Prepare Your Portfolio

I recently read an article in Digit magazine about how to get the best out of your portfolio. The article was very informative and gave alot of good advice and answered alot of questions that i had on the subject. I think that the portfolio is a huge part of getting work and even if your work is good the layout can change the look of it completely. I had a lot of questions on the mater before i read the article for example; How many pieces should i include? How should they be ordered? Whatr is the best way to mount them?

The article starts with an answer to probably the most vital answer, 'How many pieces?', they say 'Less is More' it states that a client will know if someone is qualified for the job after nine pieces so they say 10 is a good number. Within this there should be three 'Wow Factor' pieces, one at the start one in the middle and one at the end leaving them wanting more. They say with every piece you should be able to give full explanitory responces explaining the brief, challenges,and your role in creation.

They talk about how the portfolio should never take focus away from your work they say that it should not be overly creative they dont want the porfolio to show your skills they want the work to do that. The article say there are there effective ways to organise your portfolio, firstly chronologically with which your work should be in oreder from your most recent to oldest. Next they go on to categorically such as illustration, vector art etc. They finish by talking about ordering in type such as posters, magazine covers, etc. I think this is very important for a portfolio as the oreder does sometimes confuse the viewer and make you forget about previoyus pieces in the portfolio.

The article finishes with how to present your portfolio. They say that the most important thing is confidence being enthusiastic about the work that your presenting. They say that you should take time to research into the company thoughrally to be prepared for anything that might show up. It also states that you should call the compay a few days after to see if they need anything and to thank them for their time.

This article was very helpful and answered all my questions and more about portfolios and interviews.