Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Concept | creativity
There is a difference between creativity in your portfolio content and creativity
in your presentation of that content. Some professsional areas expect the portfolio
package in any medium to be a beautiful creative artifact. Others consider a high-con-
cept presentation to be a nice touch, but it is not required. For a small number of
portfolio types, too much attention and creative energy spent on the portfolio con-
cept is probably a waste of time.
Process
Work in process, or work about your process, can indicate how you evolve your
ideas and what it would be like to work with you. In many professional situations,
how you think and problem-solve can be as important as your aesthetic decisions. For
professions where production is expensive or time-consuming, process work and proto-
types are so important that not showing them is suspect.
Technology and craft
Bad craft and inappropriate technology are always negative, but for some pro-
fessions, they're a much bigger issue than for others. Many fine artists create personal
websites that use text or navigation badly. These lacks can be painful to those in the
know, but a potential curator will just go straight to the work without noticing. Weak
craft in a design portfolio, on the other hand, is never forgiven.
How you approach your portfolio—digital or traditional—should depend on
your purpose and the category of creative professional you are. The following descrip-
tions define these categories. They're followed by examples of how your category
interacts with a likely purpose. These templates will help you determine your ideal
mix of portfolio elements, unify your portfolio, and emphasize your strengths in the
context of your professional needs. Hopefully, they'll also make it clear how important
it is to have a portfolio that is organized and modular, so you can reconfigure it as
your situation and needs change.
As you read the following descriptions, concentrate on the one that fits you
best. You're required by the way people evaluate your work to choose a category and
stay consistent within it. Does your work, your chosen market, and your current port-
folio seem to work within the framework of one of the descriptions below? If it works
within more than one, you may be a highly versatile person, but you'll either have to
make a choice, or you'll need to create more than one portfolio. (Check out Chapter 4,
“Delivery and Format,” for more on multiple portfolios.)
