How to Put Together a College Art Portfolio

A solid portfolio is the key to getting your first job out of college. Portfolios are different depending on what your craft is, but the following tips can be used to ensure that your portfolio is professional, easy to transport and display, durable and reflects your artistic style

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Binder
• Plastic sleeves
• Camera
• Artwork
• Creativity

1. The first thing to consider is that your portfolio should be professional looking. A potential employer or gallery wants to see both your talent and your ability to present your work in a clearly communicated fashion. In general, this means putting your material together in a "book" - something that can be easily carried, opened, and shown to others. The simplest form of a book is a binder with plastic insert sleeves.

2. Your work should be professionally photographed if it is 3-dimensional or larger than would fit in the binder. The photographs should compliment the artwork - no distracting backgrounds. The photographs should be printed to the maximum size that will fit into the binder and be inserted into the plastic sleeves. If your work is already of a type that can be easily bound, then you may do so, keeping in mind that it is important for you to keep copies of your work.

3. The organization of the binder can be by artistic style, medium, or theme. As the artist, you should be thinking about how best to organize and present your work. How do you want to present it to the viewer? How will the viewer perceive the work?

4. Depending on your craft, you may want to create your own binder - for instance, if your talent is in papermaking, a handcrafted binder will speak more about your talent than something off the shelf. This goes for titles and labels. If you are skilled and talented in script, you can emphasize this in your presentation.

5. To go one step further, you may want to create an electronic portfolio. This is particularly desirable for graphic artists, people looking to go into advertising, graphic design, or work with electronic media, and for situations when it is difficult for you to present your work in person. An electronic portfolio can be built with digital photos or work already created digitally. The portfolio can then be created in html using any one of a number of website or photo programs. You can burn the portfolio to CD and/or host the portfolio on the web - enabling you to easily email a link to your work.

6. If your work is something that can be carried easily, and you are going to present your portfolio in person, you can bring original samples. For instance, if your craft is jewelry making you will want a portfolio that consists mostly of photographs, but bring along a few samples that can be handled for your presentation.

7. Remember that your portfolio should compliment your work and your talent, not distract from it. The style should be consistent with your artistic style. Where possible and when it makes sense, the portfolio itself can be a work of art.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember, the portfolio says a lot about you as an artist and a professional - take your time and do a good job in creating it.
• A good portfolio is easy to carry and present to others.
• Only use work that you are proud to show others - do not put in work that you are not happy with.
• Show your portfolio to friends who can you give constructive feedback.
• Use copies of your work in your portfolio - not originals. I know too many people who have lost their portfolios or had them damaged.
• Be aware of your audience when you are selecting work to put in your portfolio. Do not include work that could offend a potential employer unless you are willing to take that risk.

[katyblahking]

on 6/24/2009 Thanks for this really helpful advice. I'm just putting together my portfolio for photography. Check out my work at www.katyking.co.uk . good idea to use copies, not originals. I would be so upset if my original prints got lost.

[revisitingnixon]

on 7/23/2007 Congrats on having this article be picked as the winner for the "Top Written Requested How to Article!" Check out the forums and see which other winners we have this week. Check it out at:

http://www.ehow.com/community/forums/forum_1728_ehow-winners:-article-requests.aspx

-Rich

[JohanM]

on 7/16/2007 Excellent advice