No, we do not have the direct line for the Knights in Satan's Service. But we do have some practical advice on creating a usable, professional email. In a nutshell? Keep it simple, stupid.
Avoid numbers. If possible, try and avoid something with a number at the end. Did someone take the email you wanted? Tough. You might easily remember the year you were born, but an employer won't.
Do not divulge your less than wholesome hobbies. While it's best to avoid nicknames all together, email addresses with the words "stoner," "420," "hottie," "sexy," "lush," or any other word referencing sex, drugs or booze is a quick way to make sure no one writes you back. You're not being slyly clever; everyone knows what all these words mean and no one usually wants these characteristics in a employee.
Be yourself. Your best choice of an email? first name.last name@whatever.com Or, if that's been taken, consider first initial and last name. Or, try your putting in your middle initial. However, using your name means you're easy to remember- and get a hold of if something comes up.
Armed with a simple, professional email, look into printing up some business cards. That way, whenever you meet someone, you can make sure they can reach you at a moment's notice, without being afraid to hire someone calling themselves "midnightlover2003."
So many designers, so many portfolio needs, wants, requirements. What can we learn from those who came before us? We'll talk about some of the basic do's and dont's with Wunderman Art Director (and alum) Kristine Arth and Liska + Associates Designer (and alum) Laura Kesselring.
Kristine and Laura will visit the Portfolio Center on February 8th (Thu) evening at 6pm.
This event is open to all current students.
You say you've got writing skills. But while you're gearing up to become the next big thing in fiction, screenwriting or journalism you probably want to eat and pay some bills along the way. Join us on Thursday, Feb. 1 at 11AM for a discussion with professional writers, including senior editor, Lauren Viera, of Time Out Chicago and copywriter, Louie Calvano, from Upshot, about your writing career options and how to prepare a portfolio for each. This event will take place at the Portfolio Center, 623 S. Wabash, rm. 307 and is open to all current students.
Save the dates! More portfolio events for writer's to come:
March 1 - Writer's Identity: Marketing Your Portfolio and Yourself
March 29 - Blog Portfolios for Writers
April 5 - Pitch & Query: Writing for Hire
April 19 - Critiquing the Written Portfolio
Production Week is a handful of sessions designed to help you (the student filmmaker) better pitch, produce and package your film work to attract the attention of crew & film festivals.
Monday, Feb. 19: Pitching Session 4-7PM / Room 503, 1104 S. Wabash / Presented by Producer's Guild of Columbia
Let Production Week begin! Experience the Art of Pitching from Producing and Screenwriting Faculty that will provide feedback to students with advanced projects in order to successfully prepare for Meet and Greet the following day. All students are encouraged to attend! Food and beverage will be provided.
Tuesday, Feb. 20: Spring 2007 Meet & Greet 4-7PM / Rm. 801, 1104 S. Wabash / Presented by the Advanced Production Center
Looking to work on an advanced film this semester? Need to fill out your crew? Stop by the 2007 spring meet & greet, pitch, watch a pitch, grab a snack, shake a few hands, and GET CREWED UP!!! (It's that simple.)
Directors & Producers -- Sign up to pitch in the Advanced Production Center (Room 517) or the Film & Video Office (Room 301) or just show up ready to go. Note: This has to be a Columbia sanctioned project to pitch -- Sorry.
Cinematographers -- Bring Reels
Everyone Else -- Bring Your Bad Self (along with resumes, reels, portfolios, samples of work, etc. -- if you got'em. If not, just your bad self will do.)
Wednesday, Feb. 21: That's a Wrap: Packaging & Marketing Film Work 4-6PM / HUB, 1104 S. Wabash / Presented by the Portfolio Center
Films are about the final product. In addition to what's being seen and heard on screen, your films are also being evaluated on how they are presented. Whether it is assembling your reel, developing a website or designing a film's marketing materials the output must be a professional representation. We'll show examples and have several local film professionals and film festival organizers comment on what sells and what doesn't.
Thursday, Feb. 22: Producer's Guild of Columbia General Meeting 5-7PM / HUB, 1104 S. Wabash / Presented by Producer's Guild of Columbia
All students interested in learning about producing, want to sign up to work on advanced productions, or want to be involved with the Producer's Guild of Columbia are encouraged to attend. All majors welcome! Food and beverage will be provided.
Friday, Feb. 23: Staged Readings 2-5PM / Room 302, 1104 S. Wabash / Presented by Producer's Guild of Columbia
The final wrap-up session to Production week will give students a more audio/visual experience of what Columbia's advanced films are about. In addition, interested students may sign-up to work on films or answer short questionnaires to aid the filmmakers in the process.
Students working on advanced projects may submit their scripts to be read and Advanced Students interested in directing stage readings should all contact and/or send submissions to PGCOLUMBIA@YAHOO.COM.
Production Week is a wicked collaboration between: Advanced Production Center, Columbia Click, Portfolio Center, and Producer's Guild of Columbia
Online portfolio galleries have become the places to see and be seen. There's dozens of sites that offer to help you create an online portfolio and make it available to anyone looking for you "creative types." Suddenly, getting your work out there isn't the problem- it's deciding where to show it. Alas, what is a cyber-socialite artist to do?
As a Columbia student, or alum, you're eligible to put your work in the Portfolio Center Archive. When professional artists and employers are looking for creative talent in Chicago, they look for Columbia College students - and this is where they look. Register and send us your completed web portfolio and we'll make you instantly viewable to anyone who's interested.
Beyond our web walls, there's a few other types of sites you might consider:
5oup is a UK based free portfolio site for students, run by students that allows you to display your work, as well as connect with artists worldwide.
Artistsportfolio and Absolutearts include work from students, professionals and amateurs with a free portfolio and a "portfolio pro" (read: costs money) option.
Creative Hot List allows employers to search by a variety of skills, making this site a good resource for job seekers. It's going to cost you though- 35$ for 6 months.
Illoz and Artrom are "invitation only" galleries, meaning the work must be reviewed and approved before they will allow you to post there.
All of these websites offer you their version of Portfolio Production, meaning you can upload X number of images, to be displayed in a pre-made format. So, if they're willing to do the design work for you, should these online gallery portfolios take the place of your own portfolio? Absolutely not. "When I get resumes from people, I kinda don't like to be bounced back to a site like creative hotlist," says talent recruiter Sharon Potsch, "I much prefer PDFs of samples or a link to a website of their own." Anyone considering anything creative should take the time to create something outside of a gallery website; if a designer can't be bothered to design their own website, why would you hire them to design something for someone else?
When you're deciding where to post your work, be sure to check the gallery to make sure you've found a good fit. Who's the site aiming to appeal to? Is the primary goal networking or employment- and what are you looking for? Just like a slumber party won't do if you're in the mood for a soiree, choosing your gallery makes all the difference in how your work will be received.
It's week one, so let's start off with some basics. You're a designer and/or art director in the making. You need a portfolio. Sharon Potsch sees hundreds, nay thousands, of them. The good, the bad, the ugly. Dave Weik has a great one. Come visit with Sharon and Dave, ask questions, see examples and get some perspective on what separates the good from the bad (and the ugly). This event is open to all current students.
Arts Lynx published a great article describing technical theater portfolios of all kinds, including a handy dandy checklist at the bottom of the page.
Need a clearer idea of what a techie web portfolio might look like? The Open Directory Project will link you to a host of people with online portfolios, which you can use to begin deciding what you like and don't like. After a quick glance at "Light Designers," we'd like to call your attention to these highlights (!):
Hugh Conacher: Here's a great example of how to split your portfolio between two interests- in his case lighting and photography. No one likes having to look at work that's irrelevant.
Paul Palazzo: Another well categorized portfolio, this time broken into types of lighting design.
Andrew Hungerford: A great portfolio with solid organization that leaves no doubt when and where he has worked, as well as what the finished product looked like.
Gregg Hillmar: Another easily navigated site, Gregg uses a technique we really like: he's posted a list of productions he's worked on, and then just linked to the photos if he has them. This is a great strategy, since pages with lots of photographs can be frustratingly slow to load.
This is a short list from the whole directory- try and look through as many as you can to get an idea of what you'd like in your portfolio. Once you have some thoughts, register with us an we'll help you build a website for free. And, when your portfolio is online, we'll make sure your in our directory, aka the Portfolio Archive.
We're issuing a challenge: bring us your work and we'll help you make it better. We'll build you a website. We'll bring in directors, lighting designers, set designers and the like- and we'll introduce them to you and your work. We'll find out the inside information from those in a position to hire on what they look for. We'll be your new best friend.
Digitas is big. Big doesn't always mean good, but Digitas got big by doing good work. So there. More specifically Digitas is a marketing firm that achieved what they've achieved by being an early adopter of web based marketing initiatives. That's a grandiloquent way to say they employ a host of web designers, flash designers, interaction designers, motion designers, usability experts and coders to help produce interactive products their clients pay a bundle for. Alum and Lead Interactive Designer Jamie Naioti will be here to provide feedback and advice (and to scout talent for Digitas' intern program) for students pursuing a design career in the interactive arts.
If you're new to the Portfolio Center, register first, then call 312.344.7280 to get on the Digitas schedule. You'll meet with Jamie for about 20 minutes, show him some of your best work and get some feedback on how to showcase and present your work to the professional world.
Keep in mind, all Show Off appointments are...by appointment. No walk ins. If you're already involved with us (awesome), give us a call to sign up. This visit is open to December '06 grads, graduate students, seniors and juniors.
No matter what your genre or medium you probably want to know how you can get published. Nowadays there are many outlets for publication like journals, magazines and online. Then there are the decision makers like agents, editors and publishers. It's may seem confusing to know where to begin.
So do you still wanna get published? Well we don't do that here. But we do bring in professionals that can speak to the issue. Recently we held a session called Fact or Fiction: Strategies for Getting Published. Jan Parr, special publications editor with Chicago Magazine, Marina Lewis, associate editor with fiction journal Other Voices and Joanna MacKenzie a literary agent with Browne & Miller gave us the real deal on pitches, query letters, and protocols for bettering the chances of at least getting your work read. (mp3|25:33)
Missed being at this event? No worries. We have lots more events for writers planned.
In web 2.0 circles, DIY (do-it-yourself) is shorthand for a publishing system made easier for the non-professional publisher. The irony police may just have to deal with the fact that DIY programs actually give the publisher less to do themselves, but hey...
DIY has thusfar referred mostly to web design, but now, with recent news that Microsoft's Xbox division is opening XNA Studios, the era of DIY game design is officially official.
But you, you're preparing to be a professional game designer, so how would building a game with a DIY system help you build a portfolio?
Game design is more about creativity and gameplay than it is about any specific tool or programming language. Many of our past game industry guests have told us that too many emerging game designers focus too heavily on how they built a game, when really, all anyone wants to know is, is this game fun to play? Is it good? DIY systems, like XNA, give you a chance to try out a number of game ideas, without investing countless hours into their creation. Can these designs, which do not show off your technical brilliance end up in a portfolio? Absolutely. And beyond that, the best "gamer-designed" games stand a chance to be picked up by Xbox, developed and sold.
Building a body of work means you can't ignore too many avenues for producing a working artifact. So don't. And when you do, come give us a visit. We've got a lot of people we want to introduce you to.
A common mistake most young artists and freelancers make is to forget about the Taxman. Failure to plan accordingly can doom a self-employed individual's livelihood. The good news is, there's help. The Chicago Artist's Coalition is hosting their annual Tax and Record Keeping Workshop 1:00 on Saturday, 20 January at the School of the Art Institute, 280 S. Columbus Drive.
Led by Mary Fahey, C.P.A., this workshop is for all self-employed individual including artists, filmmakers, photographers, dancers, etc. There's a nominal fee for the workshop, and more information is available online.
What does it take to sell your TV concept in Hollywood? Find out at IFP Chicago's The Art of the Pitch: Selling Your Television Ideas To Hollywood. The event takes place Monday, January 22, 2007 from 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at WTTW Channel 11, 5400 N. St. Louis Avenue. Cost: NATAS Members, IFP members and Students: Free; Non-members: $5.00. RSVP by calling 312-435-1825 or e-mail infonatas@aol.com and check out chi.ifp.org for more information.
If you aren't able to attend IFP's event; don't worry we've got you covered February 19-23 during Production Week, a wicked collaboration between The Portfolio Center, Producer's Guild of Columbia and The Advanced Production Center. Check our website's Portfolio Reviews and Events page for details.
If you can write with proficiency and creativity you may want to seek out freelance writing jobs. The truth is, you may not obtain a full time job immediately after you graduate. And in many fields, such as advertising, marketing, public relations and journalism, freelancing is fairly common. And yes filmmakers, you too may want to consider corporate scriptwriting to pay a bill or two. I know; the truth hurts. No need to feel ashamed. However, you should be prepared and know the rules of the game.
Independent Writers of Chicago has published a set of professional standards to guide you through the process. Issues such as written agreements, expenses, spec work and terms of payment are included in a concise and informative document published on IWOC's website at www.iwoc.org.
This past Sunday (January 7th), an article appeared in the Chicago Tribune, entitled "Candidates make videos part of resumes," that discussed a new trend in "video resumes." According to the article, these video resumes feature prospective employees highlighting their experience and discussing why they want a career in their particular field. The candidates then either send their clips to prospective employers or send their clips via a link through e-mail. Sounds like some sort of strange version of a video dating service to me, but then again, how many of us spend more time with our employers than at home with our significant others?
Apparently, there has been some success with this method, as the Chicago Tribune illustrates with a few examples (pdf). But others are skeptical and voice concerns about sending video clips to prospective employers, suggesting that some candidates could be turned down "for interviews after seeing what they look and sound like on video," which could also leave some employers "open to discrimination lawsuits."
Another article by NPR points out, in "Job Hunters Seek Winning Edge in Video Resumes," that while these types of resumes have been around for years, the "growth of broadband connections and the proliferation of easy-to-use video-making applications" have created a large increase in the number of people who post or send video resumes to employers. NPR similarly highlights a number of success stories with people that have utilized video resumes and received numerous interviews and job offers. But again, there's a cautionary warning: "pitching yourself on video can backfire." Not only might you turn off a potential employer with your video, but according to Peggy Mastroianni, "as associate legal counsel at the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission," videos can be problematic because they can also "reveal information -- race, religion, disabilities -- that shouldn't figure into who gets an interview and who doesn't."
So our advice? Tread with caution. If you do decide to pursue this route, you might want to get feedback from professionals in your industry before turning the camera on yourself. And then weigh the positive possibilities against the negative. You might hit gold, but then again, your video might become the thing that people send around the office for a good laugh.
What we do encourage is the utilization of technology (audio, visual) and the internet to showcase your talents . . . your actual work. Creating video or audio clips of examples of your work that are easily made available by the click of a mouse has also proven to be quite beneficial, but without many of the accompanying concerns over potential discrimination.
On Friday, January 26th, Columbia students and recent graduates will have an opportunity to get their portfolio samples documented by advanced/expert photography students, for free. Fashion design, product design, flatwork and paintings, headshots, portraits, sculpture, packaging...if it fits in the door, we'll get it shot for you.
The Photo Studio is at 72 East 11th Street on the 6th Floor. You may sign up to work with a photographer at either 10AM, 1PM, or 3PM. Lights go of at 5PM. Call 312.344.8660 to sign up. Your work must be organized and absolutely ready to go.
The maximum number of items you may bring is 10. If you need props or special materials, you must bring them. We'll provide you with a CD of your images.
You must sign up in order to attend.
How much does a portfolio cost to assemble? Well, everything at the Portfolio Center is free, including Portfolio Production. However, if you need to take care of it yourself, here's a rough idea on what you should plan to spend:
Business Card Design: 60$-150$ per side
Headshots: 100$-300$ for a one location, one setting shot
Assembling a Reel: 250$ (not including cover design, which costs an additional 135$)
Website Design for a 5 page, HTML site: 350$-750$
Website Design for a 5-page, Flash website: 500$-1400$
Web Templates: 75$-240$
And, the more skill and experience you require, the more you can expect to pay. You may be able to find a diamond in the rough (similar to yourself) who just needs to get their work out there and is willing to work cheaply, but, be prepared to be flexible about what you can demand.
As always, it's your choice. If you're comfortable spending between 250$-1700$ to get your first job, don't let us stop you. In fact, take us out to lunch at Custom House and tell us all about it. But, if you'd rather have someone else foot the bill, remember, we're here to help.
As more and more people become interested and learn about web design, the competition for jobs has become increasingly stiff. Reviewers and employers will look at your work for between 40-50 seconds, so you have less than a minute. Your portfolio had better burst out of the gate and hit the ground running.
Always test your website in all of the big four internet platforms- Explorer, Safari, Opera, Firefox. It's a big gamble to do any less than all of them. If the one you didn't test in turns out to be what the hiring manager is running, you're toast.
If your website requires Flash or Javascript, be sure to let the viewer know. A quick intro page with the logo and download instructions is a courtesy you should always extend to someone evaluating your work.
Proofread all your website copy. Twice. Out loud. One spelling mistake on an otherwise flawless, beautifully designed website is like your favorite meal with a cockroach in it or a supermodel with crud in her teeth - it completely loses its appeal.
In an ideal world, your troubleshooting will ensure smooth sailing right through your interview. However, I'm sure you're familiar with the fact that the world can be cruel and cold and full of pitfalls. Lots of things can and do go wrong in an interview, but, you can be ready for that too:
Will these steps guarantee you a job? No. Will they make you less nervous? Maybe. But, a few extra steps beforehand will certainly ensure that the great work in your portfolio comes shining through. Shine on you crazy, well-prepared, diamond.
We, at the Portfolio Center, were recently notified that we won the 2006 NASPA Excellence Silver Award for the "Careers, Academic Support, Service Learning and Community Service" category!
What's that mean? It means the Portfolio Center has been recognized as the second best in the nation of all those who submitted in this category.
So congratulations to us! And congratulations to you, too, because our center's success is a huge reflection of our students and all of our collaborators (faculty, staff, and industry professionals).
Yeah YOU. All of you. I know, some of you feel weird carrying around a business card when you're "just" a student, but you wouldn't believe how helpful they can be in getting you that gig, interview, or freelance opportunity. Think about it. You're at some event (like Show Off), and a professional actually shows interest in you or your work. There's some mumbling about a possible job coming open soon. You want to give her your contact information, so you fumble around for that pen and scrap of paper, scribble it all down, and thrust it into her hand.
Now, be real. How likely do you think it is that she'll even remember where she stuffed that little wad of paper or who you are if she ever does find it? That piece of paper will most likely get dry-cleaned the following week. Or worse, yet, pitched in the nearest trash can.
A nicely designed business card, with your contact information and website (if you have one) is much more likely to get that second look; it's also easier to file for future reference, and it looks so much more professional! Even if you haven't done much of anything yet, it says, "I take myself seriously, and so should you."
Have confidence in yourself and think of business cards as a convenient and efficient way to network and share contact information.
Now, how to get them? We're holding a Business Card Day on January 25th. We'll have some of Columbia's finest designers custom create a business card for you (pdf) , according to your specifications. All you have to do is call us to set up an appointment (no, you can't just walk in). Call 312-344-8660 and reserve your spot!
As a burgeoning fashion designer you may have asked yourself: Self, what am I going to include in my portfolio? One or two collections? Flats? Sketches? Photographs? And if you seek a career in fashion management, you may have said: Self, how do I visually present my skills?
We didn't really know the answers to these questions. And we're not judging you for talking to yourself. We instead decided to enlist fashion professionals Allie Adams, local designer, Kelly O'Brien of Gen Art and Macy's senior buyer Laura Stuefen to discuss portfolio issues with a group of design and management students. This trio had tons of good advice for piecing together fashion portfolios. (mp3|14:38)
Stuart, short for STUdent ART, is a site founded by powerhouse art collector Charles Saatchi, and designed for emerging artists looking to network with other artsy types and potential clients. It's built like a social networking site, so users/members have profiles which can be tailored in terms of both written and visual content. It's getting some good press, and may be worth a look.
As you know if you read this blog religiously (and why wouldn't you), we believe in the web-based portfolio. (pdf) That said, websites only help if people look at them. ...And this is the advantage of a social netwoking system. It gets hits.
The savviest of the savvy will have their own site *and* a tool (or tools) like Stuart to help build an audience. Looks like some of you are already savvy. Kudos.
Cyndi's a frequent guest at the Portfolio Center and a frequent hire-er of Columbia creatives. She's also an unqualified expert on the do's and don't of putting together a creative advertising portfolios. (She sees something in the neighborhood of 200 portfolios every month.) We captured some of her sound advice (mp3| 7:10) during a visit to Columbia in the fall of '06; specifically on overview of the multiple portfolio formats every ad creative is expected to have, tips for presenting your work and thoughts on what brands and companies you should not develop spec campaigns for (and why).
Art therapists work with people who need to express complex emotions and conflicts. As an art therapist, you can expect to combine psychology, teaching and art experience whenever you're working with a client; their creative process becomes their healing process. You can also expect to go to graduate school; art therapists must have at least an M.A. degree to practice.
When you apply to an art therapy program, part of your application will consist of a portfolio of the work you've created in your undergraduate career. We interviewed four faculty and admissions representatives from some of the top programs in the Midwest- Adler School of Professional Psychology, Mount Mary College, Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods College and Wayne State University- to talk about what should (and should not) be in your application portfolio. (mp3|06:41)
Scriptwriters don't need a fancy powerpoint presentation or anything flashy to showcase work. But you do need to make sure what you have to present is your best work. Writer, consultant, producer, and educator Dan Rybicky has read ALOT of scripts. We recently chatted him up as he shared his insights about what scriptwriters should submit and to whom. (mp3)
