Recent graduate Summer Violett's advertising art and design portfolio is full of bright, bold work samples that show her style as a designer. Prior to graduating, Summer's approach to building her portfolio and jump starting a job search was equally as bold as her work. She took initiative and made sure she built connections that would not only help fine tune her portfolio but also help connect her to potential job sources.
[Screen shot taken from Summer's website]
PC: What type of work do you do?
SV: Advertising art direction and design. But when it gets down to it, I design. What I love most is when I can solve a visual challenge, it's always so hard to make work communicate the way you want it to. That's why I love advertising art so much, but good design is good design no matter what form it takes.
PC: How are you showcasing or promoting your work?
SV: Well, I have my website, and I have a creative recruiter that I am working through to find jobs. But mostly, I am getting work through word of mouth. Abraham Lincoln said, "Whatever you are, be a good one." Just be the best designer and the best person you can be, and often times people will get your name around for you. Having a memorable name helps too.
PC: What type of information or samples are in your portfolio?
SV: Oh I have a little bit of everything. Mostly online I have my advertising campaigns and book designs. There is a LOT of illustration work that I left out because that's not the kind of job I'm looking for.
PC: How does your print portfolio differ from your online portfolio?
SV: I saved the best of the best for my print portfolio. I put extra niblets into my online portfolio because I was told by a pro that "people like to think they're discovering something new" when they look at your website. So put some more fun stuff on your website, people go online to be entertained.
PC: How did you decide which work to put onto your portfolio?
SV: I got extremely lucky and got a creative recruiter the December before my graduation in May. She told me that once my portfolio was a little more fleshed out, to bring in everything I'd done and she'd help me pick out the best pieces for my portfolio. (She knew what she was talking about because she knows what's out there, what has been done already, what the market is looking for, and what was good and what was bad.) It also helped to have a ton of work finished so she had a lot to choose from. I think I had close to 85 pieces in the PDF that I had her choose from.
PC: Why do you think promoting your work online is important?
SV: I talked to a couple pros who were surprised that people still even have print portfolios anymore. I am sick of my print portfolio already! It was so damn expensive and time-consuming to make--I can't even imagine having to pay for prints outside of school now that I graduated. But online is absolutely the way to go, it's insanely cheap, especially considering how many views you can get for the price of a website. The colors are better, and you don't have to deal with a printer. Do I need to say more? I don't think so.
PC: Anything else you think students should know before putting their portfolio together?
SV:
-Start early.
-Make yourself happy first--be your own client.
-Treat your teachers like bosses and every assignment like a job.
-Do your work well the first time so you don't have to go back and fix it when it's time to put it in your portfolio.
-You better be proud of your work before it goes into your portfolio.
-Know everything about your work before it goes into your portfolio (why you like it, why/how you did it, what you would do different).
-Your portfolio is a reflection of you-- don't buy a boring, cheap, black portfolio case unless you are boring and cheap.
-If you don't spend a little money on your portfolio, you're not taking your work seriously, so don't expect anyone else to either.
-You can always make it better.
-Get yourself a creative recruiter, or at least ask a creative recruiter's opinion.
-Take/substitute classes outside of your major, it will make your portfolio well-rounded.
-It's going to hurt, but get as many people's opinions on your work as you can, if three people say the same thing, then it's probably true.
-Find a way to put a little bit of yourself in your assignments and it will make you passionate about finishing it.
-Collaborate!
-Go to the portfolio center before you NEED to. Just stop by and look around, that's all you need to do. Look at the books that are there before your senior year so you can plant the portfolio seed, it takes time to grow.
