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HIRE ME?! - The Portfolio Handbook

1. n l 24 TE Dd Ron HO EEE T fn a giunge cm IET en Tuned F primm Pg dmm aa od humum rmm cm s on nn E NJ EPS e Select Everything in the Discard Object Menu 107 27 PRINTING TIPS PRINTING TIPS HOW PRINT CORRECTLY DOUBLE CHECK YOUR WORK No TRIPLE check your work Read through your portfolio yourself and then give it to a couple of your peers to proofread Printing without revision can lead to errors in spelling alignment and continuity 15015 A MAGIC NUMBER If you re printing your portfolio make sure your image resolution is at least 150 DPI TEST PRINT Your colors gradients and transparencies may not always print as expected Print quality is determined by a huge number of factors Test prints allow you to make sure you re getting a quality print before shelling out a lot of cash Caution LEAVE ROOM FOR BINDING Make sure your margins are big enough for binding The last thing you want 15 cheap plastic coil binding running through your text and images PAPER CHARACTERISTICS Printing establishments will offer three options of paper finishes Glossy Satin and Matte Glossy paper will give you richer colors but Is often too reflective Matte 15 great for printing text but can make your images appear flat and dull Satin falls between glossy and matte and 1s a s
2. IDEATION er CONTEXT Always show your concepts in context whether that context 1s a hand a leg or anything else that can help communicate scale and method of use This page also does a good job of bucketing features into boxes making it clear which sketches relate to which KEY DESIGN POINTS Here the designer calls out three key points recycled materials re appropriated materials and building materials Loosely grouping sketches into these three main categories helps commu nicate the designer s intent ORTHOGRAPHIC SKETCHES Your sketches don t have to be 3 D perspective drawings to communicate your ideas well Here the designer cleaned up his 2 D orthographic drawings and colored underneath them in Photoshop to communicate color and material choice Varying the size of objects also helps draw the viewer s eye to more important ideas SKETCHES SKETCHES Well here it 15 the thing most synonymous with the word designer sketches You want them to look hot right All that time and commitment they should look like diamonds spilling from your page This is all about capturing attention and tantalizing the visual cortex Spending time organizing your sketches and making them pop will also help you understand how to become a better sketcher 69 THE SEXY SKETCH PAGE Making a good sketch page can
3. 003 q TAA a a 3 Man al Lina IE LAS Lv BEN IE re limes on t taten Put linea edited LADO FF Fil ALO Fide y focus om a SRH AT HA Fam RE kigi First things fi In Design rig ren t using li baking your rest ir FORTEC EOL Piila dew veni WCEXILITETUNCULTA fe a i Z Cosa aria Esp HF Cope Leid Grape AUTO UPDATE PAGES If you have an image that has been modified in another program such as Illustrator or Photoshop after it was placed in InDesign a small yellow triangle warning sign will display in the Links panel Just click on the yellow warning sign and the link will update immediately There Is no need to manually replace images after you update them CHARACTER STYLES Let s say all of your titles need to be a certain font size and color You can set all of this information in a Character Style Sheet and then apply it to each title with a click Now let s say that you decide that the titles are too small and they all have to be made 4 points bigger Just go to your Character Sheet modify the size and everything associated with that character style will update PACKAGE After you re done you can package your PDF and create a single folder that contains all your fonts images and
4. Naturally your personality will be demonstrated in your portfolio Some people recommend you to strictly use your portfolio to get a Job and advise you that people will get to know your personality once they hire you If this 1s your philosophy or even if 1t s not just remember that all of your content reflects your work ethic Clean up your sketches use nice photos use a consistent font and layout spell check DON T BE LAZY Make sure you work on your content first before you attempt to demonstrate personality with things like cover pages or cover letters Your personality will come through in your work Tracy Subisak s ninja outfit 2010 Is a great example of using the content of your projects to show some of your personality Depending on where you apply employers understand that not all of your content will be ten week long projects Although a project for ninjas 15 pretty quirky Tracy still highlights her sketching skills and her ability to think about soft goods A cover page 1s obviously the first impression and an employer can use it to get a feel for your personality Don t go overboard with graphic content keep the message simple and have fun with it Some people like to write a little paragraph describing their design philosophy or their personality Jince Aaron Occasionally people like to add their other skills such as fine arts photography or character design to the back of their po
5. THE PORTFOLIO HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO CREATING YOUR DESIGN PORTFOLIO Carlie Barrett Alex Broerman Emmanuel Carrillo Morgen Depenthal Kevin Doyle Allison Dunphy Matt Gill Natalie Miklosic Samantha Gustafson Mei Hsieh Aaron Kurosu Rachel Lang Andrew Leemhuis Jon Panichella Casey Schneider James Sloss Steve Speaker Aaron Watkins Jacklyn Woniger WE MADE THIS FOR YOU Creating a portfolio can be an immense undertaking It requires a deep understanding of yourself and reflection upon who you want to be It not only documents part of your past but it s built to forge a particular future As you sort through past projects 1t s a time of self reflection Strengths as well as weaknesses become apparent All the while it makes your eyes widen as you notice how much self growth can happen from one project to the next This book was put together for the purpose of facilitating higher quality portfolios It will not cover project processes but will act as a guide to documenting a project well for your portfolio We hope the book will ease some of the anxiety around creating your first portfolio and then later exist as a helpful reference book to check a newer portfolio concept against It s too subjective to say that there is any one right way to create a portfo lio just like there isn t any one right process to design Being fresh sur prising and creative is part of our job Following this book may not lead you to the most su
6. w s E engadget com thecoolist com coroflot com i LJ kupi See mma pow Lal Ben Komm As i 2 MEET m PI E 3 RCA Design Interactions 4 Flare bir komme Den a be amm B Firrimiluz Jell O Mold Competition L art le gab farm Seeing Submissions for Rural Interventions Thank Perni in u mi qum U m core com notcot org design rae CONTEMPORIST ue um 1 ie axi LI Im a E rir dioss Hima Lar ACACIA Pep liem A pus i ane Lb ka designmilk com designsponge com contemporist com DAN CLIFTON finding inspiration DAN CLIFTON UCID 09 NEW DEAL DESIGN The main disadvantage of being a young designer is lack of experience You lack not only technical design skills but also an understanding of and exposure to good design Most sophomores don t really get design yet The more you are exposed to good design the sooner things will click Students should have knowledge of modern designers and their work You may know the classics like Eames and Frank Lloyd Wright but do you know who is at the forefront of design today I know this is not the easiest or fastest thing for students to learn especially when you are still learning the basics of design but this expos
7. week off we noticed something strange we could focus better Who d of thought that one could concentrate better when they re not constantly being bombarded by texts music and RSS feeds Was multitasking really that efficient COMMITMENT IS AN ANTIQUATED CONCEPT Maps anywhere music anywhere Whatever you want you can have With digital tech you can make any boring interaction interesting but without what are we left with We are left to commit to our plans which made us think more deeply about making them in the first place By the end of our week off we had nearly every close relative friend pissed off at us But why Because THEY demanded to connect to us Where do we draw the line between personal space and constant availability JINCE KURUVILLA storytelling from above with JINLE KURUVILLA UCID 11 Storvtelling is one of the most crucial parts of your portfolio A good story coupled with great content can woo even the toughest HR reps The difficulty in storytelling however 15 weaving the right story through your individual projects and your portfolio as a whole Storytelling comprises of many angles but two of the more important ones are Branding and Voice Branding 15 basically your visual aesthetic This entails the nitty gritty of your portfolio including the type colors grid etc You need to ensure that you maintain a consistent theme throughout your portfolio
8. Fern Lares e Choose File gt Export e For Save As Win dows or Format Mac OS choose Adobe PDF Print and then click Save e Choose Smallest File Size from the Adobe PDF Preset menu DEP e In Compression area downsample images to 96 pixels per inch select automatic compression and select High image quality for color and grayscale images e Click Export 105 106 26 SIZE REDUCTION SIZE REDUCTION FURTHER SIZE REDUCTION IN ADOBE ACROBAT PRO i LI 1 Po EE EL E H sss L EI r kawsana AAA umm i sk LI mms STEP 1 Open file in Adobe Acrobat Pro and choose Advanced gt PDF Optimizer em i i D m su mm les m 2 E 2 men STEP 4 e Select Everything in the Discard User Data STEP 2 e Select High Resolution in the Flatten Transparency menu This option sometimes makes your portfolio larger Try t first without this option I uum ER 1 NOR A EGRE Pasa sss EE mam an l d dara ee a a Jal et oe ee LLL ee e mm Lr Tam ar m sa mas sss OF e Select Everything in the Clean Up Menu e Click Export em Hanse E
9. NOW I READY TO START PUTTING IT TOGETHER YES BUT HOLD ON JUST A MINUTE YOU NEED TO CONSIDER THE STORY YOU RE TELLING STORYTELLING STORYTELLING You have all your content Now what do you do with all of it How do you organize it Where do you begin Storytelling can give you the structure and the pizzazz to interest your reader Storytelling is a part of human nature Throughout history and culture 1t has been the way we express our ideas in an appealing organized manner Even the most basic of narrative structures use identifiable beginnings middles and endings With industrial design portfolios there are many ways to go about explaining your product system or service One approach is to simply tell the story of your solution being sure to explain the full scope of how it works The most standard portfolio method uses the design process to explain how a solution was found For this reason we ve decided to focus on dissecting the typical chronological order of the design process problem statement research ideation validation prototyping and finalization to tell a great story 49 50 HOW DO YOU TELL A STORY It s easy Think of your portfolio as a conversation The way you lay out your content helps direct that conversation We all have different ways we like to tell stories Similarly we all have different stories about our products The traditional method for storytelling 15 the chronological pro
10. The main advantage of DSLRs is the direct control over settings they allow and the ability to use interchangeable lenses Quality point and shoots have much of the image control and quality of a good DSLR It doesn t matter what type of camera you use if you don t set your scene to be appropriate for your project Consider what s most important scene for your product shot Would it be best to shoot it in a solid white photo studio The photo studio is perfect and would meet all your needs If you don t have access to one there are plenty of alternatives to making it work with what you ve got such as websites like http www diyphotography net homestudio cheap homemade diystudio no lighting needed Make sure your camera s light settings are set to the lights you re using in the studio You don t want goofy yellow or blueish looking images Would it be best to shoot the product in the environment it would normally be used or found in In this case your background could be equally as important as the product itself What you choose to include in the shot and the angle you take your photo at are just some of the factors that affect the story you re telling about your product This means you need to think constantly about what you re trying to communicate with the image you re taking ARE YOU A CONSULTANT CORPORATE DESIGNER Figure out where you belong in the design world KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE cir
11. Voice is the manner in which you tell your story If you take a look at upperclassmen portfolios you ll see different tones people take some playful some dark some reserved others bold and brash As a sophomore try to remember that simple and direct usually works best at this level but don t be afraid to experiment always get a second opinion though and for the love of god stay the hell away from paint splatters You probably don t have many projects The few you have probably suck It s okay we ve all been there before In a situation like this it s crucial that you figure out which specific story you would like to tell Why should someone waste 35 seconds of their life flipping through your portfolio Believe me 35 sec is a luxury What s the story you re trying to tell Are you trying to show employers your badass sketching skills Your attention to detail when CAD modelling Both Organize your portfolio projects to help tell that story Experiment with the order of your projects and portfolio elements Sometimes having your resume and bio at the beginning 1s the wisest decision 1t sets precedent to who you are and gives a prelude to your portfolio Sometimes keeping those assets in the back makes more sense a lot of employers just want to see the meat of your portfolio before they hear about how you were on the Chess team in high school Either way the organization of projects and ele
12. everyone was saying about how portfolio viewers spend about a second and a half on each page Looking at porttolios is only a tiny fraction of an industrial designer s job Just like that Bam Bam Bam All those hours and hours of work assembling your portfolio won t count for anything if it does not draw people in immediately and then reveal deeper detail upon a second glance Here are 10 things that I learned 1 Find inspiration for your portfolio I keep a binder with really interesting magazine layouts photography color usage and typography It helps me to see how they created 1 2 3 hierarchy and font size even keep portfolios when people let me so I can see different vantage points Your inspiration can be digital too 2 Ask someone better than you I guarantee they will be flattered to show you some new tricks Ask them where they learned from Don t be afraid to ask someone else for help 3 Don t avoid redoing things If you are not 10000000 proud of your project sketch render whatever redo it No excuses 4 Don t clutter Pm serious Don t do it It takes more control and understanding of relationships to create a page using Just one or two images rather than haphazardly throwing on stuff 5 Your portfolio 15 a story 1 know you have heard this before but your project 1s a story Who 1s the protagonist What is the problem The solution Talk your project out verbally and set it
13. the almighty hero shot Its purpose Is to create pure desire for your product Think of it in terms of a print advertisement Consider how print advertisements use lighting perspective camera angles and depth of field to create a stunning image The electric razor you spent all semester designing needs a product shot worthy of a magazine If the business end of the razor is the most exciting get a bug s eye view of it Make it epic this 1s a chance for you to show a view of your product that otherwise might not be seen Consider adjusting the focal length of your camera whether it s a real camera or the one in a rendering engine to capture the details you want and blur ones you don t Check cool magazines such as Wired or Good for inspiration PHOTOGRAPHY A basic guide to PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY AND HOW TO NEVER SCREW YOUR PHOTOS UP The photo of your finished project can determine whether an employer s going to think it s PHENOMENAL or just OK DSLR digital single lense reflex camera 15 desirable but definitely not required to take awesome shots Even if you don t own one consider borrowing one from someone else in your studio Most likely the most important aspect of your photograph is your depth of field and a DSLR can help you control this exactly the way you want Aperture The size of the hole that light will enter measured in F stop The smaller the F stop the larger the hole will b
14. 85 ASKING FOR ADVICE 21 21 PROFESSIONALS MING HSIEH 272 Za 24 KRISTEN BECK DAN CLIFTON JINCE KURUVILLA DON T WANT ASK THIS GUY FOR HELP BUI I KNOW HE S DONE COUPLE OF THESE BEFORE AND WORKED AT SWEET JOBS GROW SOME BALLS DON T BE AFRAID OF ASKING FOR ADVICE ASKING FOR ADVICE Sometimes the best ideas come from people that aren t you So don t be scared go out there and learn from the upperclassmen your professors ask your previous coworkers even ask your classmates Obviously they have opinions Organizing a personal meeting to evaluate your portfolio can be useful Sit down or ask them to evaluate each page to understand 1f you are conveying a successful message and what you could do better Don t forget to write what they say down their knowledge is valuable and could help you get that next job you want This could take some time so maybe offer to get a coffee with them If you can start a conversation with them you can understand what isn t working in your portfolio learn from their previous mistakes and hear about their work experience Just remember they were once in your shoes and probably can relate at some point to crying at 4 in the morning 89 PROFESSIONALS wisdom from above with PROFESSIONALS WHAT THEY WISH THEY HAD KNOWN We contacted many industrial design professionals many of whom hire interns and asked them what they wish they had k
15. DUNPHY MATT GILL NATALIE MIKLOSIC SAMANTHA GUSTAFSON MEI HSIEH AARON KUROSU RACHEL LANG ANDREW LEEMHUIS JON PANICHELLA CASEY SCHNEIDER JAMES SLOSS STEVE SPEAKER AARON WATKINS JACKLYN WONIGER THANK YOU WE LOVE YOU We d like to shout out special thanks to the people who made this book possible Mike Roller assigned this book as a project in his Design Communica tions class Without his enthusiasm for improving the design community this book wouldn t have been possible Special thanks to Mike Roller Darrin Hunter generously allowed us to use his examples of resume makeovers and gave us some much needed graphic design feedback Special thanks to Darrin Hunter Design Professionals provided invaluable insights into their experi ences with creating and evaluating portfolios They offered great advice supported by years of experience Special thanks to Rachel Kroft Chris Witham John Murphy Bryan Hammer Richard Kuchinsky Tom Pelzer Jacob Ballard John Turner Jaime Sanchez Julius Tarng Doug Laib Marnie Meylor and everyone else who gave us their thoughts and advice Recent UCID alums wrote Wisdom from Above offering re latable advice and perspectives Special thanks to Jince Kuruvilla Ming Hsieh Kristen Beck and Dan Clifton Class of 2012 Industrial Design DAAP 113 WE WANT TO HELP PORTFOLIOS ARE TO MAKE That s why we wanted to help It s been a while since we were so
16. Da e nr Hal In dum Hakla de 5 me lo Pal Laer Se har manani mn dar Dual aa EE al Hu Hal IN TE i kak Porro hee Ml Iben mana bimi su halata res all e ra Dama Diploma onn n G n reis Tran bain ee al Ea seen Ae daa sanas lar er desig anra Smeg zminzu GOOD RESUME This resume does a good job of staying clean and concise The hierarchy is conveyed well thanks to consistent formatting The variation of font weight and style within a single typeface helps reinforce the importance of each body of text The white space makes the content more approachable and easier to read 41 A HA FE a o pe 7 2 4 PLACING CONTENT PLACING CONTENT EASILY ORGANIZE ALL YOUR PHOTOS RENDERS AND SKETCHES pc 0456 AFA thoes LS ji m Bda k E L Bayas Tk Ses Cote y Dave Shi Ctrd 5 E E a Ane irla 5 m Place STEP 1 InDesign 15 set up as a content organizer not a content creator As such you will be placing pre created content into the program All of your sketches drawings renders and photos will be placed into the document To make this process easy organize all of your images
17. Farihion Appreciation School Band Marching Band P Vollyball Ciuidoor Club Choir National Awards and Scholarships Collage Starving Artists Scholarship High School Deas List all deur years Honor Diplcena National Homo References Avaliable upon nequest A BAD RESUME Arbitrary graphic treatments detract from the content Too much variation in text alignment and centering of the name and e mail address contribute to this resume s lack of readability While your name 15 important the content of your resume is what employers want to see RESUME MAKING A RESUME OR MAKING OVER A RESUME STEFAN STARR Urra pl Circimeati Caller si beige jiri pe Plana 114 UN Gina xi fii Ala Hari High Tabal P FA Ara hum hls C4 Elba Covbrsare Parar Lua Tar a ak a ee boska lora Lira i llo Lai Lus rm RN EA tee E re Luro Pet farag os ee en el en F d boga mg plan cherie wier mi im y e S A l im Fach Apra Arj Fah ases Me par a es ss rg mand al air sal mera r La mom a end ieir rma d ears raba led og mle 1 am Vode ika Gael bie gt ie kung dered mamas Trikes F dikem Tah mpg rend arar Falken re Bardo
18. SKETCHES AFTER ADJUSTMENTS VALIDATION VALIDATION If at first you don t succeed try try again 15 the mantra for the validation phase and 15 a very important part of storytelling This 15 the meat and potatoes of design process where employers get to see which of your concepts worked and which concepts didn t Nobody s design 15 perfect the first shot so don t be afraid to show your mistakes Mistakes lead to further developments and help you discover how you can improve your designs Be sure to document EVERYTHING including those really quick pink foam models You aren t going to be keeping those under your bed forever and even if you do they re sure to get crushed Show off your crappy cobbled together sketch models They are rich with information and are as valuable if not more to the design process as having really hot sketches 71 78 THE TRANSPORTER increase road presence increase transportation identity focus on storage ROAD PRESENCE N RODEOS 6 FOR TRANSPORTATION 69 TRANSPORTATION Storytelling Tip CONCEPT EXPLANATION This is a good example of illustrating the point of a concept and the reactions of those who were asked to give their input By displaying feedback given by the typical user the design becomes more valid giving your concept more weight as a desirable solution Remember the clearer you can make your information the better When y
19. components STORYTELLING FULL BLEED PHOTO A full bleed photo is definitely eye catching A simple picture can help express your story so you don t have to use as many words COMPELLING STATEMENT Ed Mangum s cover pages show a beautiful picture of his final product and a clever statement that makes you want to turn to the next page It s a unique approach that utilizes an advertising approach to hook the reader e MINIMALISM In Rachael Stefanussen s portfolio DO S E 3 she emphasizes importance of TUN MESS S her questions She uses simplicity to TO THE 0B GYN REALLY HAVE her advantage Her cover pages set TO BE THAT the tone and give the problem a lot of weight DOES A TRIP RESEARCH RESEARCH Research offers a story about empathy It is a tool to explain what drove the opportunity in your design concept Employers value projects with empathy because it humanizes and validates your product At this stage in the game you really want to show that you know the depth of the problem and what you are going to focus on to solve it Showing research in a portfolio doesn t mean that you bombard the viewer with facts Instead you should highlight the issues that you really honed in on to enhance your story A lot of times using one page to explain all of the key insights can be confusing so utilize storyboarding or lists to help break down your research Use research to highlight t
20. joke like this CEMENTDAM amp DAMNGET IT The audience could sort of break down your meaning if they thought really hard and spent lots of time on it but they re not going to do that Each page of your portfolio needs to tell a clean concise story about what you re showing It doesn t need to be a literal story you can have a sketch page that s only drawings but the hierarchy of the images draws the audience through the sketch process Hierarchy isa fancy word for having something worthwhile to say and being able to say it well Make your punch line actually have some room to punch 25 CREATING THE DOCUMENT 07 USE INDESIGN 08 GRIDS 09 TELLA STORY 10 RESUME 11 PLACING CONTENT 12 ALIGNMENT VOICE PERSONALITY WHEN DO I GET TO START MAKING THIS THING IN PHOTOSHOP PHOTOSHOP HAH YOU NEED INDESIGN TO ORGANIZE YOUR CONTENT USING INDESIGN USING INDESIGN THE GOLD STANDARD FOR CREATING YOUR PORTFOLIO Ghana a A re mi 5 m a a 07 o dis d d um r m E I d RAE DEAT ser Issa a dq Adobe PDF Preget Sale See Standard None OI ES Gene Acrobat 6 FOF 1 Description qamna to Create Adobe POF documents bes on screen e mail and the Internat Created PD den can ba wich Acrobat and Adob
21. not it s a vital part of the design process There are always new ways to approach this process but just make sure it s conveyed an understandable amp meaningful way Brainstorming can start anywhere mind mapping sketching free association anything that will help you get ideas down on the page If you choose to include your brainstorming phase In your portfolio don t worry about how dumb the ideas might appear Rather focus on communicating how your brainstorm led to your best ideas and how you organized the chaos 61 62 din E a wa i mi 1 2 gt ptu V P POST IT NOTES HELP Post it notes have become an 1con of the brainstom process Whenever possible it s recommended to pair your words with a quick sketch on the post it Using different colored paper 1s a useful way of tracking different types of information GRAPH Plotting on a graph gives your data dimensions Graphs are commonly seen in portfolios and are fairly easy to comprehend CATEGORIES Post its are easy to organize and then reorganize into groups or categories as you think through your information This type of process may be better left for your process book BRAINSTORMING LINKS While plotting your linked ideas may be visually stunning 1t doesn t say much more than I did this If linking ideas 1s key to your design process for the sake of brev
22. the graphic design should not be a crutch to hide bad content your content won t be communicated well if you haven t laid your portfolio out in a pleasing way Don t feel like you have to tell a complete story on every project The portfolio itself should have an over arching story and the end of that story should be why I should care about you why I should hire you amongst all the other graduates Differentiate yourself Build a world through the portfolio in which the only outcome is you working here Create a visual style guide for yourself as a brand portfolio CV websites etc sharing similar fonts graphic elements etc Learn from others see as many portfolios as you can Make sure you have a closing page to re sell yourself They just looked at all your hard work Make sure the last visual they see is your name It could summarize your skills with bullet points and re state your name and contact info These are the results of an anonymous survey 91 iron Mig Hash After much trial and error was ex able to focus on what l wanted a 2 1 work to say and not let my poor Eey AR ncs layout interfere wth my message EN J DESIGN COMMUNICATION Defining your style takes time These are examples from Ming s sophomore pre junior senior portfolios gt printer studio project that resolved many problems and included a circular prin
23. up so it is understood this way 6 Back 1t up Back it up again Now back it up again save it to a disc and send it to family in a completely separate location Nothing could be more tragic than a hard drive drop a theft or a spilled glass of liquid on your years of work 7 Passion Some of the coolest portfolios I have seen came from kids from unheard of design programs that didn t offer cool sponsored projects They sought out their passions and then executed personal projects soft goods sketching classes etc Show initiative to go above and beyond the call of duty 8 It s a lot easier when you have a plan Thumbnail out even the roughest of sketches and you will have a better idea of your plan of attack Putting in that hour of planning will save you many hours down the road 9 Make friends with a graphic designer Unless you are a trained in graphic design make friends with someone who has mad graphic skills and ask them to critique your portfolio 10 The grid is your friend It might be painful but make a template and stick to 1t using guides and grids Like n rule 8 the more you plan out the less of a pain it 15 later to add projects 95 96 7 w GEAR SIME REDES ENTERTAINMENT CULTURE LIME NUR wa Inn L Eincrate App Bd a ER uncrate com archdaily com bi THECOOLIST see E ru E
24. AL STUFF WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING FOR DUDE DON T EVEN KNOW WHAT PEOPLE EXPECT TO SEE IN MY PORTFOLIO WHAT DO NEED IN THERE TO GET A JOB 9 4 0 0 7 8 0 1 6 0 Ja b 6 8 6 9 6 1 6 2 NIdALOJOHd NDIS4Q JJYOJIMONA IVJINHJAL 3514 NDIS4Q STIDIS 9NIH3ON3H 9NIT3OOIN 08 SIHJILIAS 13431 NOWVINAS Add NIdd INd4d 02 15 ALAILISNAS JILIHIS4V SIHJILIAS lt SV301 30 ALITVND These are the results of an anonymous survey 10 00 KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE Remember your portfolio is not about you it s about what you can do for an employer As you re creating your portfolio ask yourself who is my audience Are you applying to a corporation A consultancy A toy company Your portfolio should align to your employment goals We asked co op employers to rate the skills they look for in students on a scale of 1 to 10 1 being of little importance and 10 being absolutely imperative According to the data employers most value the quality of ideas presented followed by competency in conceptual sketching and ideation They cared least about graphic design sensitivity and skills in the shop Take these findings with a grain of salt the designers we were able to contact mostly worked at consultancies and the data could easily shift if the focus was placed in another area of the design world Prospective employers
25. afe bet for portfolios Satin 1s gonna make you look good Don t Stretch Images It automatically destroys the credibility of your skills This will be a deal breaker for employers Besides why would you want to stretch an image when the Shift key is so close by 109 110 E Et i GOOD LUCK Portfolios are a bitch to make At it s basest level a portfolio is a collection of work you ve completed At it s loftiest a portfolio is a visual representation of your thought processes It s your face to the world and it had better be a good one Portfolios are one of the most stress inducing aspects of your design life right now and they rightly should be A portfolio gets you a job and that job gets you experience and that experience will make your portfolio better and better It s a cycle that all starts right now with your first portfolio Now before you go and jump off the roof in utter exasperation remember that portfolios are never good on the first go round Whether you re a sophomore or a professional with 25 years of experience it s going to suck the first time you sit down and start hashing out your next draft That s OK Right now you re surrounded by people who may be competing with you for jobs but we are all actually pulling for each other That s the joy of a design studio You ve made a portfolio and you may think it looks pretty good great even but show it to any one of your
26. ahead of time into folders you will remember To start placing your content go to File gt Place Ctrl D or Cmd D 2 Navigate to your images select one or multiple and hit Open Left clicking will now place each piece of content into your portfolio sequentially OR Create a shape with the pen shape or frame tools and with the shape selected place an image into it Tip Ctrl Cmd shift while dragging will resize images proportionally STEP 3 Repeat these steps to insert all of your content into your portfolio Be careful though clicking on a currently placed image while placing new ones will replace it with the new image 43 ALIGNMENT ALIGNMENT amp DISTRIBUTE TOOL A GREAT WAY TO MAKE SURE OBJECTS TEXT ARE PROPERLV ALIGNED All over the place Align Objects Distribute Objects Distribute Spacing Align To Fut ALIGNMENT TOOL The alignment tool is a great tool to help make sure your text boxes are perfectly lined up Select all your desired text and choose the corresponding alignment option Align Objects Distribute Objects DISTRIBUTE TOOL The distribute tool is a great way to get evenly spaced items It works wonders when trying to show lots of concepts 45 TELLING A STORY 13 STORYTELLING 14 RESEARCH 15 BRAINSTORMING 16 IDEATION 17 SKETCHES 18 VALIDATION 19 FINALIZATION FINE GUESS WON T USE PAPYRUS IN MY PORTFOLIO
27. be a challenge but there are still a few guidelines that can help make your composition more interesting Don t be afraid to greatly vary the sizes of sketches making your most important ideas the largest Letting a few sketches hang off of the side of the page 15 another great way to make your composition more dynamic Overlapping sketches like those shown in the center can help lead the viewer s eye around the page Adding shading and placing shadows underneath your objects can also help make your sketches pop Be careful not to over do it however Sometimes all it takes is shading one or two sketches to make a clear understandable page SKETCHES THE NOT SO SEXY SKETCH PAGE This page illustrates common mistakes some beginners make on their early sketch pages There 15 not a single sketch here that breaks the edge of the page making the composition appear very static In addition the lack of scale variation reduces overall visual interest and increases confusion as the viewer has little indication of which sketches should be viewed first 71 BEFORE ADJUSTMENTS SKETCHES SCANNING SKETCHES CLEANING UP SKETCHES IN ADOBE PHOTOSHOP STEP 1 e Usea good scanner Always use a scanner to transfer your sketches from paper to your computer Never use a digital camera this will distort the image and perspective gt SIErZ Open Photoshop an
28. cess Conveniently this is the same as the way we work on our studio projects There s also the product manual method This method is good for when you want to leave out everything except the final solution One other way to have your portfolio talk about you is to focus or highlight on a particular set of skills In the end 1t s up to you to choose a method that best fits your work After all this 1s your story to tell not ours HIGHLIGHT YOUR SKILL I kick ass at sketch renders Sometimes that s all you want and all you need to say John Miller has a portfolio that doesn t fuss with the confusing intricacies of a complex process His story focuses on his skills his attention to detail and his interest 1n electronics STORYTELLING ILEULERLG mal si Vor Hoa ELLE rnm main da de arar pr lF bene eee pr diia hiilaria del mie bri ar rk Parar la a dir ELS D IN UE uot Rd j iran S RE fm sog d Ga Nu Kul wumpa TE LET E ira PRODUCT MANUAL Another story you can tell will focus solely on the end solution Sexy photo real renderings beautiful in context models or informative step by steps will be sure to convince someone that your product is real Oliver Muller s portfolio takes a page to highlight attention to feature consideratio
29. cle one Do you sketch your favorite product over and over again or are you promiscuous with what you sketch monogamous promiscuous Can you pass a drug test yes Would you prefer working in a cubical with an Aeron chair or in a dilapidated warehouse cubical warehouse Do you have a mustache tattoos or wear feathers in your hair yes Do your shoes give shoes to poor children yes Would you like to live in the suburbs or the city suburbs city Which Macrobrew do you prefer High Life or PBR High Life PBR Would you prefer to shop at Whole Foods or a farmer s market Whole Foods Farmer s Market Do you prefer glossy or matte glossy matte UOOS 31 ADAINS STILI 983 oseo q AJUEJJNSUOI e ur Suo oq pue 123sdrq IJGLEJIJJNSUT ue uum oo JUSIJ JU Jo no J jIJOUM 21e10d1oo e 343 Jo No pop nof JT 21 22 SWIFT REVERSAL From top left Tracy Subisak s ninja page Morgen Depenthal s cover page Matt Gill s last page Steve Speaker s tipped over user Casey Schneider s portfolio cover page shows a great combination of harmonious voices The simple photograph of the bouncing balls blends with the rounded typeface Quicksand perfectly VOICE PERSONALITY VOICE PERSONALITY DON T BE BORING Every graphic
30. d go to File gt Import to find your scanner e Import your scan If your sketch 1s black and white import in grayscale e Make sure you use a high enough resolution 150 DPI is a good standard because it will look nice in print and on screen but not take up too much space on your computer 1 ia waw rd _ ia Layer ram 10 Ee l amp 2 bii SEFI e Rotate the page to the proper angle then crop the page to include only the image you want 73 SAA TAS SO aina 10 yie zu Mie iz mee i E mern 8 1 00 255 I lo 255 STEP 4 STEPS Open Levels Image gt e Click on the left eye dropper in Adjustments gt Levels the line of three on the right e Hereis where you can change Use this eyedropper to indicate the value of your drawing to where on your image should be make the whites white and the true black blacks black e Click on the left eyedropper and hold Alt while you click on the spot on the drawing that should be black e Next use the right eyedropper to pick true white Hold alt and pick an area on your drawing that should be pure white 74 Erase the extra lines and smudges on the drawing and you are good to go Now shade color or place the sketch in your portfolio
31. e Rei An D Pagas MASTER PAGES Master pages are used to automatically insert layout elements on various pages All elements of the master page are placed onto any page you choose and these are by default not selectable when you are working on individual pages This allows you to further develop the page without worrying about accidentally modifying the pre defined elements such as page numbers grids and guides and graphic elements FROM WEB PRINTING InDesign allows you to have control over your export settings from a high quality print to a lo fi web version You can also establish bleeds gutter and slug dimensions These are key 1f you are printing a portfolio 29 30 IW Screen 5 PM png LAYERS ji E james lee png _ kendal_st oard png 7 Picture 21 png STROKE ob bb for soph book jpg BE qill 1 53 COLOR kE a 8 b png bi E 4 ds des des k kurosu_a e_ 07 png 53 SWATCHES Rnalizatio cliFton jpq 70 dde Finalizati etzke png 70 fx EFFECTS Ainalizati ubisek jpg 20 rough it H 5 0 0 CHARACTER smes irst things first you re using me n Design right Right If you gw E ren t using InDesign you re usr aking your life harder InDe wormes as a great feature that makes GT ind rids for you Tu rn NEHA PORTFOLIO GUIDE
32. e and therefore the more light will enter The more light that enters the shallower the depth of field Use a lower aperture for extreme dramatic effect to make your object up close in focus and the background completely blurred out Use a higher aperture for keeping more of the image in focus behind the focal point ideal for large installations or scenes where the background should be in focus Shutter speed can be used to your advantage as well A shutter speed of 1000 means the shutter will open for one thousandth of a second while one of 2 will open for two whole seconds If you have the depth of field you want but your images are too bright try increasing the shutter speed If your images are too dark try decreasing it Taking a picture at a lower shutter speed could help you capture a graceful blur of motion or you could arrange a way to have your object stay perfectly in focus while the rest of the background Is whizzing by at light speed ISO The lower the number the richer the colors The higher the number the grainier the photograph Ideally you want to shoot in the lowest ISO possible but sometimes you need to shoot at a higher ISO due to low light or because you re trying to capture something that s extremely fast especially when these are factors you can t control when shooting outside Using a tripod can help you shoot easier at a low ISO Don t freak out if you don t own a DSLR
33. ead to easily groom Instead of taking the suspect s arms to the cuffs OX takes the cuffs to the suspect s arms OX hanc PROCESS FUNCTION MONEY SHOWING OFF YOUR DESIGN SHOWING OFF YOUR DESIGN After putting together all of the necessary process work for a project the final product visualization 15 used to seal the deal You can approach this a number of different ways First decide whether or not you want to express your final product in the form of a render or a photograph If your model turned out well and will look good with a bit of Photoshop magic use it Otherwise a render is fine As always make sure to tell a story with your product visualization otherwise it s just another image on a white background You can do this using a few techniques 1 Focus on context contextual shot often called a money shot puts the product in an environment or in use It completes the story and ata quick glance somebody can look at your project and get 1t Say you finished designing your soap bar and you have a nice physical model with some packaging Go put it by the sink next to your toothbrush and take a picture Take a photo of someone who fits your demographic removing it from the package Professionals want to see a strong sense of story and the money shot 15 one of the best tools to accomplish this If you need to do a 3 D rendering for your money shot bolster your rende
34. element has its own voice specific typeface a color block a photo an infographic everything has a visual language it speaks Putting elements together that don t speak with a singular voice makes the page become cluttered and visually confusing Every project you design has a tone whether it s an undercover graffiti jacket or an adorable cow milkshake maker The graphics you choose need to reflect the tone of that project Font color photographs icons and layout all need to promote the idea behind the project This 15 an opportunity for you to pull the audience completely into your thought process Spend time figuring out what kind of designer you want to be Do you love the details Form finding Discovering elegant mechanical solutions Are you In to sustainable design social design or transportation design Once you ve got an idea of who you want to be tailor the voice of your portfolio to speak to that passion Yes it s difficult and yes you won t know right away what you re really into and yes your passions will change and evolve A portfolio is a living document It should always be evolving and changing with your growth as a designer so let t speak to who you are but also who you want to be Creating a portfolio that speaks to those you want to learn from is your foot in the door You ll land jobs you re more passionate about and you ll get to network with people you actually want to learn from
35. elling Tip Does it flow If you can read a clear understandable story by stringing the headers biggest words on your pages together than you are in good shape DATA HIERARCHY When presenting statistical data remember to limit information and use an effective hierarchy Too much information can bore or intimidate the viewer This page 1s successful because the designer calls out one piece of data as being most important Less important but still relevant data Is represented in smaller graphs and given less visual space MOOD BOARD You may decide to include a mood board to communicate the emotions you want your design to convey If you do don t let it get too cluttered This board is successful because each element is purposeful and has room to breathe In addition the environment in which the items are placed contributes to the overall tone or feel of the page TASK ANALYSIS Is your product an evolution of an existing productr If so tell the story of the current product Here the designer shows the problems involved with apprehending a suspect with a pair of traditional handcuffs Problem areas should be clearly identified to communicate design opportunities such as this page in magenta 59 BRAINSTORMING BRAINSTORMING Brainstorming 15 representative of the nebulous beginning This 15 the part of the portfolio that some designers get most excited about Whether you love brainstorming or
36. ested now 1t s time to present the final concept In its simplest form the finalization phase in your portfolio is the chance to show off your final design A money shot usually kept on its own page conveys the emotional pull of your design Follow 1t with a few pages explaining your product s functionality and show how it integrates with the lives of potential users You can show a few more things depending on what skills you want to communicate Showing how you modeled sanded and painted the final prototype would be vital if you hope to find a co op in a model shop doing similar work for example But don t take our word for it Use your designer s intuition to help yourself decide what parts of the process to show and what parts aren t so important Be creative and have fun with it 81 82 EASILY CHANGE GRIPS GAS THRU HANDLE THE MONEY SHOT The simplest part of your finalization page s will be the glamour shot or money shot Don t be afraid to let it take up a good part of the page or even go over the edge of the paper This page s especially effective because the designer included hands to show scale and method of use EXPLODED VIEWS Exploded views are cool Not every project needs one however If your exploded view 1s concise and shows you ve been thinking about how it all fits together include it In this example the designer shows how the handle of his jaws of life show
37. f your project show how you think and interest them in your solution Whether you state a problem introduce a character introduce an important challenge or even give the reader a visual sneak peak of your design it s up to you to decide what is most important Since ID portfolios are notorious for using rhetorical questions and a lot of employers have seen the same projects make sure your problem statement 15 unique Hopefully you asked questions that are more meaningful than what could a bowling ball box look like One example could be Using minimal cardboard how can a box support the weight of a bowling ball You could also introduce your problem by using inspirational forms as criteria to inspire a bowling ball box SIMPLE ILLUSTRATIONS ayy This is an example of using hierarchy to present a design ee P problem The simple illustration er p has the most visual presence on the page while the pink text provides a greater understanding of the topic without becoming a overwhelming As a result you continue through this problem statement with a clear takeaway STORY WITH STEPS Ren e does a really good job of spreading the problem out and presenting it in a clear concise way The viewer gets a very clear picture of the problem that he 15 trying to solve through the use of very simple easily recognizable icons There is hierarchy of text to support the visual
38. fellow ID students and they ll pick holes in it like moth in a wool coat It s not out of malevolence but just like your mom harping on you to stand up straight it s for your own good Talk to everyone you can about your portfolio and actually listen to their advice You re going to get quite a bit of conflicting input but eventually you ll be able to condense the critiques into actionable items to change Look at and critique other people s portfolios too Find out what you really love in someone else s portfolio and do it in your own The more you develop the language of portfolios and critiques the better you will become at expressing design intents in your own portfolio So there you have it just about everything we know about crafting a portfolio Think of this as an overall guide and send us your stuff We ll want to see it and we re all a bunch of opinionated hooligans who will tell you what we think Our degree is only worth as much as the following graduating classes make 1t worth Be better than those who came before you Build on our experience Learn from our mistakes and from our successes Be honest with your studio mates watch out for each other demand the best from everyone around you and never take the easy way out Portfolios tell your story but we re all here to make sure that the story 15 a good 111 112 CREATED CARLIE BARRETT ALEX BROERMAN EMMANUEL CARRILLO MORGEN DEPENTHAL KEVIN DOYLE ALLISON
39. gn text to the left because this 15 the way we are used to reading centered and right aligned text can be used moderation Justified text when text is aligned to create straight edges on both sides can be used in moderation as well but it can create a rigid and unnatural feel with awkward spacing Measure The length of a line of text aka column width The length of the text affects the movement of the reader s eye If the length is too long the eye may be lost in the transition from line to line If t s too short the reader s eye may tire A line of text 1s usually about 50 characters across and no more than 65 characters across Rag The uneven vertical edge of a block of type The rag affects the flow of the reader s eye so try to avoid a shaggy rag MEASURE gt x Dinosaurs are my Not only are dinosaurs my favorite thing most favorite thing but they should be YOUR favorite thing ever If you hired Who the hell can resist the mystique of me can tell you all the world s true monsters A bygone era about Apotosaurs of the most epic creatures to ever touch Oviraptors and the the surface of the planet Of course if Archaeopteryx you don t believe in that sort of thing But all pale in dinosaurs won t necessarily be your comparison to the favorite thing designosaurus RAG X Now on to robots If Y But perhaps you do not robots are not the absolute enjoy all the same things that amazingest creations I do Yo
40. he way you think The key findings or questions you ask can be meaningful to employers 5 58 NEGATIVE SPACE CREATE THE ILLUSION OF SUSPENSION empty space between objects force the eye to have select one dominant over the other and in some instances create the illusion that it is floating r Lin SO DO OFFSET SURFACES COPILOT uses offset surfaces to create the illusion of suspension two separate objects that share little connection can establish a feeling of lift the question is how far apart can the objects be before the illusion is lost INSPIRATION PAGES Inspiration pages are just that a way to show what inspired your product Don t show too many images Showing only the best examples and pointing out what makes them successful can be much more effective than a cluttered page of dozens of objects amp OPPORTUNITY SPACES Plotting an array of competitive products on a two axis graph can reveal market opportunities for your product In this example the designer compares competitors based on two factors how high or low end they are horizontal axis and how athletic or traditional they appear vertical axis Plotting the items this way revealed an opportunity space in the upper right quadrant for a new quiver that is both athletic and high end 14 RESEARCH WHO REALLY KNOWS HOW TO USE THEIR INHALERS Storyt
41. ild ideas And Curlz What were you thinking Go to bed The fonts you choose to use will dramatically affect your portfolio One big mistake that many portfolio newbies make is allowing your text to take away from your work Your type should be readable when important and nearly fade into the background when it s not essential Typography is more than just choosing a font it is about making your information legible and readable while still keeping an aesthetic layout The following 15 a quick run down of the basics so you can avoid common mistakes The more you know 35 36 Serif Sans I BE TITLE I m a sub heading just body text Every day 11 00 2 30 p m GAFE DE LA POO Serif Something unimportant yet po TOBACCO CHOOSING A TYPEFACE There are two families of typefaces Serif and Sans Serif Serif type has a short line or finishing stroke on the end of each character Serif typefaces are more traditional and formal and are easier to read in a large block of text Serifs help guide the reader s eye along the page Sans serif typefaces do not have finishing strokes They are modern less formal and easier to read in titles and small amounts of text MIXING TYPEFACES AND HIERARCHY Too many typefaces can confuse the reader and become distracting Keep the number of typefaces to three or less to better create a hierarchy on the page Choose typefaces that compliment each other in mood a
42. ion pages have to show a 3 D model If you re adept at sketching and Photoshop rendering this is a great place to show off those skills PHYSICAL PROTOTYPING Did your project involve making a final physical prototype This is the place to show your model making process if you wish Be careful not to show too much This page is successful because the photos are clear the subjects fill the frames crop and each photo shows a different skill Thumbnail One of the easiest ways to work through your portfolio s layout is to sketch out thumbnails No computer or Wacom necessary just grab a pen and start drawing out some miniature boxes to use as your pages You can quickly throw around layout concepts this way FINALIZATION THAT S WRAP Developing a portfolio 15 like telling a story It may be a struggle for you to decide what to include so ask yourself What am I trying to say about my process or How does this contribute to my story Everyone has their own way of thinking about things The way you tell your story indicates whether or not you are a good fit for a company The purpose of creating your portfolio is to get yourself a Job that caters to your strengths not to overwhelm you with the amount of work you need to improve Celebrate your own design sense and what you bring to the table Tell your story and make sure it has future employers sitting on the edge of their seats wondering what comes next
43. ity solate them and showcase them beautifully in your portfolio WEB Also visually stunning yet hard to comprehend Focus on a way of being able to distill this activity and then feature only the most insightful points that led to your end result BRAIN MAP If it fits and it s legible put it in Make sure to highlight the key points and make them stand out Brain maps are fun to linger on 63 IDEATION IDEATION This is where you show how you think Many students make the mistake of simply covering pages with sketches Though your sketches may be beautiful that s usually not the point Rather you want to communicate your thought process Always link your sketches back to your initial problem and research showing how you worked towards solving the problems identified 65 LINK YOUR RESEARCH brida 1 I0 YOUR SKETCHES In these two pages the designer links the key words from their research to the sketches that they in spired This is another great example of hierarchy making the key points stand out by making the text larger on the page THOUGHT PROCESS The point of a sketch page 1s to convey your thought process Plac Ing your ideas on a spectrum or in this case a two axis chart can show what emotions you were attempting to convey and how your sketches worked towards those goals ideally moving towards the upper right Pri
44. linked files This makes backing up your work super simple Preflight also ensures that there are no RGB colorspace pics in a CMYK doc key for printing GRIDS USE A GRID GRIDS ARE A GREAT WAY TO LAY OUT YOUR CONTENT Use a grid Seriously A grid is not an arbitrary smattering of guidelines across the page It s a legitimate structural guide Imagine driving in a new town The lines on the road act as your guides Now imagine if those lines weren t there It s a stressful environment where you can only focus on one thing getting through it First things first you re using InDesign right Right If you aren t using InDesign you re making your life harder InDesign has a great feature that makes grids for you There are examples of grid systems on the following pages that you can use as a guide Use your grid to line up your graphics exactly and to inform yourself as to where things look evenly placed Use a copy and paste workflow to keep titles subheadings and different blocks information all in the exact same place Having consistent and logical alignments throughout your portfolio 1s essential It s important to stick to your grid Arbitrary combinations of columns lines and rows do not project a logical STEP Click onto your master pages Go to Layout Create Guides STEP2 Choose the number of rows and columns to create your grid The guides feature also lets you control your gut
45. ments sets the pace and tone of your portfolio The key to a good story 1s the ability of others to understand your original narrative Don t design your portfolio in a vacuum Sketch things out iterate and get feedback from EVERYBODY Make sure your story 15 translatable to both your older professors and your dorky classmates 99 5 WHieLPooL Toes Ther We ve HAD RADIO FLYER Little Tiles Con Rock Pro HASBRO WRIGLEY ELENEN TEAGUE Co NTINNUUM tool astro E LEVE N tool astfo THI Con P 6 Litle Tikes Hasgro Wig Poo TEAGUE RADIO FLYER Continuum Rocic T uy We GLEY Don t get discouraged We ve been rejected plenty of times lt doesn t reflect poorly on you just keep trying It happens to the best of us SEE 54 EXPORTING A PORTFOLIO 25 INDESIGN PDF 26 SIZE REDUCTION 27 PRINTING TIPS WHERE 5 THAT BUTTON THAT LETS ME EXPORT MY PORTFOLIO TO A PDF OO THINK THEY SELL THAT AT STAPLES 25 INDESIGN PDF INDESIGN PDF EXPORTING A PDF FOR WEB USE Ben aH biri mem Tau ky Acme CH d ker we e APA A mi unm cee App er ee m inam AA em 13 a ER DEO A asa wara bil mm amp JA sl L Bed Eem BUS ge mei LI ILL Tol im E AA re ls Drei A m m
46. n above work By show ing only one small element of the product visual clutter is erased and the overall message of functionality 1s enhanced FINALIZATION LINKING YOUR INSPIRATION TO YOUR FINAL PRODUCT These two great pages show what objects and forms inspired the final concept Linking the final concepts directly Wi aa Mr oben dock RP back to those forms and speak Tha perdi mand ers ha tkum send r hua rr de ole akz ery La hui mamas a e mirr omm hr remar cad m a i Kaz ee kk cher a EEE UR ge ds ing about how they contributed to stes waya TTS the design can make a lot of sense out of what is usually a mystery BALANCE Tha y pana niece emen hora Tha baka ta en lk P qa a pesi NS 7 LA TAT HIGATITE SPACE PRIORITIZE FEATURES When communicating your prod uct s features always remember to prioritize hierarchy Here the designer wanted to communicate the folding element of the design first and foremost while he subordinated the other features by making them smaller 83 THE STEP BY STEP Products are meant to be used show it Showing a simple step by step remember less is more can be a great way to show off your clever interaction ideas SKETCH RENDERS if you re presenting a smaller project don t feel like your finalizat
47. nd energy Then create a hierarchy of text by giving each typeface a set purpose in the portfolio ex A bold sans serif for titles and a light weight serif for body text With this organization the reader will know what information is being delivered and where to look for specific information TYPOGRAPHY WHEN IN DOUBT Typefaces vary greatly in style and attitude There 15 display type script hand rendered type and more but for the purpose of a portfolio it is best to stick to simple clear legible typefaces Here 15 a list of safe typefaces to use when you just aren t sure as well as a list of typefaces to avoid at all costs GOOD FONTS Gotham The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Gill Sans The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Helvetica The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Univers The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog FONTS TO AVOID Comic Sans The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog ROSA WOOD QUIOK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZ ji DOG Baskerville The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Futura The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Bodoni The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Clarendon The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Bruch Seript The quick brown for jumpa over Pa yrus brown fox jumps over the lazy dog 37 LEGIBILITY The most important part of text is that t is readable The typeface can be
48. ndar It helps keeps due dates manageable Sync it with your smartphone and KEEP ON TOP OF ASSIGNMENTS Y SS Talk to the engineers and scientists and the RPC to see what 1s possible before finalizing your design z z If you have to pullan all nighter before final crit try to make it two days before There s nothing worse than being a zombie during a long critique HEALTHY HABITS HEALTHY HABITS TIPS TO KEEP YOU ALIVE AND SANE Being an industrial design student isn t always healthy Working late nights and long hours can take its toll on you but there are a few things that can help you feel better and work more effectively E Consider packing lunches for Jesus Saves often and in iterations school eating fast food every day for lunch 15 bad for you not to mention expensive Having fewer possessions It s not the end of the world if your makes it easier to be a critique goes badly You can always nomadic design student fix it in your portfolio Don t forget to eat It s easy to forget Keep a sketchbook with you as often as possible A lot can be learned from collaborating with other design majors as well as engineers Universities have extensive libraries Use them once in a while Photograph everything from sketching to prototyping BATTERY PLACEMENT i i places center of gravity underneath grip for i ease of use E Attach the trimming h
49. nown when they were putting together their first portfolios Here are some of their responses Leave space for things to breathe The more graphics the more it looks as though someone is trying to cover up a weak skill Use appropriate screen proportions for layouts Unless you are being hired for full time no one reads print outs The importance of ideas over the ability to draw Document EVERYTHING Do honest self editing If you think something can be better fix it Storyboard your project before you start make sure you know what the story 15 and how to tell it What s the problem Who are the characters How can you build the plot so that your viewer stays interested and wants to see more Show variety in your work I wish I would have toned down my graphics I applied a template that was essentially a shape framing each project learned to appreciate subtle details and white space a lot more Quality not quantity The ability to tell a story of a product development process from start to finish highlighting difficulties and key decisions along the way Tell stories through visual no one likes reading Different companies like different portfolios Astro likes consumer electronics and fancy sketches renderings Smart likes good process and story as well as tons of iterative prototyping and experimental projects While
50. ns plus it shows he can make a bad ass model 91 92 LE SERA 0000 m cime emi m ass ZH Gu PS L i 5 u Th 4 i L ger 2 quar LT F MU rr k da s maaa irm Ae Daum mr umm iku Pre i as 4 39 a ma was ii i L 4 1 en ERE PALA EN m po uu a miss a IMMA B ra pp o xul d i Rel e ara rd EL rima einer eienn Hor Li napin rr F L pu ini Nm Res me cmm me el CHRONOLOGICAL PROCESS For simplicity s sake this is the story we re going to tell Most portfolios use this because a reader can clearly understand how the designer arrived at a final solution By understanding the beginning and middle processes that connected to a final solution the reader can connect on a deeper level To put it simply reading a novel page by page is a lot easier to connect to a story and a character in a novel than jumping between chapters STORYTELLING ckground what is the why should we THE CHRONOLOGICAL STORY Remember learning about the Hero s Journey way back when in English class You can think about your project in a similar way your project is es
51. nsistent use of a grid was my method of choice After much trial and error I was able to focus on what I wanted my work to say and not let poor layout or graphic assets interfere with my message 93 By allowing photographers to Adjustable handle con communicate between lights trols retractable bulb using a bluetooth wireless remote the time for set up and tear down will be drasti Touch screen power cally decreased The retract control able bulb feature simplifies and protects throughout the traveling process Remote removal button Attachment for multi light carrying Multi light memory system never forget a set up kas Power Button Power In as ee a USB Memory A rima p d E 7 5 Ideation Concept exploration Kristen Beck Krisl0beckQ gmail com Practicality meets Style The removable touch screen allows ki top to bottom Kristen s pre flexibility throughout the home and flat junior senior portfolio i shipping reducing fuel consumption Kristen Beck Kris10beck gmail com KRISTEN BECK things I wish I knew KRISTEN BECK UCID 10 E BOULD DESIGN Things I wish I knew about making my portfolio It has been kind of surreal sitting on the other side of the fence looking at hundreds of portfolios 1 always said I would be the kind of person who would read through every project Now I see what
52. ou finish a page ask your grandma what she thinks it is about Does she get it VALIDATION SKETCH MODEL Photos of in use sketch models illustrate that you have an understanding of how a product will be used in its intended environment They will further communicate the design of the product by showing scale WORKS IN PROGRESS Show don t tell An intriguing photo of a project in the works will let your viewer know the project 15 in progress and 15 on its way to further refinement CHANGE IN DIRECTION Pages like this are useful if you discover that your concepts FAIL x x really miss the mark Instead of QA A k ZA disregarding all of the hard work 1 1 that you did up to this point this page marks a change in direction and demonstrates your ability to realize your faults regroup and take a different approach Pages like this also act as a good segue Instead of throwing your viewers a curve ball you are letting them know you went back to the drawing board f y d a Mh W 7 Mig y i F a d d fu i Ll wi FESTOOL CLEA RK Ls s s s s hi gp k E FINALIZATION FINALIZATION Finally You ve introduced your audience to your design problem taken them through the research shown them how that research evolved into ideas that you validated and t
53. per awesome portfolio of all time but 1t will provide a solid foundation on which to showcase your super awesome designs Class of 2012 Industrial Design DAAP University of Cincinnati N k ni He a 15 kh WA C ara Aw gt Er rt Es lm ma i u ue um mde x PREM HEATON SWENRIT TABLE OF CONTENTS WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING FOR 00 EMPLOYER SKILL PREFERENCES HOW AND WHERE TO START 01 HEALTHY HABITS 02 SHOWING OFF YOUR DESIGN 03 PHOTOGRAPHY 04 KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE 05 VOICE amp PERSONALITY 06 HIERARCHY CREATING THE DOCUMENT 07 USING INDESIGN 08 GRIDS 09 TYPOGRAPHY 10 RESUME 11 PLACING CONTENT 12 ALIGNMENT TELLING A STORY VISUALLLY 13 STORYTELLING 14 RESEARCH 15 BRAINSTORMING 16 IDEATION 17 SKETCHES 18 VALIDATION 19 FINALIZATION ASKING FOR ADVICE 20 PROFESSIONALS 21 MING HSIEH 22 KRISTEN BECK 23 DAN CLIFTON 24 JINCE KURUVILLA EXPORTING A PORTFOLIO 25 INDESIGN PDF 26 SIZE REDUCTION 27 PRINTING TIPS MEET CASEY 8 JON THEY ARE MAKING A PORTFOLIO TOO THEY FEEL LITTLE VULNERABLE THIS IS SOO SHIN HE S THE DOG HELL KEEP YOU ORGANIZED THIS IS DALE HE S GOT AN EYE FOR FLAIR HE KNOWS HOW TELL A STORY THIS IS TONY HE KNOWS EVERYTHING HELL HELP YOU WITH TECHNIC
54. perfect but if you can t read it perfection doesn t matter There are many aspects to typography that affect the legibility of your text First there is the size make sure the body text is not below 10pt Next there Is the use of white space you must let the type breathe Leading is the vertical spacing between lines of text Proper leading keeps the reader s eye from losing its place between lines It also affects the overall aesthetic style of a page Kerning is the spacing between individual characters and tracking 1s the spacing between groups of characters both affect the flow of text A readable page requires adequate contrast between the text and background For example white text on a 30 gray background is not very legible but white text on 7076 gray is clear LEADING Nam suntium qui omnis et qui tem quo odissitate liatia quatiis resent Ibus natet rem eum venim dolesti ntotatur minullabori odit atem illant et quatatur arumquam cusci occusam que perorporio ma debis eatincte pliquas volupta sitibus amendis Nam suntium qui omnis et qui tem quo odissitate liatia quatiis resent Ibus natet rem eum venim dolesti ntotatur minullabori odit J atem illant et quatatur arumquam cusci occusam que perorporio ma debis eatincte pliquas volupta sitibus amendis KERNING VS TRACKING Kerning Tracking Kerning Tracking CONTRAST I m at 70 gray 38 TYPOGRAPHY TEXT LAYOUT Alignment Generally it s best to ali
55. phomores but we never forgot the emotional roller coaster of trying to get our first job we still go through it Looking back we wish we would have known what we know now This book is for you a collection of our knowl edge passed down to you in the hopes that you become better designers better professionals and better people UCID 2012
56. r scene with some environmental objects Say you designed a kick ass pencil sharpener Place it on a surface that resembles a tabletop and take 5 minutes to model up a pencil and some sheets of paper There are some resources online that offer free environmental models for this purpose Check out 3DContentCentral com for nuts and bolts Archive3D net for furniture and Turbosquid com for everything else 2 Focus on the features and benefits of your product If you just designed a power tool that has an articulated handle that moves in a unique way show how it s positions help the user get into places they could never get to before If you ve spent the time investigating how your product will actually work show that in a cutaway drawing or an exploded view It doesn t have to be entirely realistic as long as it shows thinking and consideration 3 Focus on process You ve just spent an entire quarter developing an ergonomic kitchen implement and the process to get to that point wasn t easy Besides the obligatory endless sketching you ve made several models out of pink foam and have 20 iterations modeled in 3D These are all valuable pieces of your process and need to be documented Lay all the models out in a composition throw in some printouts of other iterations and make it exciting Having all of this additional process in one place can make for a powerful full bleed image 4 Focus on composition This 15
57. rtfolio Two pages from Carlie Barrett s portfolio showing harmonious voices in the text colors and photography i Final Design Battery docks in stand lo charge and then locks inta Itn p for Twist Ehrat ree next to handiebiri ONCYCLE Digital dr Por batbery ie locabod on stem Matt uses dotted lines amp color flares to explain the various components of his bike project IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONTENT THE MOST PROMINENT THINK ABOUT HOW THE FOCUS RELATES TO THE CONTENT AROUND DO YOUR EYES FLOW AROUND THE PAGE HIERARCHY HIERARCHY ESTABLISH PRIORITIES Apparently I need better visual hierarchy What the hell does that mean We know you ve asked it We have Some fancy pants designer takes a peek at your portfolio and says something to the effect of I m not sure what to look at first on this page It s nice stuff but it s chaotic You need clearer hierarchy Then they walk away because you re too nervous to ask them what they really mean by hierarchy Sure you understand the concept Visual hierarchy is the organization and prioritization of information in relevant meaningful ways That s a pretty accurate description but let s break it down Think of it the same way you d tell a joke For example a fish runs into a cement wall and says DAM Har har right Most student s portfolios Storyboard sto ry board n would tell the
58. sentially the hero You want to make sure your reader is invested in your hero and can follow your project s storyline One way to make sure you are actually telling a story 15 to remember the connections between each part of the process Ask yourself Does this page connect well with the last page It sounds obvious but sometimes it s about remembering to write down why you drew that certain sketch on your page what part of the problem it addresses or why you picked that particular image on your inspiration board making it all as simple to understand as possible It s easy to see if your story makes sense by reading out the headlines of each page Organization at this level of hierarchy will help you just as 1f someone were to read the title of a newspaper article Employers get scared seeing a lot of text but they also don t like to be left in the dark Use your words to effectively describe your process sell your way of thinking and interest your reader in your project 93 94 COVER PAGE PROBLEM STATEMENT It s really important to explain your problem Einstein once said If I had an hour to solve a problem spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions A cover page or problem statement can set the tone of your project and hook your reader Use this as an opportunity to intrigue your potential employers It s your first chance to introduce the story o
59. ter the space in between grid sections and whether your margin 15 or isn t included in the grid sequence of information A 3 x 3 grid 1s the easiest but feel free to experiment with 11 x 4 or 7 x 7 Look at some cool kid magazines NYLON i D Metropolis and copy their grids Their grid systems are complex but consistent throughout and make sense for the content displayed on the page Choosing the right grid and sticking with it will make your portfolio look baller 31 32 Row Margin Column This grid illustrates things to avoid Uneven columns Uneven rows e Uneven gutters GRIDS l ILU Instdr kif Herman d hial n i s ilt sm Fina 1 k M Sch PART This is an example of a 6 x 6 grid in use in a portfolio 33 TYPOGRAPHY TYPOGRAPHY It s four in the morning you ve just tossed back a little bottle of Five Hour Energy and you re thinking to yourself I need to pick a font Everyone else is using Helvetica Futura Univers I want to be different I want to stand out I know Pll use Curlz Stop Right There Fonts are not a good way to differentiate yourself Your work zs It may be tempting to make a splashy page with crazy fonts but unless you ve thought it over and it still seems like a good idea when you ve finally gotten some sleep then step back from the computer and settle down with your w
60. ting head that would print across an entire surface in a single pass FINAL DIRECTION MING HSIEH not a graphic designer MING HSIEH UCID 09 ASTRO Pm not a graphic designer and will never consider myself one However I feel that one of the major flaws of ID students 15 our lack of graphic design knowledge We don t understand basic graphic fundamentals that our peers in graphic and digital design would learn in their first years of college ID students and our portfolios in particular suffer greatly because of this sadly ironic as our profession Is centered on the visual Our efforts during the academic quarter are instead focused on the sweet render sketch page and other assets that will satisfy our project criteria If designers are typically visual learners why do many later struggle sometimes without knowing with portfolios This can be explained in part by a general lack of time the two weeks we are given to produce portfolios at school is possible but it takes much longer to create something clean and professional Time constraints aside most portfolios suffer from some combination of poor planning and use of an inconsistent grid that result in ambiguous storytelling a frustrated viewer and no job The good news is the fix 1s relatively simple and doesn t require months of preparation When developing my portfolio planning the story of each project FIRST along with a co
61. u should know that you have ever seen then l just is okay and that no matter don t know what we could what happens will respect possibly say to one you if you format your text another that would be in a way that is not atrocious worthwhile for either of us Are you really reading this I m not 39 40 Stefan Starr College Address Permanent Address 1000 Clifton CE 21 Thompson Ave Cincinnati 45219 LEER 45342 133 555 1234 1231 555 0000 123 555 2227 edu Education Unbrer y of Cincinnati OH College ol Dern Class 20111 Miamisburg High School Mamrisburq CM Diploma HE Work Experience bie of Skye Cashmere Initernc cents with choosing menchandise Ordering fabrics clothing from venders Running Ehe stone mel and orden for merchandise Gir n Inc Iriternc Aushang designers with lineplans in change of and keeping track of them Onganiziesg lineolans pitches and other ieidermation tee the designers Jacks Acpaarium and Pets June 2007 Preser Sales Ale Custermen with question run wee Canh and count mona at night maintain care of animals and fish Adobe Creative huts 2 Indesign Colis and Phobsibog Micra Office 2000 Word Excel ad papa run Design Flat sketches Garment construction Textiles Pattum making and Activities College Fully Cats
62. ure can help jump start the development of your design sensibilities Students should be reading blogs and magazines like crazy Soak up as much knowledge as possible Not only do these sources provide a picture of design today but they re also a huge source of inspiration 97 98 What is Yerba Mat Over the course of a week we noticed that we had a lot more downtime than in the past Solitude provided us with a chance to reflect something our addiction to technology takes away from us WE RE LONELY 8 AWKWARD W O OUR GIZMOS We often use tech as a safety net It provides us with a comfort zone in situations that challenge us Without tech we found ourselves in random interactions with all walks of life which ended up making us a few more friends top to bottom Jince s pre junior senior portfolio Qu YOU WON T LEARN THIS SITTING AT A DESK Ditching class to spend a dav working at a Produce Stand never felt so good To trulv understand the life of a Findlav Market vendor I spent a day immersing myself in the daily rituals of the humble produce salesman Being present during the entire experience of setting up taking down and maintaining the stand helped me develop empathy towards a collaborative solution Jeff pictured above revealed fascinating insights into the delighters and pain points of the produce vending experience Towards the end of our
63. will not spend much time looking through your portfolio You ll get just a few seconds of their time seriously you ll only as long as it takes to flip through the PDF you send them Organize your work so that your best project 15 the first project they see You should also end your portfolio on a high note It s important to learn to self edit don t include work that you aren t confident in and aren t comfortable talking about HOW AND WHERE TO START 01 02 us KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE 04 E 06 HEALTHY HABITS SHOWING OFF YOUR DESIGN PHOTOGRAPHY VOICE PERSONALITV HIERARCHY OK NOW WHAT HERE ARE SOME THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND Keep an inspiration folder and populate it often Check blogs daily Industrial Design Served core77 Gizmodo Engadget MocoLoco etc Try to introduce yourself to upperclassmen They re a wealth of knowledge and are always willing to help Have them critique your portfolio a Don t paint or use chemicals outside of spray booths At the end of the quarter the studio 15 a toxic wasteland and it s bad for all of us Lay off the coffee it ll rot your stomach Go outside once in awhile know it feels like you re not being productive but leaving the building once in awhile can be hugely impactful to your creativity Sometimes mocking things up foam and paper can be more useful than sketching Keep a cale

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