Developing Your Portfolio

Goals Introduce yourself Summarize your experience & skills Tell your audience how to get in touch with you Keep it Fresh

Keeping it Fresh Crafting a great portfolio is like gardening. Every so often you need to prune and selectively remove pieces that are no longer representative of your best work. You also need to make sure you plant the seeds for new work and look for opportunities to expand your portfolio.

About/Bio Page A well-crafted bio should be the main focus of your portfolio. This will most likely be your home page. Your Artist statement should Introduce yourself to your audience in a powerful, memorable way. Writing a great bio should take more time than any other piece of your portfolio! Write a few different versions and test with friends and family. Ask them to read one of your versions and write down the 3 adjectives that come to mind after a read- through.

Logo or Brand This assignment a personal Logo is a must In addition to your logo, you can have a headshot, or a friend that can take a headshot, absolutely, positively include it on your site. Even getting professional headshots may be worth

Social Media Being professional or having a professional persona on Social Media is key to keeping your reputation untarnished. Invite your visitor to engage with you on social media. Most people, if they are impressed with your site, will want to check you out elsewhere online. Make it easy for them to find you across social media platforms. LinkedIn is an obvious channel to include, because of its professional connections and focus on recruitment. However, Twitter is my favorite for conversations and building professional relationships.

Resume Have an updated resume you’re ready to post? Don’t worry, we’re making one of those this year too.

Design of the site It’s time to start thinking about your style. Do you really enjoy working with computers or would you rather sketch everything out? Analog or digital? Flat vector based design Avant Guard? Other inspirational Art Movements?

Your Work Crafting a great portfolio is like gardening. Every so often you need to prune and selectively remove pieces that are no longer representative of your best work. You also need to make sure you plant the seeds for new work and look for opportunities to expand your portfolio.

Other’s Works

Research Assignment 5 Different Portfolio Websites with Screenshots that feature something that you liked about each one. (There should be at least 5 images on the spread) –Can also be larger than a 2 Page Spread