2: Design Portfolio

This book is a volume of shared pages, ideas, and methods by which to teach, learn, and be inspired. The design community’s portfolio is in your hands. The notion of “portfolio” has shifted dramatically in a very brief period of time. Portfolio as object, a case that houses physical samples of work, has seemingly been replaced by portfolio as content, an ever-malleable set of digital samples of work that can morph and adapt at a moment’s notice to all manner of media. The most critical elements in creating successful and memorable design portfolios and self-promotions still hold true, regardless of the media employed: Thoughtful creativity and an unrelenting commitment to details are the core elements of design that arrest attention and compel action.

The making of a design portfolio had typically been a very laborious task that involved tedious, time-consuming, and often expensive reproduction methods. Crafting a collection of one’s design work required adept use of craft knives and metal straightedges, and a well-ventilated area in which to use spray adhesive. However, as less expensive, short-run, digital printing has gained increasing acceptance and PDF files, websites, blogs, and social media have provided near-immediate updating of a designer’s most recent work, the time and monetary investments in showcasing one’s work have shifted.