What should I include in my portfolio?

What should I include in an art portfolio?

• I am a college sophomore at the stage of entering a major, and I've chosen Graphic Design with emphasis in Illustration. I have a lot of questions listed here, but if you can answer just one of them it's very much appreciated. :) About my artistry: I am mostly skilled in traditional mediums, but I understand that Graphic Design is becoming more influenced by the digital mediums every day. As far as pieces showing my traditional skills, I assume I should include things that show my understanding of drawing basics (composition, value, etc). Right now I'm working on things that show how I render light, texture, form. But for the digital half of Graphic Design, I don't know what kind of things I should do at all. Questions: What projects could I do for Graphic Design? Make up a product for product design? Do some photo manipulation? Render some illustrations digitally? Or is it better to assume that since I haven't had any instruction in the digital mediums yet, I can stick to traditional examples? Is is okay to include classroom projects in a portfolio, since I am just a student? What else can I do to show traditional skills? What kind of content is acceptable/unacceptable for student art portfolios? What kind of topics are overused in student art portfolios, so I can avoid them (or should I avoid them)? Do I have to use a whole range of mediums? That is, can I just show my best using the mediums I know, or should I include things that may not look so good, but at least show that I know other mediums? Help is appreciated!

• Answer:

  You need to find a specific target or niche to work towards. Find a few simple methods and master them. There are no top tier illustrators who are "jacks of all trades"; the top guys do 1-2 styles and do it to perfection. (It's this style their clients come to them for.) Your stuff looked like Fantasy art covers. From experience, i would really think of Graphic Design as a tool rather than a focus. EVERY modern designer can do graphic design, and every kid seems to be going to a trade school to learn photoshop, indesign, and illustrator. It's reached a point where remedial GD skills are almost a standard for any modern artist. I know a million Graphic Designers, but i only know 1 or 2 who actually make more than $30K being a GD. The rest do piece meal assignments or do advanced "desktop publishing" for some small mom and pop shop. (There is a difference between a Real Estate flyer and a magazine layout!) The future of the industry (GD) seems to be trending toward web design, video game design, and digital (internet based) applications. The traditional "printed" media concepts are slowly fading. Magazines, Newspapers, etc are becoming integrated into a internet world. RE: Portfolio All of your pieces (Analog/drawn or digital) will have to be digitalized at some point. You will need to put them in portfolios, submit them to clients, etc.... unless you are a fine artist, the client will take any analog piece and convert it to a digital format themselves. What Graphic Design Stuff? Go down to Barnes and Noble and check out the magazine section. They have some graphic design magazines. Also, take a look at the top tier magazines (GQ, Vogue, etc) as they have the best GD's in the industry. Graphic design (on an Institutional School Level) is basically printed advertisements and/or web design. RE: Product Design This is an entirely different field. Don't do product design / industrial design unless you are going to be one. There is no purpose showing that you have little skill in a highly skilled field unless you are actively pursuing that field. Would you show CAD drawings just because you learned CAD? (No, your stuff would look primitive in comparison to someone who really studies it). What pieces? Find a style and something that represents you. Try not to include things that look like "class room" assignments or work (as best you can). Always take a second while pondering your classroom assignments to put a "spin" or different perspective in hope to NOT make it look like a classroom assignment. Always put the top priority on creativity, solutions, processes and concept. Professional clients want to see what you thought and what your solution was. Always push yourself for "outside the box" solutions and "next level" concepts. Push yourself, but be very careful not to go too abstract and lose focus of your future clients. From experience, all of the portfolio's that show obvious "class room" assignments are hard to really assess in a real world capacity. Most are so unrestricted that they have no relevance in a business sense. They flaunt concept over realistic budgets and "what can really be done". Just because you can design it doesnt mean it can be built, or the client can afford to build it. This grounding in reality helps immensely. Do show ability and skill, but keep in mind that there is a big difference between what real designers do (and need) vs. what you are taught to do in school. The difference between the "i just got out of school" portfolio and the "i am a real designer" portfolio is so great that its jaw dropping; try your hardest to overcome this (as best you can). It will make a huge difference when you get out of school. I can look at 10 different school portfolios and say the same thing... "Wow you can render a really cool looking and very well made Space Craft, but what does that do to help me design the inside of this retail store? I see you have rendering skills, but do you have ANYTHING that relates to me other than you can work the programs? On this page is see the inside of a restaurant, but you are using marble and super expensive materials, do you have anything that's in my range? I want to see how you think, and what you think, not that you are skilled in how to operate computer programs. I can too, i'm interviewing you for what i can't do, or for your ideas not your photoshop skills." Also, while i am a huge advocate of fundamentals, don't focus on them. Concept and solutions are what you want to show most in your portfolio. Real world clients want to know what you can do to help them solve their problem, not that you are a master at colors. Fundamentals are just that... fundamentals. Either your fundamentals are solid (and "acceptable") or they arent. Every artist should be ROCK SOLID with fundamentals (composition, color, balance, etc) as such, its they standard not an emphasis. What Major: http://www.artcenter.edu/ <- art center http://www.sfai.edu/ check out major art schools and copy what you see there. Also take a look at the different "Majors". You will see that they dont blur the lines between the majors and each is a specialized field. There seems to be a big difference between what an Art School teaches vs. what a normal college teach. (The art school is like a "trade school" on steroids times 10, where the normal school teaches fundamentals and concepts. The normal school may not give you the skills to be truly competitive in the art world when you are done.) I've attended both Art Center and SFAI. While i've studied it to death and have been a quasi professional designer, i have settled into an Art Director capacity and hire (work with) professional to achieve the final results that i want. I dont have time to focus on <whatever> i hire them to do, i have a big picture to worry about. I am an entrepreneur, so the design aspect of my endeavors is very important, but its only one facet of the entire project.