Actually, Rule 11 is to have your friend the English major look over all of your work, and actually make his suggested changes (like I did already).

Some good advice Donovan. Even if you have been in the field a while it is good to look back at the basics. It would also be nice to see a list of the mistakes that more seasoned designers commit while they are putting their portfolio together.

I would also like to get some opinions on a couple of portfolio choices.

Display Box or Traditional Black Portfolio Book?

Photographs of Work or Actual Printed Samples?

I haven’t had the opportunity to review as many ‘professional’ books, but I assume some common mistakes may be not asking your peers for feedback, removing ‘non-published’ work just because it wasn’t published, not keeping your book up to date on a regular basis, and taking more credit than you should for a piece (people hire you to work with others, and they like to know that you can work with others).

I use a traditional black portfolio book over a display box because I find it easier to update and handle. I also want any comments made to be about my work, not the portfolio itself. I think either are fine, that’s just my preference.

Actual printed samples are always better than photographs. On pieces with more than one side, have an extra you can hand them to see up close. Keep this extra copy in the page showing the project. This also allows you to only have to display the best panel or two in your book, making the pages ‘cleaner.’ A common mistake is showing every spread of a brochure, when just showing the cover and best spread is fine. Having the extra copy lets them see the rest.

Always make it so you can leave carrying everything in one hand so nobody has to get the door for you. This also allows you to take a tour of the place afterwards and shake hands on the way out. If it won’t fit in the pocket of your portfolio, go with a photograph.

Great post, Donovan.

I especially like rule #1 (Show Your Best Work). I was appalled upon reviewing student portfolios to find that many of them were advised to have as many as 20 pieces in their portfolios! The result is an incoherent mess. When I graduated, I had 6 pieces in my portfolio, and I had re-done all of them to perfection. I did carry around a few extra pieces that related to specific questions I might be asked.

I recommend the display box, but I think this has to be done carefully. People have varying ways of viewing portfolios, so I used the bottom half of an aluminum toolbox/briefcase I got at Lowe’s for storing 3-D stuff, and put in a sort of false bottom that I could store boards on that featured photographs of my work. This way, people who prefer to flip through boards could do so comfortably, and the 3-D pieces were stored right in the bottom of the case in case they wanted to know more about a specific piece. The case had a handy strap that I could put over my shoulder when travelling. It was pretty labor intensive to put together, but when you’ve just graduated college and don’t have a job, you have a little more time.

“some common mistakes may be not asking your peers for feedback”

This might just be me, but I don’t generally show my portfolio anywhere but at an interview. I know what is my best work, and a discussion with a peer usually leaves me feeling less confident about my portfolio even with the most constructive of criticism. Nobody knows more about my work than me, and if there is anything less than amazing in my portfolio, I have a good reason for it. Before an interview, I customize my portfolio according to what I think suits the job the best. During that process I think about what I want to talk about for each piece. I go to the interview feeling prepared and confident that I can give a good presentation. Feeling confident and comfortable in an interview can make all the difference.

Another thought: I think non-published work should be avoided in a portfolio if at all possible. In the case of a student, you don’t have a choice, but as a professional, I think it is a negative. It says “if I didn’t have to work for a client, I could do really cool stuff. The stuff I have done for real clients is boring, and has less value than the stuff I make up in my free time.” If I was doing the interview, I would be more impressed by someone who could explain the challenges and successes of a mediocre project than by a person who cranks out cool imaginary logos.

One more puzzlement: What is better to show in your portfolio: An improved version that the client rejected, or the actual printed piece that you think should have been better?

Backing up a step to Adrian’s post. Wow. If you don’t care what other designers think of your work, when do you start to care what an interviewer thinks of it? You know, with a rationale like that you might not even have to take a book to an interview. You could just say “I know I F’ing rule. I don’t really even need to show you my work, because your thoughts are irrelevant to me. Just give me the job now.” I think what you’re saying is you don’t take critiques well.

I once had a student, at a review, say something just like that. “I know this piece rocks, I know why it rocks, and I’m not going to listen to what you have to say.” Trouble is, one man’s treasure is another man’s trash. That student’s great, great work was actually pretty weak in my mind. That’s just a really egotistical approach to building a portfolio. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at that interview when the art director looks at the fabulous piece, gets all the reasoning behind why it is awesome, and still doesn’t get it or like it.

I should say that I firmly believe that a student needs to show their book as much as possible; if only to become very, very comfortable showing and speaking about it. If a student came up to me with the approach you just described I would think he/she was an arrogant prick. And in my experience the nice guy/girl wins the job over the (sometimes more talented) prick.

Ah, yes, Adrian, the ol’ “The Client is Always Wrong” approach. I was going to mention the skill of convincing a client not to change your design, but the reality is, it’s rare to get your way, especially when you’re in the “monkey” position that most students have under their belts after college.

Even if Adrian does say that he cares what other designers think about their work, I think it’s quite alright not to. If someone has their personal (well-informed) approach to design tacked down, it doesn’t matter if one or two or many do not like their work. Sure, it might not make them the most employable person, but noone who takes everyone’s opinions into account will ever come up with anything original. It’s like design-by-committee ñ you just end up with something that’s watered down. If you’re looking to please a large demographic, instead of being Lou Reed or Brian Wilson, you end up being Nickelback, and they suck.

So, okay, okay, the point here is to help the kids get a job. And, yes, not caring what others think about your design is arrogant, and it won’t get you a job right away. But if you yield to what everyone thinks about your design then you will do watered-down design that has no personality, and thus has no point-of-difference, and thus is a commodity.

Bennett, it’s hard to argue with that. I think I could get more out of showing my portfolio to a close friend like you, than from a design peer who I don’t know very well. I don’t know, maybe I should practice showing my portfolio more. See, I am losing confidence already!

What do you guys think about online portfolios? Do you have any advice about how to show website design in an interview? What would you think of a person who showed their entire portfolio on a laptop instead of showing print samples?

Wow! Excellent advice there, Donovan. I can see I need to touch up my own portfolio now. I’m not sure about the inclusion of non-published pieces, though. Some of my clients wind up rejecting designs that I know are quite good, and I sometimes include them in my portfolio anyway.

Clint, yes, of course. But I think for any interview, be for a job or a client, it doesn’t hurt to move things around, or show different stuff based on what you would be doing for them if hired.

You tend to get work based partially on what you’ve done, and some people have a harder time seeing how one project relates to theirs (especially when talking to someone outside of this field). The work I show that gets the best feedback from potential clients seems to be more ‘corporate’ where designers (who would be hiring at an agency for example) seem to like the more ‘creative’ work. I try to keep at least some of both in my book though, as you never know for sure. I also use to try to explain each piece, but find lately I skim through some pretty quick if the client isn’t interested in a certain style, giving me more time to focus on the pieces they like more.

As for other basic ‘client portfolio’ advice: less unpublished work if any at all; focus on pieces that have multiple parts to them; focus on work that they can relate to their industry; show how you used a company’s current branding without throwing out the identity guidelines; show work that you got heavy input from an in-house marketing team or manager, as that is what most companies I have dealt with want you to do with their projects, but be sure to show work that you did almost without help as well in-case you actually get to talk to a client that wants you to make all of the decisions.

Dear All

I have read the 10 tips on preparing a portfolio for presentation and I would like to make a comment on tip No.9. It does matter to know the software you’re using specially QuarkXPress or InDesign (but, mostly for later on) because most of the future employers are looking for software techies and not creative people. This is something I have experienced in person many times especially, when they were asking me to tell them the procedure of how you can “close” - prepare a file for print in QuarkXPress. Although at school nobody had learned to us this detail, it is actually very important and this because in school they don’t prepare you to be a software techy but a creative designer. Cheers

Thanks Donovan, that’s some great advice. I think I will buck the trend in my current graduationg design class and submit a portfolio that is presented simply in a traditional black portfolio book instead of adorning it with fabric and fancy paper.

Wow, my post is WAY WAY late ;)