Illustration Portfolio Organization: 2. Formats

Illustrators, designers, artists, and photographers must all employ a portfolio to organize and display their work. However, the way in which to do so, and the purpose for doing so, can vary considerably. Understandably, there are a number of commercially available standardized formats to choose from to create a portfolio. Although all portfolios share the commonality of offering a sequential display of work, there are distinct format differences that function most effectively for each of the various artistic disciplines. These portfolio formats range from centuries old archival folio styles to today’s most contemporary, virtual application driven displays and web hosted presentations.

© 2013 Don Arday.

These days, illustrators often employ several different types of formats in their arsenal of portfolios. And even if the content of several formats of portfolios remains the same, it will benefit an illustrator to take advantage of the flexibility that is afforded by a range of portfolio formats to meet the viewing demands of today’s clients and employers. Whether or not it is permanent employment that is being sought after, or it is freelance commissions, it will most likely be necessary to have more than one hard copy portfolio, and more than one digital or virtual portfolio.

Portfolio Formats

To cover a gamut of requirements, situations, and opportunities, there are three types of portfolios used by illustrators.

1) A physical paper-based, hard copy portfolio.

2) A digital application-based portfolio for a portable hardware device.

3) A virtual web-hosted e-portfolio.

Each portfolio type has it’s own function and is suited to a specific manner of display and presentation setting.

Paper Portfolios

Although there are many different manifestations of paper or hard copy portfolios, they mainly fall into two formats, those that are a book or binder, and those that are a presentation box, case, or container. The two formats function quite differently with each having it’s advantages and disadvantages. Paper portfolios are clearly superior when used in person-to-person interview settings.

Binder Format

Just as the name implies, a binder or bound portfolio functions much the same way as a picture book or magazine does. Except for the first and last page of the portfolio, the binder is made up of pages that form double page spreads--one “left hand reader” and one “right hand reader”. So both sides of the binder have to be taken into consideration when designing and arranging the visual and informational materials. Due to this bound book format there are two presentation possibilities. One is to have two opposing images, and the other is to have an image on one side with information on the opposite side.

Advantages

• Many quality professional prefab bound portfolios are available in a number of attractive and durable materials.
• Binders are lightweight and compact.
• Prints can be inserted into acetate sleeves with no additional mounting or backing needed.
• A bound portfolio maintains a fixed order of work well.
• Vendors are available who can create one-of-a-kind custom ordered bound portfolios using unique materials.

Disadvantages

• Altering the order of work and adding or replacing work is difficult to accomplish without a domino effect occurring.
• The acetate sleeves are fragile and tend to scuff and crease easily.
• The glossy reflectance of the acetate pages can be an annoyance in certain interview or presentation settings.
• There are extreme quality variances in the manufacture of prefab bound portfolios. Those with vinyl sleeves should not be used.
• It is very difficult to choose and arrange illustrations on opposite pages that will coordinate and compliment one another.
• It is difficult to present to several people at once or in a large group setting.
• Binders and bound books are limited by the capacity of the number of pages or the width of their spine.

Presentation Case Format

Presentation cases or folios hold single sheets or panels that display an image or set of related images. They can be one sided or can have imagery on the front side and information on back, or vice versa. A folio can be presented by separating one panel from another, or it can function much the same way as a binder by flipping panels as they are reviewed. Case formats consist of two part boxes with a lid and a bottom, or “clamshell” case with the lid attached to the bottom.

Advantages

• The work can be seen one illustration at a time or one image per panel.
• Altering the order of work and adding, removing, or replacing work can be accomplished on the fly with no difficulty occurring.
• Portfolio cases can hold other promotional materials as well as the illustration panels.
• The individual panels of images can be displayed gallery style in a large office or conference room setting.
• The work can be passed out to several people in a group review setting.
• Individual pieces can be left behind for job or freelance opportunities without compromising the integrity of the portfolio.
• The substantial impression of the portfolio can impress potential employers or freelance commissioners.
• Due to the simplicity of their construction, portfolio cases are easier to customize than bound portfolios.

Disadvantages

• Portfolio cases weigh more and are more difficult to transport or ship.
• Cases are limited in capacity by their depth.
• There are fewer professional prefab portfolio cases available.
• Individual panels must be reinforced since they can be separated from the protection of the portfolio case.
• Individual panels require additional time and expense to produce.
• Panels require an additional number of materials and level of craftsmanship to produce.

Digital Portfolios

Digital portfolios have not only are a necessary element of an illustrator’s marketing materials but have become a requested portfolio presentation format. Clients and potential employers have made the conversion from hard copy paper portfolios to digital ones, especially in situations where commissions and jobs are being awarded by national and internationally employers. PowerPoint, Keynote, and Portable Document Format (PDF) portfolios are the most common of the digital formats. Digital portfolios are finite files that are application–based and exist on some form of storage device.

Advantages

• Outside of hardware and software expenses, a portfolio can be produced without any further expense.
• A portfolio can be endlessly duplicated at very little cost using CD’s and Flash storage devices.
• Changing the appearance of the portfolio, altering the order of work, adding, removing, or replacing work can be accomplished with no difficulty.
• Customized versions of a portfolio can be created for individual client situations.
• Using email to deliver a portfolio to inquiring clients and employers can eliminate expensive shipping costs.

Disadvantages

• Hardware and software used for the sole purpose of presenting a portfolio makes the endeavor very costly.
• Digital portfolios are vulnerable to computer storage or hardware failure.
• Illustrators must know how to use whatever application software they use to create the portfolio.
• There can be incompatibilities with the software, display, typographic choices, operating system, etc. between the workflow system that was used to generate the portfolio and a reviewers computer system.
• Digital devices require an environment that is conducive to the limitations of their display, e.g., the iPad display functions very poorly in bright light.
• Portable digital display devices present format and size limitations, whereas paper portfolios are 100% customizable.

E-Portfolios

The latest trend in illustration portfolios is the e-portfolio, which is a totally virtual extension of a digital portfolio, but with one crucial difference.  Although it seems e-portfolios are the same as digital portfolios, the difference lies in the fact that an e-portfolio does not really use an proprietary, encapsulated software program such as PowerPoint, nor does it exist as a standardized format digital file. E-portfolios exist, not in the form of a finite file, but in the form of a website or blog, or within a directory listing (like on Behance.com), etc.

Advantages

• E-portfolios are very low or no cost distribution vehicles for providing worldwide access to your work.
• An e-portfolio is out there and easily accessible on the web.
• E-portfolios are very easy to alter, edit, and update.
• The location of an e-portfolios can have a specific URL identity with the name of the illustrator or their company as the domain title.
• A large number of works can be shown.
• Work can be organized into categories and accompanied by descriptive texts.
• There are many web-based venues available to “host” an e-portfolio.
• It is easy to link an e-portfolio address to a social media site as a reference source.
• Receiving feedback on the work presented in an e-portfolio is simple. 

Disadvantages

• An e-portfolio is out there and accessible on the web where copyright and image security is hard to maintain.
• E-portfolios must conform to the format and directory access of hosting sites blogs, and/or social networks.
• Work may be reviewed out of order, skimmed, or partially accessed with little or no continuity.
• The portfolio must compete with all the work that is shown on web-based hosting sites that serve as directories for illustrators.
• Many web venues are open ended, so anyone can participate making it is difficult to distinguish a professional or BFA degreed illustrator from a hobbyist or novice.
• Unless listed as a unique domain an e-portfolio can be extremely impersonal.
• The image quality is subject to the settings of the reviewers digital display system whether it be a phone, tablet or desktop.
• There is no way to definitively identify who has reviewed an e-portfolio.
• Negative or unsolicited feedback on e-portfolio blog or a social networking site may be difficult to manage or dispel.

Conclusion

Illustrators are now required to stock an arsenal of portfolio types for a wide range of presentation venues. Potential employers and freelance commissioners of illustration are using all forms of access to review work for the purpose of offering a job or commission to an illustrator.

When it comes to marketing illustration successfully, there is no one format that will guarantee a winning result for an illustrator. There are no short cuts, quick fixes, or sure things. It takes a coordinated set of portfolio credentials and hard work to create the greatest potential for successful job opportunities to take place.  

Illustration Portfolio Organization: 1. Strategies

The importance of organization or sequencing of work in your portfolio, cannot be over emphasized. The portfolio presentation is “the moment of truth”, it is your audition, your 15 minutes of fame, your opportunity to shine, you ticket to paradise. The presentation of your “book” is nothing less than an audition of your work. Performed before a select audience. That audience may be keenly interested in the work or nonchalant. It is your responsibility to capture the interest and attention of the reviewer, and you only have a short span of time to do so.

© 2013 Don Arday.

You might have noticed that many TV commercials start off with an attention getting and sometimes disturbing visual or noise. The sponsor needs to interrupt your concentration to the show you were watching and have you place your attention on the product being promoted in the commercial break.

Similarly, when your portfolio comes in front of a reviewer, it must distract them from any problems they are working over in their mind, and interrupt them from their subconscious routine that day.

How a Portfolio Works in a Personal Interview

It’s always best when you are able to present your portfolio in person, though a portfolio that is presented in person must work differently than one that is dropped off or delivered to a reviewer. Since you will be presenting the work along with verbal information about it, the sequence of work should match your narrative, and the narrative should be rehearsed to take full advantage of the content and context for your illustrations, similar to a Powerpoint or slide presentation. If for some reason the narrative you plan doesn’t fit with the imagery you show, then change your selection or sequencing of the images—or change your discourse.

How a Portfolio Works in an Impersonal Review

Unlike a personal presentation where you are present to explain your work, in an impersonal situation, your portfolio alone must speak on your behalf. Therefore it is important to provide accompanying information that will pertain to the content and context for your illustrations. The work should relate to the person that is reviewing it within the context of their company. Although it is not necessary for every work to directly fit the review situation, your portfolio should have some examples that are on target, and those illustrations should be shown first, even if they aren’t the best pieces in the book.

Portfolio Organization Strategies

Some sequencing strategies work well in general review situations where presentation circumstances are informal, vague, or even unknown, while other strategies are best implemented for a specific review. Below are different ways a portfolio can be organized and sequenced.

Beethoven’s Fifth (Qualitative Demonstration)

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony serves as a flawless presentation of examples of musical ideas. The music progresses through several different stages, ranging from bold and commanding to atmospheric and ethereal, from fast-paced to slow and deliberate, and from light-hearted to serious and commanding. The Fifth begins with a bold, simple statement to immediately capture the listener’s attention and ends with an equally strong finish that leaves a lasting impression. Like Beethoven’s Fifth, a portfolio should present a well-composed succession of work that demonstrates the best “tonal” range the illustrator is capable of.

Mount Everest (Skills Development)

One of the greatest challenges to mankind, the ascent of Mount Everest presents another example of how a set of skills can build upon one and other in sequence. A “Mount Everest” portfolio like Mount Everest begins with simpler situations, and parallels the learning process as it progresses to much more advanced solutions. The organization of work progresses from your more ordinary illustration examples to unique and extraordinary ones. This kind of portfolio structure must also be organized with illustrations ever increasing in intricacy, which requires forethought and preparation. The final illustrations in the portfolio are examples that demonstrate the most progress of your knowledge.

The Great Pyramid (Assignment Progression)

Differing from Mount Everest, the focus here is on types of assignments rather than skills. This structure involves sequencing work based on the audience it serves, starting with the most general, and progressing to the most specific. Work shown represents a range from the ordinary types of assignments to much more exclusive ones. The “Great Pyramid” portfolio begins with work produced for general audiences and progresses to examples of work created for very specialized markets. The final illustrations in the portfolio, i.e., the top of the pyramid, show the most narrow and selective purposes for the work.

The Swiss Army Knife (Collection Array)

As we all know, Swiss army knives were designed to be multifunctional, and this form of portfolio structure serves the same purpose. However, this portfolio form is more about selecting examples of your work that demonstrate a variety of assignments and less about focusing on a narrow collection of work or creating the ideal sequence of illustrations. Its purpose is to show a great range of experience through the display of single examples of each type of illustration. Graphic design portfolios often use this kind of configuration—one corporate identity, one brochure, etc. The work can also be selected to show a variety of media, range of assignments, an assortment of markets, a diversity of clients, etc.

The Story Book (Narrative Correlation)

Most effective for portfolios that will be presented in person, this organizational strategy follows the organized narrative that you will use to accompany the work. The narrative will emphasis your skills, qualifications, experience, etc. Like an actual illustrated storybook, the arrangement of pieces acts to illustrate the points you wish to get across about yourself in an interview. So, the story, or speech, is developed first. Afterwards, the illustrations are chosen and arranged to parallel the story. The effect is much the same as a Powerpoint presentation. This strategy is very effective at keeping you and your reviewer from being side tracked by any off topic conversation that may occur in an interview.

The Time Machine (Chronological Sequence)

This strategy is strictly based on the chronological order of your work, and like the storybook strategy, it is very efficient method for keeping an interview on track and effective. The arrangement can begin with your earliest example and progress to the most recent, or it can start off with your newest piece on proceed backwards in time to the oldest. Either way, the effect is to take the reviewer through an historical span of the work you have produced and its outcome. Reverse chronological order is better in interviews where the time is short. Time may be so short that the last few pieces in your book may only be glanced at. Chronological order is more effective in interviews where the reviewer has more time. This arrangement leaves the strong impression at the end of a review, while reverse chronological order has its impact at the start of a review.

The Double Sided Coin (Dual Purpose)

Many employers and commissioners of assignments are looking for illustrators and designers that possess more than one area of expertise. This rather specific organizational strategy is for artists who have produced independent bodies of work in two separate visual fields, for example, graphic design assignments and illustration commissions. Essentially, the portfolio is split in half, with each type of work comprising its own section. The work is not comingled, but is arranged and indexed into two separate sequences. This strategy allows flexibility for job searching in two separate but associated fields. The separate sections can be flopped to suit the main purpose for the portfolio review. The advantage of this type of an arrangement is that it avoids leaving a confusing impression with a reviewer about what it is you have done in the past, and what you are offering do for them in the future.