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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.

My burning question is how do I make my online architectural portfolio stand out from other portfolios? I found a blog at www.thinkvitamin.com by author Mike Kus that had some great ideas. One of his ideas was to keep it simple and not be afraid of having blank space. I think this is really good input because having a clean and unfettered layout is attractive to potential employers. How the items are arranged on the site and where the blank areas are can also showcase design layout skills. Another one of his ideas is to have a good set palette of colors. Having a specific palette that is consistent throughout the portfolio helps to give the site a coherent sense of identity and character. Also, the color palettes in the example portfolios he gives compliment and contrast with each other very effectively. I plan on doing further research on effective and attention grabbing color combinations as this seems important. Other important aspects that he can make a portfolio stand out if done effectively are imagery and typography, bucking current web trends, and attention to detail. His examples of portfolios are not all architectural but their merits are definitely applicable and are worth taking a look at.

Burning Question: What are some needed components to create a good portfolio? Today with so much new technology, more digital portfolios are being created and used. Portfolios help show the education, skill and knowledge a person may have in a certain area. Digital portfolios should be easily accessible, organized, and most important show your best work. Remember you are trying to impress, and show you master certain techniques and skills. A good thing about digital portfolios is that their easier to update and you can take or send them about anywhere. According the the attached article while in the process of creating a portfolio, one should consider our goals, objective, of whom we are trying to impress and what we are trying to obtain and tell our observers. Overall students should present their best, by presenting all there knowledge in the best way that they can.

Burning Question: What are some needed components to create a good portfolio? Today with so much new technology, more digital portfolios are being created and used. Portfolios help show the education, skill and knowledge a person may have in a certain area. Digital portfolios should be easily accessible, organized, and most important show your best work. Remember you are trying to impress, and show you master certain techniques and skills. A good thing about digital portfolios is that their easier to update and you can take or send them about anywhere. According the the attached article while in the process of creating a portfolio, one should consider our goals, objective, of whom we are trying to impress and what we are trying to obtain and tell our observers. Overall students should present their best, by presenting all there knowledge in the best way that they can

I have been very impressed with youtube architecture portfolios from students. I like the way their work is presented as a small 2 minute film. Its fast, its visual and its a great way of introducing your work, designs and projects to this type of profession. What I like about this portfolio: 1. I love the first image you see: "How I do architecture" its a great "pow" and intro to what comes next (your work) 2. I like it when he shows a project in almost a scrapbook kind of way. You see one large picture of the overall project, then you see smaller pictures of different views of the same project. This is how I thought I might show my architecture projects with a plan, perspectives and a small collection of materials. 3. The ending of his portfolio is very surprising, I like it! It is a final quote from F. Wright about architecture and its connection to the heart. 4. I like his second page set up: a sketch of a seating area he designed. It looks very professional. 5. It is great how he shows sketches/black and white pictures and then it turns into a colored rendering of the sketch. What a great way to show design and drawing skills then to bring that sketch to life with color or turning it into a 3D model. Its fascinating to watch the development of the project. What could be changed with this portfolio: 1. I think this is a great way to introduce yourself and get viewers excited about what you can do, but this video is lacking a Homepage, contact and resume (at the least). I would be using this as an interactive tool (a small slide show) to introduce the viewers to my portfolio. (it will serve as an invitation of who I am to the profession) 2. Its too long. 3. Its not consistent and smooth. Its a bit choppy and shows too many different ways and styles, it feels like a little too much distraction of movements, when it should all be about the work. 4. It feels like an archive, a collection of all he has done. There is no direction or reasoning behind his selection

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.

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.

Question: How do I choose an online portfolio layout? What do different layouts express about the designer? This website shows a number of Wordpress themes, and outlines the type of design work they are made for and the kind of feeling they present. Even if you didn't want to use Wordpress, I thought it would be useful to have examples of portfolios with different intentions. There are key words in the layout descriptions, like "elegant" or "artsy" that might tie in with the reading, which doesn't really say what these might look like. A few characteristics stood out to me. "Elegant" portfolio theme tended to have a simple, clean layout with understated backgrounds in neutral colors. The work showed well, but was often uninteresting because there was little wow factor. "Artsy" portfolio themes tended to be more colorful or include a decorative graphic elements, but the work was sometimes overwhelmed by the backgrounds. Work-focused themes tended to have dark backgrounds with a dimensionality to them, which makes the work almost "hung" in space. Text seemed a little awkward in these theme however, since they also "hung" above the background (perhaps if the image and text were in the same window above the background?). Photography had a layout reminding me of a magazine article, exciting and narrative, but more confusing if the information is complex. Some general comments while looking at sites: Some of the architectural portfolios tended toward neutral colors and crisp fonts, however, they often left little impression of who the designer IS, and what their approach is. Some of the graphic design portfolios were highly graphic and visually bold, but were a little "loud" and in the interest of being trendy or current, again left me wondering who the designer IS.

In this article, I'll be analyzing the navigation elements of a particular category of websites, i.e. portfolios. Why portfolios, you ask? Because they represent an interesting blend of creativity and development techniques. As they offer an intriguing user interface and interaction, this often borderlines with what is ultimately defined as an enjoyable user experience. Should aesthetics, originality and creativity come at the expense of usability? Can they reside on the same website in harmony?

In this portfolio it is mostly visual with very few words. This style of portfolio allows his work to do all of the talking. To me it was very powerful and bold. What I liked best about this portfolio: 1.It is quick and easy to navigate 2. The photos are captivating and large so you know what you are looking at 3. The landing page is clean, precise and different then others I've seen (it looks professional). 4. When you glide over the elongated photos of the works he has been involved in, large white titles show up to tell you right away what file you are about to open. Example: photo of the production Cinderella, hover your curser over the image and click! Now you have several more photos to look at, all on the production of Cinderella 5. The main menu is large and bold, always visible. 6. There is a small text that shows up "move your mouse over me" encouraging the host to explore and help navigate the site. 7. I like that there are current projects he is working on, he includes awards he has won and he has both a contact page and a resume (that you can download) My suggestions of changes this portfolio could have are: 1. It could use more text, all I see is the work, but where are his ideas and contributions (his experiences in this field?) 2. Does he draw his designs or make models, how does he work? 3. I did not see an about page-what is he like? 4. There is nothing too personal about him. For example: no picture. 5. Resume is all one size and same color of text, nothing jumps out at you. 6. His name and title could be larger (on each page). Because as you scroll down you loose his name and then you ask your self who's work am I looking at again, because this is good and I want him to work for me! (although all you have to do is scroll up or click on the back button to return to menu... there his name is prominently displayed again) Overall: It was very hard to find anything that this portfolio needs to change because I really like what James has done with

Pros:-Work, online portfolio and download able resume are all visible from the home page. -Site organized in an understandable fashion with a bar along the left and top of links and resources framing images of his work.-Nice and clearly working slide show.Cons:-Home page appears to be very cluttered with a lot of text - Downloadable portfolio and resume are both password protected, Not sure if this is a good or bad thing.- image size differs too much throughout the portfolio and the quality of some of the images leaves something to be desired.

3 things I found appealing about this portfolio: I liked the captivating image for the backdrop. It's the first thing that catches your eye, and links an immediate and strong message to the audience.  I liked the simplicity of the text and the drop down menu options.  I liked how the quote on the home page. 3 things I did not find appealing about this portfolio: I thought there could have been a bit more color to the portfolio I wanted to see more testimonials A map to the location of the business would have been helpful

+ The main bar appears to stay the same while the content changes, allowing for intuitive and easy navigation + Minimalistic design makes it clean, simple, yet interesting + All of the project links are on a single page and readily visible - Thumbnails for the projects are somewhat small, difficult to see what each project is - Strategy to navigate within projects adds a level of difficulty, arrows to switch between projects and multiple blocks to navigate within a project not very intuitive - Extra space could have been used to include more and larger content

Pros-Simple and easy to navigate. - Well organized images. Work organized into projects from a main portfolio page with a slideshow for each project.-Logo on every screen reminding the view who's portfolio they are looking at. Cons -Very Simple, the home page isn't very attention grabbing. -There are some blank spots on the project selection page which looks unprofessional. -All of the text appears to be pixilated. 

DISLIKES... - The Autoplay Music: with other running media, it became really distracting & i became more focused on looking for a way to turn it off. Could potentially make a person exit the website - More Descriptive Home: unlike other online portfolios, they usually state "portfolio" or "photography" or something, just to give an indicator as to what the website is. For his portfolio, there is no such description which would be nice to see - Details?: navigating through his site, his work is categorized, however there are not descriptions as to what the "advertising" was for. Even something as simple as "Canadian Hockey Nike Campaign" would have been nice. - About Him: It would have been nice to know a little bit about him (hometown or even the type of work he does) - No Back: Once you click somewhere, there's no real going back. LIKES... - Black & White: gave a sophistication to where I could see some sort of aesthetic in Chris' work. - The Rollover Effect: navigating through the work, there are thumbnails that you rollover and change opacity & starts to zoom out. I thought that was a really interesting effect that made me want to see more of the photo - Simplicity: his portfolio is really simple, which I find pleasing because it's easy to navigate & doesn't have clutter to distract from his photos - Music Choice: although I found the music distracting, his selection created a nice ambiance to his portfolio & created a "personality" to where I could start to get a feel as to who he was. - Use of Nav Buttons: I like how you can instantly flip through photos

A collection of websites which offer free online portfolio platforms. Some of these start out free and charge extra if you go beyond just the basic versions. Others require an invitation.

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.

I like that the page is clean and readable. The simple layout make navigation easy, however many of the pages have far too much information on them. I enjoy reading as much as the next person, but for a design portfolio, I feel that the images should convey the ideas more than words. I like that the contact information is readily available and isn't too distracting at the bace of most of the pages.  The pages move way too fast. One can control where they go but the pages fly by kinda erratically. I like the personal touch, however don't understand why people put their picture in their portfolio. I appreciate her looking professional, however care more about her designs. I don't care for the sounds. I like the fact that it comes in automatically disabled, but then what is the point? If I didn't scroll to the bottom and look at the very light and very tiny font, than I would have never known it existed. 

The homepage has thumbnails that link to various portfolio subjects. I want to be able to access the other portfolio subjects by choosing from the thumbnail bar again, but you have to "go back to portfolio," and then click from a text contents list instead of the thumbnails. The projects are displayed as downloaded .pdfs that open in the same window, you have to use the browser back button. Each screen has too little hierarchy between elements competing for attention.

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.

Pros: 1 Call me a minimalist, but I think with online academic portfolios --less equals more. These example speaks to that. 2 Simple sidebar navigation with links to PDF CV/ Portfolio. Everything is easy to get to and download if need be. 3 Images standalone to let the work do the convincing. Additionally, even the text is transparent to distract less from images/ work. 4 The idea of putting the title at the bottom right corner is intriguing, settle, and sexy...a slick move indeed! Cons: None!