Computer Arts

computerarts.creativebloq.com

spring 2017

argues. “It doesn’t really need a

logo. Good control of ideas type

and articulation of content is a

much better use of your time.”

In short trying too hard to

stand out from the competition

can often be counterproductive.

“Interns tend to be take more

‘creative’ approaches when they

send us their folio” reflects

Madeleine Fortescue resource and

recruitment manager at Moving

Brands. “But I think this often

just takes away from the work.”

For example one candidate sent

a recording of him singing his CV;

another sent instructions on how

to create an origami bird; a third

sent the team a box of crisps.

“At some places maybe gimmicks

like that go down well” muses

Fortescue. “But for us it’s all

about the work so I think that

focusing on producing a curated

solid and confident portfolio is a

much better approach.”

But what if that solid portfolio

isn’t getting you anywhere? How do

you find out what’s wrong? Simple

says St John: just ask. NB Studio he

that doesn’t particularly worry
me; quite often things are a group
effort” Brook reasons.
However do make sure you
don’t pass off the work of others
as your own either consciously or
subconsciously. “Remember you
often get people applying from the
same university who’ve worked on
things together” says St John. “So
if I don’t know it’s group work and
then I see the same project in
someone else’s portfolio...”
One recent trend is for students
to feature ‘personal branding’ for
themselves such as their own logo
in their portfolio. But be warned:
hirers aren’t keen on this trend and
in all honesty would rather just see
your name nicely typeset. “Personal
branding gets in the way of what
you’re trying to look at which is
the work” says Murphy. “It opens
candidates up to criticism too: if
they create a personal brand they
have to expect that brand to be
critiqued in some way.”
Tim Beard partner at
Bibliothèque concurs. “The
portfolio itself is the ‘branding’” he

The days when hirers demanded to see a physical printed

portfolio seem to be waning. “i haven’t seen a physical portfolio

in about 10 years” says ustwo’s Tim smith. “Back in the day if

i saw someone with a leather portfolio i’d think: ‘ah! There’s a

fellow graphic designer.’ if i see it now which is very rare i think:

‘photographer or maybe architect maybe a yoga instructor

definitely not a graphic designer.’”

ustwo is a digital agency but although Spin works on a range

of physical and print projects founding partner and creative

director Tony Brook takes a similar view. “I recommend candidates

send PDFs and/or uRls” he says. “with a pin-sharp PDF your

work never looks better than it does on a shiny Apple mac

high-resolution screen. In comparison physical portfolios just

look grubby and a bit knackered. It’s a very studenty kind of look.”

opinions on this matter are divided though and Tim Beard

of Bibliotheque for one would like to see something tangible

at least when it comes to the interview stage. “It’s good to see

physical things as well as digital files or PDFs” he maintains.

“you don’t need a print-out of every item in your portfolio but it’s

useful in the places where format scale or extent change the

perception in some way: books magazines posters packaging

and so on. you need in some way to tell a bigger story than any

previous interaction has offered. If you have experimented or

pushed finishing and execution this is the time to illustrate it.”

LeT’s geT physicaL

ARe PhySIcAl PoRTFolIoS STIll RelevAnT In 2017?

“personal work can be useful if it

shows what your interests are or

what you’re passionate about”

tO ny Br OO k creative directOr Spin

says sends a simple ‘capsule reply’

to every portfolio submission

acknowledging receipt – but if you

don’t hear anything for a while

there’s no harm in directly asking

for feedback. “I’m never harsh but

I’m usually quite honest” he smiles.

in The MiddLe

So you’ve got your feet under the

table in your first job. It’s all going

well meaning that you can forget

about your portfolio for a while

right? Wrong. Even if you’ve got

no immediate plans to look for

another job you never know when

you might need to. Redundancies

often come like a bolt from the