Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
• To provide elements for a larger project?
• For a full-time job?
• To gain or retain clients?
Your purpose will color the type of work you include, its format, and your pre-
sentation. It will interact with the following portfolio ingredients to create a frame-
work that is specific to your industry.
It's obvious that a portfolio isn't worth much unless it contains good work. But
good work alone isn't always enough. Every profession has a different definition of
what “good” is. What works magnificently when you present to an art director who
needs an illustrator will fall flat when she needs a freelance designer—and vice versa.
For each role and audience, your portfolio must contain the right kind of work, in the
right format. Meet the unspoken assumptions, and you send the message that you
know who you are and what you want to do.
That's good advice, you may be thinking, but not very practical. How do you
know what's needed when? It's hard to answer that because every hiring situation has
unique requirements, and every portfolio is individually created. But there is a short
list of underlying elements that, when combined in appropriate proportions, can help
to craft a portfolio that speaks effectively to its intended eyes and ears.
The following ingredients appear in different proportions in each creative pro-
fession's portfolio. A bar keyed to each category indicates their relative importance
for each area. Like a great chef, use these recipes as guidelines, not laws, for finding
the uniquely right proportion for your work.
Variety
You might think that variety would be a plus because it shows the full range of
your work and capabilities. Sometimes it is, but you'd be surprised how often it works
against you in some professions. If your pieces are too diverse, in medium, look, sub-
ject, or clientele, they can imply that you haven't yet figured out what you do best—
and that you have yet to find your creative voice.
Style
As artists and designers mature, their work frequently develops a creative sig-
nature. For some professions, an identifiable style is nothing short of a requirement.
For others, it's intrusive, like an out-of-tune voice in a chorus, because it gets in the
way of a client's message.
