10 Points from the reading that struck me.
Building Design Portfolios
1. Portfolios can be more than a book. They can be websites, files on discs, USB drives,
portable document files, etc.
2. Portfolios began as a form of type specimen books that sampled typefaces.
3. A well written and designed resume with a well put together portfolio is the best way
to display your work and present yourself as a competent and talented designer.
4. As artists we tend to be perfectionists, but there is no perfect presentation. Also, a
presentation will change with who your perspective employer (audience) is. If the
audience is more formal and traditional that that changes the tone of how our
portfolio may be set up.
5. Things you may want to include in your presentation are: your business card, resume,
CD, packaging, or promotional materials. Make each design cohesive, clean and fresh
all the way down to the typeface and color.
6. Things you may want to include in your portfolio are: an identity logo with a letterhead
and logo, a poster, product design, publication design, postage stamp, a website, and
may a screensaver or a CD cover.
7. In your portfolio, you can group things together. (Example: a series of posters or CD
cover design.)
8. Use about twelves designs that you are confident about using.
9. DO NOT fill your portfolio with repetitive, unfinished, and redundant designs.
10. Have a separate sketchbook or portfolio that holds the process of the designs that
you have in your main portfolio. Some employers want to see the process of the
design from the starting point.
Becoming a Graphic Designer
1. Graphic Design is NOT for the fainthearted or the LAZY! One must be highly trained,
decidedly talented, and fervently dedicated if the goal is to do better than average.
2. Skill does not translate to talent and vise versa.
3. Graphic design is in the service of the client. (Larry says "It is the service of the message.")
4. As graphic designers, we work to exercise our creative minds providing services in areas
such as; publishing, music, entertainment, art, corporate identity, business, information
presentation and other creative divisions.
5. Designers may develop a certain identifiable style while others are more universal.
6. Graphic designers are problem solvers, storytellers, and developers.
7. Ask! What are my expectations and how do I meet them?
8. Make the computer work for you.
9. Graphic design is commercial art business that is influenced by movements, ideologies
and aesthetic points of view.
10. As graphic artists, we often fall into the trap of doing something we are very good at,
we need to continue to broaden our skills and try new ways to keep us sane in our
world where we will not retire.
"Designer's don't retire, we die."
- Jeffrey Zeldman
