job and how often should I update it?
Putting a portfolio together is a pain. And it’s precisely this reason why designers normally only put a portfolio together once or update it rarely. How do you think an employer might view a piece of work that is a decade old… even if it was an award winner. People don’t want to see what you were doing then, they want to know what you can do now.
Likewise, a publishing house is not going to be overly interested in seeing all the packaging you’ve done. Sure it might be worth showing one or two pieces from another part of design, but you’re portfolio will be much more effective if it’s targeted towards the employers business and creative needs. Keep it relevant.
But does this mean we have to create a new portfolio every time you go out to see a studio or new client? No, that’s far too much work. If you create a strong template then it should be easy to add stuff or take out stuff when needed. Mix and match to suit the prospective employer.
If you think about it, doing your portfolio should be your most enjoyable job of your career; it’s pretty much an open brief, you have an understanding client (you) and you have amazing work to play with. In reality it’s normally the job that gets pushed back or done quickly and haphazardly. We need to break that mentality and not only get used to working on our portfolio but look forward to it. Imagine if we did half an hour a week on our portfolio? That’s not much time to spend each week but picture what your portfolio would look like after a couple of months…a year.
I have some big projects, how many pages can I use to show them?
For most of you this relates directly to your major project. How many pages can you show it across? Again this is really up to you, but try and imagine how someone might feel looking through the 5th spread of an assignment that they didn’t really like on the first page…pretty bored probably.
Your portfolio should display you skills and abilities over a range of jobs…showing how you can tackle a variety of problems rather than just one. Also it’s worth remembering that your portfolio is supposed to be a preview of the amazing work you’ve done, not the actual work. If they are particularly interested in one of your jobs then you could suggest that you show it to them the following day, say 12ish, maybe over lunch? Or perhaps you have a separate bag next to you that just happens to contain the final project in its entirety.
People have very different tastes, so don’t assume they’ll love your major just because you put so much time and effort into it. It’s hard but you need to put your vested interests aside and imagine how others will view your work. In that case I suggest that you don’t spend much more than two pages per project.
What do I do with projects that don’t have commercial value or aren’t part of a campaign?
Firstly you have to decide where you’re trying to get a job. If it’s as an illustrator or artist then it’s probably fine having a bunch of one-shots that exhibit your skill and technique. If it’s in a design studio then it’s probably worth expanding the project a little to show how it might work if it was part of a campaign or client job.
©Lina Johansson
What I mean is if you have a nice oil painting you had done, it might be worth seeing what that looks like on a book cover, or a wine label, or a CD etc. Then, you not only show off what a brilliant artist you are, but you also display your layout, typography and finished art skills. More bang for your buck, of course the viewer is going to be impressed.
It’s also worth taking this approach if you have a nice ad, maybe it’s a bus shelter poster. How much more impressive would it be if it was part of a series, or if the idea was taken over to incorporate bus sides, billboards, newspaper pages etc.
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So to summarise what we talked about today:
Number of pieces in a portfolio?
9-12 pieces
What are employers looking for?
Creativity and variety, closely followed by neatness and organization.
What should you start with?
An intro page that introduces the portfolio.
How many typefaces?
Two or three and each should have their job.
Landscape or portrait?
Whichever…but only one, don’t change.
Single pages or spreads?
Whichever…but only one, don’t change.
How should you update?
As often as possible and make it relevant for whom you’re showing it to.
How pages/spreads per project?
Two should be enough to get the idea across.
One shots and non commercial work?
With a little extra work you can have all your work have the same weight.
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WHAT GOES IN
A PORTFOLIO?
So with all that we've discussed (above) in mind we are going to carry out a little exercise where we work out what we currently have to show. I want you to write a list of 10 pieces that you currently have that could go into your portfolio. Just a simple list, start by writing 1 to 10 down the left side of an A4 landscape page. Next to each number put in something that you have done, recently, in high school (primary school? Maybe if you're a child prodigy), with your friends, in your spare time - or something you're planning to do, in the next weeks.
Think about everything: photography, sketching, computer art, traditional art, sculpture, graffiti, tats, collage, postering, stencils, t-shirts, journals, fashion, unrealised ideas - whatever shows your creativity - in my first portfolio I had a music CD, a short story and an unfinished script (still unfinished). All these things have merit, nothing should be overlooked.
Remember none of this stuff has to be perfect or completely finished. What we're looking for is something to put in that we can fix up in the next weeks. So, lets get to it, you've got 15 minutes to get down 10 pieces.
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HOW DO WE MAKE
IT BETTER?
Hopefully we should all be sitting there with a list of 10 pieces of work in front of us. Right?
Good, the next step is a bit more confronting... what's wrong with the work? Be brutally honest, look for the problems, what could be better, what's not working? Act like a teacher, find the faults and write them down next to the list. Be really critical - this will give us signposts about what we need to get done in the next weeks.
You've got another 15 minutes, go for it.
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INSPIRATION & EXTRAS
Each week I throw up things I find that relate to what we've been discussing or working on that week. Sometimes it might be things that relate to your major assessment and sometimes just stuff I thought was worth seeing. If you find something you think we should be showing or something we just have to see let us know in class or throw an email over to me at matt@billyblue.com.au and I'll get it up here or on the Bluni inspiration site.
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This dude: Rhett Dashwood spent several months searching on Google Maps and has come up with something quite remarkable - a font based on arial shots. Check his web-site, he has links to all the shots., so you can see the country side around it. I reckon ‘O’ was too easy. ‘Q’ is pretty good.
