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The DRAWING BOARD for Illustrators.
Notes taken from the website
http://members.aol.com/thedrawing/portfolio.htm
The DRAWING BOARD for Illustrators.
Portfolio - Your Magic Book by David Niles.
In order to further your goals
as a creative (that's what the industry likes to call us: creatives) we need
to establish a visual link between ourselves as artists, and those with whom
we wish to share our talents: our clients. To do this, however, requires skills
that spring from a number of important factors:
1. A clear understanding of
who you are and what you do.
2. The ability to create a visually
ordered design that clearly communicates who you are and what you do.
3) And through this to achieve
your major goal... which is to get the kind of work you love to do.
This leads to the obvious conclusion
that what we are talking about seems to be a physical object common to us
all in the business it's known as your "book". Its' physical form is varied
all the way from the conventional zippered plastic case with acetate pages
to the custom-designed presentation box with your name embossed in gold on
leather. For want of a better word, we call it... portfolio. As "portfolio"
it is obviously a selection, a compendium of your best efforts with examples
of your very best creative efforts on every page. It is really the life-blood
of your presentation to the world, and it must have a quality of impact and
individuality that will remain after you have walked out the door.
I can look back over the number
of years during which I looked at literally hundreds, if not thousands, of
portfolios. I can particularly remember some that stood out in my mind as
innovative, outstanding and original, above and beyond the rest of the pack.
And I can also remember a few that were outstanding for other reasons,...all
of the worst reasons. Let that be a lesson to you in respect to your "book",
though you make an effort to show only your finest work, it's undeniable that
anything less than this will probably be the ones they'll remember, no matter
how great you think you are.
As a matter of fact, an art
director once told me that the thing that always sticks out in her mind once
a portfolio has walked out the door, is not the best piece she has seen...
but the worst! Now, to be sure... Content is the real issue, and though presentation
is also a key factor, don't ever allow the packaging, no matter how fiendishly
clever you may think it to be, to overpower the contents. (Don't do what a
young woman did to show her work, her portfolio with an alligator case with
brass fittings and lock, all the while I expected an absolutely star-struck
blaze of talents once she opened it, and was shocked to discover what was
obviously an embarrassing display of ineptitude)
The rules of thumb to remember
are these:
Impact counts. Less is more.
Where excellence is required, pretty good, or even average is totally worthless.
(So you can see that for we average folk, there's a lot of hard work ahead.)
Your portfolio's role is that of communicating to your prospective client
that this new work of yours is not only something they want, but also something
they need, and can't possibly get from someone else. This something "new"
has to be a unique and fresh visual approach, done with absolutely flawless
execution. Carefully conceived, clear, well-designed and uncluttered, and
limited in number... Probably no more than 10-12 strong pieces each one of
which has a solid impact.
I am simply amazed at the number
of illustrators who still haven't figured out that a portfolio is really very
simply a design problem. It must have a unity consistent with any good piece
of design. And this unity must have variety to be truly effective (Certainly
if it's a unity without variety, it's going to bore them out of their skulls...And
if it has variety, but lacks unity then it will be totally chaotic:a quality
unthinkable for any portfolio of creative work.) Then the whole should be
absolutely greater than the sum of its parts: flow, rhythm, and pacing have
to be your concern, as well as an ability to structure the pages as part of
an essential grid design. Portfolio General rules-of-thumb.
1. Start strong... End strong.
2. A title page with your name
and perhaps a small artwork can set the tone for the book.
3. Vary sizes through the book.
4. Generally, no more than one
image per page. Exceptions: Spot illustrations that can be arranged systematically
on one page.
5. Don't let a horizontal on
one page face a vertical on the opposite page. If horizontals and verticals
are necessary, then try to keep from mixing them on the same spread of two
facing pages.
6. Keep black and white in one
section... And color in another section of the portfolio unless there is a
distinct need to use this device to show how diverse you are.
7. Don't put graphics and illustration
in the same portfolio. It will tend to communicate ambivalence and may confuse
the viewer as to how you see yourself. If it is necessary to show both, put
them in separate books If you choose to put them in separate sections of the
same book, then definitely emphasize one over the other.
8. Above all think smaller,
rather than larger. If your best originals are the same size as the Sistine
Chapel Ceiling, have some quality reproductions made.
9. Your options are:
A) Originals
B) Tearsheets
C) Slide transparencies (in plastic
sheets, 20 per sheet, or in a loaded tray ready for showing.)
D) Larger chrome transparencies
(either 8 x 10, or 11 x 14) E) Custom color prints
F) Laser color photocopies Originals
Showing original art is often necessary if you have nothing else to show,
however, most art directors do not expect to see originals.
Remember that originals are
vulnerable to damage, or even loss, so it makes sense to find other ways to
show the work The other aspect of showing only originals has to do with "drop-off"
days In this case, your portfolio is out of commission while it sits in someone's
office waiting to be viewed .With a portfolio made of of photo-replications
or various kinds of copies of original works, you can afford to have more
than one portfolio to use, which means during Drop-off situations, you've
still got a book to show.
This is a key point that needs
emphasis If you have one portfolio that contains, let's say, 12 pieces of
original work, you're essentially limited to one call per client with this
book You certainly aren't going to go back with the same portfolio again.
In order to schedule another appointment with the same prospect some time
later you need another different portfolio all ready to go.
So, in effect, you have two
portfolios of work: Book A, and Book B. Each containing 10-12 pieces; This
way, a quick call-back is possible and you don't end scrambling to put another
book together after you've shown your one and only book to all the prospects
on your list; This, obviously, doesn't preclude the fact that you're continuing
to generate additional portfolio pieces .
As you see prospects with your
work... Your marketing eye will be looking for clues to what they liked as
well as what they need, which may give you a firm idea of the kind of work
you need to generate and show them a second time around. It's probably un-necessary
to remind you of this, but when you have down-time, time when you aren't working
on a paid project: this is the prime time for you to work on new stuff . The
worst thing you can do is to show someone the same piece or pieces they've
seen before Their assessment of you will go down immediately...
This, therefore, means that every
portfolio call is logged in your presentation log, so that on a given date
at Hill Holliday Advertising, you showed the following work to Ralph Moxcey.
The next time you see him, you show him new and different work because you
know what he's already seen. QUALITY :The Real Issue Now here's the most important
factor: Quality. Edit mercilessly :"When in doubt... Take it out!"; And I
don't care how much it hurts to withdraw that favorite piece... Do it anyway.Ten
great pieces will be fondly remembered and revered; 20 fair ones will be forgotten;
but 10 really inferior pieces will probably be remembered for all time...
"Oh, yeah... He's the guy who did that portfolio of really miserable portraits."
In addition, it's well to pay
extreme attention to those pieces that impress your prospect. (Also, it doesn't
harm your case to ask them what might be eliminated, to improve the portfolio.)
When a particular piece really scored I would note it and send them a c-print
or a color copy in a file folder with my name, phone and address, for their
file. An even more valuable tool is to have something you can leave behind
such as a printed piece, or a promotional card. An option to this is to send
them something a few days later with a note of appreciation. For some people,
this really scores and tends to emphasize you as an individual. Most people
don't take the time to do this It's good promotional practice.
THE CONTENT
If you're after freelance assignments,
you need to create a portfolio that focuses and speaks with a single voice...
Seymour Chwast puts it this way: "I tell my kids what not to include:; Don't
show a little of everything... A type sample, a life drawing, a silk-screen
print, two sketches, and a few photo-collages. Instead, project confidence
in the kind of work you want to do, by showing that work. Tailor the book
to a specific aim... Staff or freelance. It shows the way you think! Milton
Glaser said: "Thank god for graduation!; It then becomes possible to start
eliminating all of the school deadwood from your system." Finally, be sure
that each work displays evidence of copyright notice, on the rear of the piece
is okay.
And if you're a guild (GAG,
SCBWI, etc) member, it's often very effective to place your guild sticker
somewhere in the inside of the book. Also, your portfolio case, or box, or
container... Whatever it is, should be labelled with your name, address and
phone, so that when it gets buried in that pile of droppings... I mean drop-off,
it's origin will still be evident. So... Finally, to encapsulate:
1. Limited in number... 10-12.
2. Should speak in a single voice
if you're planning to Freelance.
3. It should be varied if you're
looking for a staff job.
4. Keep the size manageable.
Oversize originals should be photographed, or reduced and shown at smaller
size.
5. Show consistency of skill,
concept and style.
6. Only your very best work
should remain in the book. After you edit it with savage intensity: Show no
Mercy... Take no prisoners. When in doubt, you know what to do.
7. Rhythm and flow are all-important.
No visual roadblocks. Think of it as very much like designing a picture book.
8. Keep the work developing,
so that your portfolio will keep growing, and never stagnate.Repeat business
comes from a strong evidence that your work is vital, lively, and constantly
growing.
9)Whew!
This article © 1997, 1998 by
David Niles, and available in the website: http://members.aol.com/thedrawing/portfolio.htm
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