For the generation(s) of creatives that came before, a portfolio was a leather book that was typically the size of a kitchen table (a slight amount of hyperbole is being employed here). It contained, at best, printed examples and more commonly, hand-drawn layouts. Most of these pieces were original, so for their own protection, they were placed behind laminate pages that held them still and protected them from smudges.....But that was then.
Like all species faced with a changing environment, the portfolio was forced to either adapt, or fall by the wayside. Luckily for us, it adapted.
As more and more creatives found themselves competing for jobs, they found themselves being asked to drop their books off. Lugging a kitchen table around on the El isn't convenient, so big black leather books began to give way to smaller books and boxes.
Sometimes the portfolio would come back damaged, or not at all. So original pieces gave way to digital copies. (Thanks of course to the advent of digital technology.)
In the past few years there has been an exponential diversification of portfolio types. Mini-books became standard practice and creatives on the look would produce tens if not hundreds of them. Websites like coroflot and portfolios.com made online galleries an alternative to the never popular option of attaching several images to an email. Eventually, PDF portfolios emerged as the standard way to send portfolio samples via email.
Most recently, there is a growing expectation that creatives of any type will have a their own web-based portfolio. A custom site showing off their work, and their work alone.
Complicating things is that with all these options (and we didn't even touch on the issue of leave-behinds), the talent recruiters and hiring managers got greedy. Ask ten hiring managers how they want a portfolio sent to them and you'll get at least seven different answers. (Your results may vary.)
In such an environment the creative is left with no alternative but to create portfolios. Armed with a book or box, a mini-portfolio, PDF portfolio and web-portfolio, the modern creative is positioned for success in any number of hiring environments. Assuming of course that the work is good....and it all starts with the work.
If you feel intimidated by all this, don't. Here's your action plan. Get your book (or box) in order first. Get feedback on your samples, and not from your friends or faculty. Get feedback from people in your field. People who (probably) don't know you.
Once you're feeling good abut your samples and have your book / box looking sharp, now it's time to diversity. Make a pdf portfolio. Get busy making a website, or finding someone who will help you make it. Miniaturize your portfolio and build several mini-books. This order may vary based on what you can do, and what people are asking you for. Eventually though, you're going to want them all.
Let us know if we can help. We'd love to.
