[Apple Pro Underwear]

I just bought a black metal screw post portfolio. standard sheet inserts, i preferred the top loading kind. it is like this but 11x14 and very nice textured black metal:
http://www.veer.com/products/merchde...age=VPR0004000


instead of getting a black nylon case that matches it, i bought a fancy laptop case that looks very nice:
http://www.casauri.com/omni/omni_ev2014.shtml

i thought it looked more purse like than laptop computer like, and i think it works. it is very thin and padded. the pic they use does not do it justice. the fiber is kind of a glossy navy.


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now i am wondering how i am going to order my portfolio pieces. it has a thin pouch in the front, so i will put my real samples in there with some extra resumes. i already decided i will print images of my work rather than put the actual pieces in the sleeves. when i was dopey student, i had nothing but now i have so much that i have to edit all this crap down to the best or best to talk about atleast.

how are you guys showing ads BTW? i have tear outs but i am electing to just put them onto a layout so they can be viewed all at once.

also, i am thinking of insug one of my 8.5x11 insert portfolios and just slapping in one of everything little but interesting i've done just as a flip book to bring along. so after my real portfolio, i can just whip out this thing and — "i've done this... flip, flip, flip... " just to sjow the true volume of projects i have done. i mean, you folks must have like hundreds of little direct mail cards, cards, coffee holders, t-shirts, etc etc that are not big enough to really show in the main portfolio right?




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so feel free to chime in on what you guys own. i'm sure some of you mofos are big pimpin'

[art_director]

ahhhh...the portfolio discussion returns. and it's a good thing because the times and preferences change regularly.

( my time is tight right now so excuse the quick response )

the case you've chosen is mighty spiffy. no doubt it will give your book a polished look.

my portfolio is in an old school oversized black case. nothing special. i've used the same one for 11 years and it shows. inside are my samples -- most are laminated reprints with a matte finish and backed with neoprene. i also have a number of printed pieces. my tv reel is on a dvd that rests in a pocket on the top of the case. i also keep it stocked with leave behinds -- 18" x 12" color lasers wiro-bound as a reminder to go in clients' files.

on average i send it out 25 times each year. i don't know who handles it or what they do when it's out of my site but they aren't kind to my wares and it shows. to be honest my book looks like dung at the moment. i'm simply too busy to do anything about it.

many writers, art directors and designers i know have actually stopped laminating their samples and just send non-returnable samples (color lasers). many of these people, like myself, have a number of years and jobs under our belts so providing printed samples is no longer a mandatory.

my personal preference is to have pieces loose in my book rather than bound. that way a person viewing it can hold each ad on its own and interact with the communication. when they're in bound pages the case / binder can be bulky and detract from optimum viewing. it goes without saying that the leave behinds are that way (bound).

at the end of the day creative directors are often suspect of super fancy portfolios. my experience has been that they often are cover for inferior thinking that goes in them. also, while you may be the only person you know with "cool case of the month X" there may be 600 other people with the same one.

a number of years back a fellow sent his samples to a top tier agency in a hollowed-out book covered with stickers. the samples were poor quality color lasers but the ideas were stellar. he beat out the competition who all had über fancy books because he spent his time on the ideas rather than the case. i'll never forget that approach and the success he had with it.

[birdman]

I am by no means an expert when it comes to portfolio presentation, but I'll offer this: at my company, I once attended an interview to hire a freelancer because of the volume of graphics work I had at the time. She brought some things that were in clear plastic sleeves in a black portfolio like (it seems) most people use. But she also had a bunch of booklets and small catalogs she had designed, and we spent much more time looking at these, because there were three of us at the meeting and we could pick them up and spend more time looking at them individually, rather than all crowding around one portfolio while she flipped the pages. It was also effective the way she spread everything out on the table, which showed the volume and variety of her work very quickly.

If I ever get around to revising my portfolio, I'd be tempted to get rid of the folio sleeves altogether and mount my work on cardstock or something similar instead.

-birdman

[Apple Pro Underwear]

Originally Posted by birdman

If I ever get around to revising my portfolio, I'd be tempted to get rid of the folio sleeves altogether and mount my work on cardstock or something similar instead.

I think I completely agree. I'm making sure I whip out samples as we look through the portfolio. that's a great idea. depending on interest or whatever, i'll whip out stuff for each page.

my last portfolio was all mounted stuff. i never liked how at the end of interviews, you had to stack em back in while they watched you.


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by the way, i fully realize "portfolio of the month" mentality is probably true — that's why the one I bought is pretty standard and not really that big a deal. the only difference is that instead of having that "aluminum" look it's black metal. sort of like the difference between a white nano and a black nano!

[production_coordinator]

I use the old school black oversized portfolio (the one I've had since 1994) I have everything in sleeves for review and "backup" copies for the client to manhandle.

That's it. I try to keep it simple as it's difficult, for me, to keep it updated otherwise.

[andi*pandi]

Funny, I just reordered mine last night. Pulled a few things from too long ago, replaced with newer things. Noticed a trend in my own style as the years have progressed... It's hard to take out things that once got you a job, but now they look dated and you've got much better.

A few years back I downsized to a 11x14 black leatherish thing with clear sleeves. In the pockets I have smaller pieces or other variations for handleability and if someone ever says, well have you done X, I can pull it out, even if it's not my strongest piece and I don't want it in the main portfolio.

I am torn on the mounted/handleability feature though. Last time I had things mounted down, and sure enough people wanted to pull them out and look... I don't have room to keep a handleable copy in the pocket of everything... so now they're in the sleeve loose and they slide around, most annoying especially when I have more than one thing per sleeve--letterhead with envelope, for example.

Does anyone think that color copies look like spec work and not real samples? I had some in mine of jobs that I never got print samples of (posters, ads, etc), and wondered.

[birdman]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

Does anyone think that color copies look like spec work and not real samples? I had some in mine of jobs that I never got print samples of (posters, ads, etc), and wondered.

I'd like to know what folks think about that as well. I've seen job ads that request "tearsheets," which, as far as I know, is the actual printed page torn from the magazine in which your work appeared. But many of these companies want to keep all submissions on file as well, so what am I supposed to do? Keep 50 copies of every piece I've ever done? How will I know how many of each work I'll need in the future? (And as you say, sometimes you won't get free copies, especially if it's a larger work.) It would be much easier to just print out new copies at home (inkjet or color laser) as I need them. With the right paper, a color laser can look the same as a magazine page, but might bring into question whether or not the piece was actually published. On the other hand, that shouldn't be so much the issue as whether the work is exemplar of what the company is looking for, right?

-birdman

[art_director]

There will always be exceptions but...

IMHO it's acceptable and, in some cases preferred, that you use high quality color lasers. Reprints / tears are often difficult to come by, the sizes irregular and, in time, the color degrades. If you have experience people likely won't even question whether it's spec (unless it's a suspicious client / concept).

Many people I know use a small laser printed book to send out. Then, if you're invited in for a chat, you can bring the reprints in all their glory.

[::maroma::]

For my portfolio I use more of a box type book than one with pages. 95% of my work is samples of catalogs or small printed pieces. I really like showing actual samples of my work rather than laser printed versions. I think potential employers really like to touch and handle the work. Of course having samples of your work can't always happen, but I work pretty hard in getting plenty of samples of all my work. For the work I show that I don't have samples for I use lasers. But my portfolio is about the same size in thickness as other portfolios, but it doesn't have any pages. Just a recess where I can put my samples.