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    Make a Great Design Portfolio

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    akiles-duomac-series7Having a nice-looking design portfolio is vital to securing work as an artist. Here are a few tips on how to create a great one.

    Planning:

    Give some thought as to what kind of portfolio you want to create. For in-person interviews you will want to have a nice-looking hard copy booklet with your resume and clips. Have some extra copies of some things that you can leave behind. IF you are trying to drum up work on your own, you’ll want to have a personal website that includes a PDF version. You may also want to have your portfolio on CD or DVD for mailing purposes.

    What to Include:

    You don’t want to overstuff your book, but you do want to make sure that you include what you consider to be your top of the line work (you may want to gather some feedback on this too). If you have worked in many media, include as many as you feel necessary. In general, the more well-rounded you appear, the better, though if you are trying to get work as a photographer, your prospective employer may not be interested in your sculpting work.

    No matter how prolific you have bee, you should keep in mind that you will in all likelihood have a very limited time in which to show your wares. It is hard to fix on a number, but as a general rule you probably will not want to include any more than fifteen pieces in your portfolio. When it comes to choosing which work will go into your book, you may want to enlist the help of some trusted friends and colleagues. That is unless, of course, you are just starting out and have a limited number of works to show. Then go ahead and throw the book at them.

    If the quantity of your work is limited, you can consider showing some pieces in various stages of completion, to exhibit your process a little bit.

    Putting it Together:

    Carefully matte the pieces you are going to include onto black matte paper or another suitable card stock. Consider laminating the pieces or at the very least, make sure that they are adhered to the matte extremely well so there will be no curling, etc.

    You should choose a binding style that allows for updates and modifications at a moment’s notice. For this purpose, perhaps, say, a perfect bound hardcover book might not be the way to go. There are a number of other types of binding such as Pro-click that are well suited to this kind of document. Take a look around online or make a visit to your local print shop to explore your options. Depending on the type of work you are showcasing, an art shop might provide some solutions as well.

    As previously stated, you really should have your work viewable online as well. See if your name is still available as a URL, grab it, and if not, use your name plus the word “artist” or something like that. Register the name, get some hosting, and either find someone who has experience with artists to help build your site, or use one of the many templates out there to do it yourself.

    Putting Together a Modeling Portfolio

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    The Planning Stage:

    The first thing you will want to carefully consider is what type of modeling you intend to do, and more to the point, what type you are best suited for. Naturally, you will want to lean heavily on your main category when you are putting your photos together. This is where the reality of your capabilities starts to come in. For instance, if you are not quite tall enough for runway/high fashion modeling, you won’t want to go to the trouble of including these types of images in your portfolio. In order to give yourself the best possible chance of getting work and giving prospective employers and/or agents the truest sense of your abilities stick to whatever it is you consider your strengths to be.

    When you are getting ideas together for shoots, it never hurts to take a look around at the work that others have done. You don’t want to copy exactly what you have seen in magazines, etc., but you can use them for a starting point. Find and follow working models whose work you admire and who you feel you might be able to emulate in some way. Again, don’t “plagiarize,” but show this work to your photographer and the two of you can work together to find suitable setups in which to conduct your shoots.

    As far as finding a photographer, if you have an agent, he or she should have a list of tried and true professionals whom they trust to do a great job. If you are unrepresented at this point, you can still use the same photographers, but you will have to do some asking around within the community to get some names and numbers.

    Working With Your Photographer:

    If you have found a real pro, he or she will have plenty of ideas about how to best represent your abilities. If possible, you two should have a meeting before your shoot to discuss what your goals are, to show him or her any shots you’ve done previously that you liked, and to figure out times, dates, and locations.

    Before the shoot, check and double check that you have everything that you need (wardrobe, etc.), and, if at all possible, make sure to get your hair and makeup done by a professional. Depending on your budget, it might be worth it to have them on hand during your shoot, though if you don’t have representation this will be rather costly.

    After The Shoot:

    Sit down with some trusted people (within the industry if possible) and decide what shots to put in your book. Be sure to include a variety of poses, wardrobe, and locations, and at least one of each of the following: head shot, full body shot, and 3/4 body shot.

    Binding it:

    A lot of models simply choose to purchase a portfolio case from an office supply store, and that is fine. There are lots of other options, though, and you should take a good look online or go to your local print and copy shop to check out other binding options. Twin loop wire and perfect bound hardcover both create a look that is a little more visually appealing, and for do-it-yourselfers, some of the machines that do this binding are fairly inexpensive.