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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

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.

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.

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.

A template based flash website builder.

One question that I had in mind had to do with layout and design, and how to come across with a unique portfolio (no matter what type of work one is trying to convey) without looking like a carbon copy. I found Wix, a free website builder with templates that have enough details to attract any time of business cliental.

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.