Group items tagged

My question: what are some ways to get my digital portfolio seen by potential clients? This article is more tailored to designers, but it's still relevant for all media types. Get your art featured somewhere. Add a blog to your domain. Do art/design for a well-known name. Give stuff away (info/how-to, links, techniques, templates, etc). Get interviewed. Join a network (behance, flickr, etc). Write an article/tutorial/blogpost for another website/publication. Pay-per-click advertising.

The Hire Me Portfolio focuses on getting you a job. If you are actively searching for a job then the current goal of your portfolio is to get hired. In this type of portfolio you can target the work you show to the type of company you want to work for. The Sales Generation Portfolio focuses on keeping a flow of work always coming in the door. The goal here is to generate leads. And move potential customers through your sales channel. The Reputation Building Portfolio focuses on building your name in the industry and online. This may take the form of an artist's showcase. Or tie your work together with a blog on your portfolio site. The Networking Portfolio focuses on building relationships. There are many networks that have excellent portfolio building tools. They have some advantages to placing your portfolio on their website. Chiefly among them is to leverage the site space for networking.

three good things: great monochromatic design beautiful, relative and expression within images/photographs little text  three poor things: click to enter website, then click again to get info (could just get rid of first click) some images seem too minimal (not worthy) hard to find information and specifications

A photography grant is a monetary award given to produce original artwork for a specified project. There are several steps to take in order to be successful in receiving a photography grant. First, you must decide the original artwork that you would produce if you were to receive a grant. This must be specific, including where you would go, what you would shoot, how it would be shown, etc. This framework will then allow you to discover what grants you qualify for and which you should apply for. With your criteria in mind, do an extensive internet search to find matches between your outline and the criteria for receiving a grant. You can also find grants in books such as "The complete guide to getting a grant: how to turn your ideas into dollars" by Laurie Blum. The internet and books are key in helping find grants that you qualify for. Once you find grants that fit, you need to find the grant application online or by calling or mailing a request for a grant application. Apply for several grants. This gives you more opportunities in being successful.

3 likes: Personality from the get-go, you get a sense of who he is right away The background coordinates well with the project images, without overwhelming them or looking too matchy When you click to see a specific project, the project images hover over the background, and there are arrows to scroll through the project 3 dislikes: The project images can scroll all the projects, so its a little confusing which project you are on, especially if you "mis-click" like I am prone to doing There is a lot of text, all of which has "personality", which gets a little overkill The contact info is limited to email, with a lot "No's" as to types of contact (is he a rock star? why so cagey?)

In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to just ignore the ordinary stuff. Marketing guru Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones.

What works for this is that immediately you can see that he is a creative thinker. There is a deliberate effort at communicating this with his background image. His work is strong. But the greyscale design of his site with an abundance of curvy lines makes italic typography (his font face) difficult to read. And there is no navigation system, no organization or hierarchy of information. So if he showed his portfolio to a potential client who wanted a design poster done, they might not get far enough down his portfolio before getting bored. One-page portfolios are cool but he needs nav-links and an organization of content.

I selected this portfolio more for the content than the creative design. Visually, the site lacks innovation in the layout, however, it allows the creativity is expressed through the work. I don't know if it was just my computer, the it seems like the site was designed to fit on screen so there would only be lateral scrolling (a change up from the typical vertical scrolling). Not having it universally formatted makes it a little tricky to have the same affect on every viewing platform. What I thought made this page really interesting, was incorporating a blog to her online portfolio. Her main portfolio is really clean & professional. Her blog adds another element to where it allows "fans" to follow her and really feel like they can get to know her. I stumbled upon her page through a friend who goes to her site to look through her blog more so than her work which I found interesting. It just made me really wonder what possibilities online portfolios have, because to some extent, I feel as though she will be getting opportunities because of her blogs & personality.

Glen's portfolio is fun and personal. What a fantastic way to meet future clients and letting them meet you. What I liked best about this portfolio: 1. I immediately love the homepage image and how you interact with it, what a refreshingly new idea that I haven't seen before. 2. When you click on the image you go inside the book bag or you zoom in onto the notebook paper to read the resume. Its fun and inviting. 3. I love that you get a feeling for who this guy is and what he is like. Its personal and friendly. The guy is waving at you, saying hello. 4. I like how everything is black and white until you hover your curser over an area on the drawing like the tie. It all of a sudden gives you a punch of color and a clear definition of what file you might be opening. 5. When you have opened one of the files like his book bag-the photo icons are clean cut and clear, plus the return to homepage is prominent and easy to spot in the upper right hand corner. Easy navigational tools. What could be improved in this portfolio: 1. He could have used some text on his homepage. Like his name and the profession he wants to get into. 2. He could have included a footer. More navigation choices. 3. He could have added different ways the pages morph into one another 4. His Return to Home button is a little too well designed, it is kinda masked, to look like a skeleton to match his portfolio design. It could be even more clearer. 5. In the about me page-he could have given us his name. Overall: This portfolio is flat out Amazing! Making a homepage can be a fun and can be used in an artistic way of introducing your self to your profession. Again it was hard to come up with things Glen could change about his portfolio, because its really good: great use of color to highlight his work and having fun with portfolio.

Likes- This page layout is simple and the main menu has all the information an employer is looking for, from studio projects to resume and contact info. Dislikes- (and there are many) The navigation is not easy to understand once you get past the main menu. After selecting the studio option I could see the photo icons at the bottom, though small and not titled, but it took me quite some time to notice the tiny light gray arrows in the upper corner. The main images do little to evoke thought, and are too small to really see any detail. It is almost as if she doesn't want you to see her projects? Also, there is no narrative present in the portfolio and no words to express her intentions. It shows me that she put as much thought into her website as she obviously put into her projects. Very little. I think that Vanessa gets a D on this one.

Like: -Very Easy Navigation -Layout of page stays the same no matter what level you are on, so it is very easy to return to a previous screen/project -It is all about the images! Brief descriptions are available for each project, but can be hidden/displayed at viewers discretion -Clear organization (broken down into studio work, thesis work and employment; all of which can be navigated to at any time from any screen. -Appears as though new projects could easily be added without altering the overall layout -Resume is displayed on site, but can also be downloaded  Don't Like/Needs Improvement -Thumbnail images at bottom of page for navigation to projects are too little; could be a little larger to give a better preview of the project -Don't know what the project is until you select it; a brief title could be helpful -Overall, the site is too small; filled less than 1/4 of my screen and images were a little hard to read -When you reach the end of a series of images, it quickly rewinds to the begining; would prefer it to be a loop. -The solid color across the screen when you load a new project is distracting; it might just be the color, but a smaller bar might be better -It is nice that the project title displays when you first select it; but then it goes away until you show the project details.  Perhaps having a constant title bar at the bottom displaying the project title would be helpful

Likes - Love the simplicity of the homepage, and the slideshow of pictures - I like how he organizes his wedding galleries by using the couples names, instead of just mashing all his wedding photography together under one gallery. - I love the navigation through the gallery pictures themselves, and how you can have them in a contact sheet, or a slide show, or a mini slideshow. Dislikes - I hate when websites have unnecessary sounds, and I think the clicky sound that occurs when the mouse goes over each link is irritating. - I think the way he labels his links and the organization is confusing and unclear. He gives appropriate titles to his gallery sections, but then when you get to the sublinks, you sometimes don't get a clear understanding of what the gallery you are clicking on is going to be of. - I think the link titled "hello and good day" is pointless and I don't really understand why it is there.

Likes: - Nice landing page. I think she kept it clean and simple and gives just the right amount of introductory information. - The loading bar is clean and understandable. - I like how her About Me page is simple, and doesn't have a huge essay explaining her life and past work. It makes her more relatable, which I think is hugely important when working with seniors. It's so draining when you click on an About Me for an artist and have to read a huge piece to find out who they are. - I like the way the colors change and menus pop up to make the whole thing super easy to navigate. It shows clearly how to get back and forth from different areas of the page. - I LOVE how she has a contact form right on her contact page. It eliminates the errors that can happen from copying and pasting an email address, etc. Dislikes -One thing I don't like is that when you click on the Fashion section, it takes you to a portion of her blog instead of a seperate page, and feels like updated. I would like to be taken to a page that shows a more cohesive collection of her fashion work, rather then having to click through blog posts. - Her senior website only has one image on the homepage. I would like to see a slideshow going through images on the homepage. - I think she needs more images in her senior galleries. She only has about 10 in each one, and I feel like its better to have around 20 to get a well rounded view of style. - Her logo at the top cuts into the faces of some of the people in her images, and completely takes the attention off of the image. - When you move the mouse off of what you have selected to look at, it disappears, which does make the navigation a little confusing.

According to my best-case scenario dream, I looked high and low for a tag on Google for "fun architecture firm" or fun portfolio." They exist, but not advertised as such over the internet. Ideally, I would ask, "How do you create a fun portfolio to land a fun job?" Now I figure this is either inherent or not in the way you display yourself, so I decided to form another question: "What qualities of a person are employers most looking for behind their portfolio?" According to one site, it comes down to four qualities: 1. enthusiasm (do you want to learn?) 2. skepticism (do you think critically?) 3. eloquence (can you speak and write well? 4. attitude (will you get along with others?) 'Talent' is not a prerequisite for being able to learn, adapt, and grow. A future employer wants to know you will fit with their goals and perhaps style, yet more importantly be able to mold to their already-established way of doing things. They want to know you've got the stuff to make good things for them in the future under their company. Displaying these qualities - enthusiasm, skepticism, eloquence, and attitude - is a promise that you be able to produce great work beyond what you already have in an intelligent way.

+ project navigation on the left and project images on the right is simple and intuitive and project images are a great size. + Variation of media such as video with images creates an interactive feel + Project text on left is a good size and about the optimal amount (verging on the lengthy side however) - Navigation buttons to switch between different images in a project are not as intuitive and harder to find - Direct posting of project boards instead of individual images make site less engrossing - The web design is light on unique details, and therefore it is hard to get a sense of the personality of the artist from exploring the webpage (the about section is also very short)

What I like... - Use of two different colors (simple but clear) - Showing thumbnail images that interest me - A simple composition of overall web design What need to be improved... - It is confusing to figure out the relationship between thumbnail pictures and contents - It is hard to see the hierarchy of contents (it makes me to keep forgeting where I am and how I get into the page...) - A weak first page with little information

Logical horizontal navigation bar, wide range of work demonstrates abilities, Projects provide the right amount of information Slide show on home page flashes too fast, contact and downloads page too redundant, it takes too many clicks to get to the images of a project

Projects provide the right amount of information, wide range of work demonstrates abilities, Horizontal navigation bar is easy to use It takes too many clicks to get to project images, site loads too slowly, About page is hard to understand

Likes: White background highlights work. Main page features a rolling slideshow of work, which is intriguing when you first enter the site. Pop up bars indicate the name of the project, but before these appear you get a chance to see the image by itself. A loading bar appears at the bottom indicating when the next image will appear. Dislikes: Not many. It could be a little easier to choose between projects, and the pixel dimension could warrant being larger with the size of monitors these days.

Likes: Compelling main page, text works well with colors. Easy navigation between galleries. Simple bar at bottom. Dislikes: The images are a little small once you enter the portfolio, and there are too many pages to go through to get there. Grey background distracts from images (should be black or white)