Long ago in a land far away. OK, so it was six years ago and about eighty miles from where I sit, but the distance I have come in that time can only be measured in eras or ages.

When I was an insecure design student, as opposed to a semi-secure professional designer, I held onto every invention and technique that I came up with, like it was my holy grail. Whether these techniques were actually unique is a whole different story. These techniques gave me a much needed identity and as soon as I graduated from school this “technique” was going to make me famous and win me awards. I’m still waiting. While too many awards are granted on technique and texture, it is obvious that great design doesn’t come from either.

After reviewing design portfolios for the graduating class of a local school last week, I decided to post a few tips on making the most of a design portfolio and presentation itself. The following advice is based on the many books I have reviewed over the past years, not just this one class. I have noticed that the print quality available to almost all really has made the books get even stronger, as you no longer need 4 color offset printing to create what looks like a ‘professional’ finished piece.

Below are 10 basic tips (in no particular order), because 10 is always a great number to make the list look more official.

In the grand way of taking blog risks, here’s my stab at reaching out and letting the anonymous public openly critique the logic of my beginning attempts at learning to teach graphic design theory and practice. If I’m really, really lucky, some or several of the students I’m even teaching at the moment will happen on to this and have a chance to directly sound off for or against what they’re experiencing in my classroom right now.

Of course, I suppose that also means they’re opening themselves up the same doses of public scorn / praise that this medium enables… Let’s just see what happens.

So class, let’s start with storytime and then move into the question and answer period of the course, shall we?

Among the many side-effects of becoming a design educator it turns out that being (or rapidly attempting to become) a knowledgeable technician is certainly one of them.

Although I’d felt like my experience working for a small design firm in St. Louis (4 or less in the whole organization) quickly introduced me to the joys of popping the hood on the Mac to see what was going right or wrong inside, I also felt the 3 or so years after that working as an independent freelancer on my own equipment pushed that knowledge even further.

Recently I got the opportunity to review some portfolios from students at a variety of the area schools. Last time I had the opportunity to review student books, I posted an article on basic advice on presenting your portfolio, but this time I want to take an opportunity to discuss the different design elements that should appear in a student book.

Of course, the following advice is based on the many books I have reviewed over the past years, not just this one session, and as usual, I have it in a list of 10 so that it looks real nice and official.

As the semester starts to pick up some serious steam (and the students start to show the first signs of the midsemester steam wavering!), I’m back online to try to maintain my commitment to BE A to generate at least a post a month, and also back online to take a bit of a breather from grading, course planning, freelance work, freelance work, other school-related commitments, and everything else that continues to fill up my dayplanner. Adrian was kind enough to send a couple of links to me a few weeks back that provide some really illuminating advice for design students and teachers alike - comments that fall into “I wish I’d heard these as a student, but I’m glad to have them as an educator” category for me.

We are trying to hire a new designer at the agency where I work and I am amazed at how grueling the process has been. With a few exceptions the portfolios have been mediocre or worse. I think the candidates fall into two categories: they are either hopeless dreamers or they are designers who just need to be given the opportunity to develop. Unfortunately it can be very difficult to tell the two groups apart.

When I graduated I had a decent portfolio of student work and a handful of “real” projects. My book probably wasn’t much different than many of the applicants I have seen. It took me just short of two years of interviewing and dead end jobs before someone finally gave me a chance. Here are ten things that I wish someone would have told me when I was trying to land my first job…

Like most students, when I left school I had a great deal to learn. While I feel I missed some valuable things in college, I felt like I had the basis to be a great designer. Over the years I have learned how to keep learning and growing outside of college and outside of the cubicle walls. You learn a great deal of practical skills in your job, but it is also important to learn things outside of Adobe and Apple.

In no particular order, here is a list of things that I have used to keep my mind active. I might not have been the most talented designer leaving college, but I was determined to keep learning and develop a designer’s most valuable asset … the mind. I wish someone would have given me this list when I left college.