It's clear when you get it. It's clear when you're talented. And you know how someone can tell? By looking at your book.
The three things you need in this industry is a good portfolio, a good personality and good connections.
I've written about it before *ahem*
What exactly do you mean by "portfolio"?
What your portfolio says about you
Beef up your book
What not to put in your book aka Don't Columbus other people's work
Don't Benetton Your Book
Your book will never be finished
but here is even more great advice for copywriters, art directors and developers on what to put in their book.
What Not To Put In Your Book
From Big Orange Slide
I spend an embarrassing amount of time reviewing portfolios. Over
time I’ve drawn this conclusion: for every one good book there are at
least ten bad ones. And of those bad ones, at least five are flat out
horrifying.
The ones that really break my heart are the near-misses. The
portfolios that show some great thinking, but are ruined by (for lack of
a better term) a “deal breaker.”
A deal breaker can be anything from a misaligned font to a misspelled
headline. Herewith, a list of some of the things portfolio reviewers
here at Grip look for. Or judge harshly.
For Copywriters – by Leilah Ambrose
Proofread:
Yes, your ideas are super important. Trouble is, hidden deep in the word
“copywriter” is the word “writer.” If you can’t spell check or proof
your own headlines, body copy or overviews, you’re not exactly
demonstrating dedication to the art. It’s like Yul Brynner in the
“Magnificent Seven” showing up to a gunfight with no bullets.
Or something.
Show elasticity:
Sure, you can prove that you have great ideas and writing chops in a
series of print ad. But it helps to show off your process and creative
versatility. Put your ideas into unconventional media. Find interactive
elements. Talk to where you draw inspiration from. Link to blogs that
you have. Celebrate your creativity and insight alongside your
headlines.
Assess your WTF quotient:
Honestly, if it takes 15 minutes to explain your idea, even after
showing your executions, it probably shouldn’t be in your portfolio.
Don’t Tolstoy your work:
Having breadth of thinking is good. Having breadth of thinking that
rivals the length of War and Peace is not. Pick a handful of your best
ideas, and the best executions of those ideas. 50 “meh” ideas don’t
trump 5 great ones.
For Art Directors – by Colin Craig
Have a portfolio website:
It’s a given that every aspiring designer or art director must have a
portfolio site. Even a few years ago, this could be a daunting project
for the coding impaired. Now, with options like Cargo Collective and the
Behance Network, it’s become far simpler to launch and maintain a
professional-looking portfolio site. Use large, high-quality images. If
you’re going to shoot your print work, make sure it’s crisp and well
lit. Be clear about your role on each project.
Keep it professional:
Leave the Holga travel photos out. Same goes for art school paintings
and neighborhood café installations. You should keep your portfolio
tightly focused on art direction and design. Personal projects within
this space are a different story though – they show a passion for the
field, strong motivation and drive, and are a great way to explore media
you haven’t had a chance to work on professionally.
Be a chameleon:
Artists and illustrators have personal, signature styles. Designers and
art directors shouldn’t. Portfolios should demonstrate an ability to
follow (and stretch!) brand standards, and execute in a wide variety of
looks and styles.
And I’ll second Leilah’s “Keep it tight” and “No spelling typos.”
Five or six projects are more than enough if that’s the scope of your
best work. Spelling errors make me question an art director’s attention
to detail and work habits.
For Developers – by Doug Riches:
Provide rationale:
It’s necessary to have code examples and descriptions of the project
and, when possible, the final result. But the most important aspect to
all of this is the rationale. Explain why you chose the examples you
did. Too often, developer portfolios read like a hum-drum list of
projects. Don’t be ordinary. What I need to see is examples of the code
you worked on, why it’s best practice, and why it represents your best
work.
Give context to your technologies:
Almost every developer portfolio lists out the same technologies. The
problem is everyone lists the same thing without context. I want to see
explanations and examples of the types of code you profess to know.
Avoid itemizing every technology in the world with no context of
examples of how you would use them.
Define your contribution:
Don’t include your CMS-driven Megacorp.com site without defining your
role on the team, and how you were instrumental in making it awesome.
This especially goes for front-end developers. When I see a cacophony of
horrible CMS-generated front-end code without any context – well, it
doesn’t show me that you get proper web standards.
Overall – by Jacoub Bondre
Show attention to detail:
Think Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place.” Misaligned fonts,
typos, shifts in content and navigation have the ability to almost
immediately disqualify you from an opportunity. Screwing up on the hard
things is fixable and understandable. You can be trained to use 3D in
flash. Typographic flair will come with experience. However, being
lazy about your details could be construed as a character flaw. And
that’s something that can’t be taught.
Be honest:
I encourage all of our interns and freelancers to put any work they do
here at Grip in their portfolio. Even if their contribution was minor,
all hands that touch a project mold and affect it. That being said, you
need to be honest about your contributions to a project. People will
find out quickly if you exaggerated your involvement. And that ain’t
gonna look good.
Show me the money:
Only show your BEST work, bearing in mind that your best may not be
something you did for a big, recognizable brand. If you did a project
for Nike that sucks, and a project for Bob’s Tackle Shop that’s amazing,
show the Bob’s Tackle work. I will also echo Leilah’s “Keep it tight”
comment. I will lose interest after a max of eight pieces. The words
“more work available upon request” can be magic.
To sum up: your portfolio is your first impression. It’s a
representation of what you’ve done, and how you work. If you’ve followed
the above guidelines, the only thing standing between you and a job is
whether or not you’re a jerk.
