portfolio

The exact size doesn't really matter as long as it shows well.
From my own experience, a smaller portfolio is easier to cart around is more compact when showing to a group of people. I made the mistake of mounting all my pieces on large backer board, probably around 20" x 30" and then putting them into a wooden briefcase. It looked cool, but it was also very cumbersome and you couldn't really pass it around when showing at an interview.

Now I don't even have a physical book. Its all online.

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don't think there's an "optimal" size or a specific right answer. avoid getting too big (as spigot mentioned above) or too small (i once had to look through a portfolio where no piece was bigger than 5x7, so many letter sized documents were shrunk, needless to day, he didn't get asked back). the final size could come down to dealing with what size the pieces you have inside are and how you want to present them.

I use a higher end book that was a on the pricey end. It uses 8.5 x 11 pages. But how the work is presented in the book is also huge also. I would suggest fully developing your work and photograph the final results. By this I mean, comp your work. If you have a letterhead, bussiness card envelope, actually print out and construct them, and try to photograph it. This is the same for anything else : book covers, posters, packaging, whatever

I can't even count the times during interviews and portfolio reviews, that this has been suggested to me. Presently I am in the process of doing this, and I'll have to admit my work is looks way better then before. It does require a little more work, but it's worth it. Also if possible try to include the actual comps, people enjoy seeing the final product.

One last thing, your portfolio should never be finished, always keep on looking for ways you can improve your presentation. My portfolio is the one project that never seems finished, I may not always be able to give it my full attention, because of work, but if I am ever between projects or jobs, it's nice to be able to give it my full attention.

Although I don't use a physical portfolio anymore -- maybe I should! -- I remember the one I had, and it was really nice. I got it at a graphics supply place that catered to architects, graphics people, fine artists, etc. called Visual Systems. Not sure if they're still in business. Anyway, it folded into a stand-up presentation tent, so you could flip the pages from front to back on a conference table, while talking about how each piece represented a solution for the problem the client needed us (me) to solve. The fact that real commercially printed pieces were displayed in it was very important. When I was done with the presentation, the thing folded up into a neat little briefcase, anbdout 18x24. I think that the fact it was so functional and crisp-looking helped me appear to be more organized than I really was! That's why I said "the medium is the message" in the subject line.

I used to rent office space from a photographer who had a truly fabulous portfolio. She got it at a photo processing place that caters to professional photogs. You might want to scope out a place like that. The portfolio was made up of several stand-alone lightweight plexiglas "frames" with black cloth backing. Her photographs were sandwiched between the two. Each of these panels was drilled in the upper left corner to fit onto a post with a little screw top, so they could all fan out for a nice stationary presentation. The whole thing fit into a lightweight presentation box with a handle. Very slick. Something like that would be really nice for showing off printed pieces, especially if you only have a few things to show off, since this way of presenting them would make each one count for more, if you see what I mean, and of course, you can hand them around.

That raises the question of how many pieces should be in a physical portfolio. Any thoughts about that from the hive mind?

visual systems bought by plaza art. still exists as plaza art (closest to you is pan am shopping center at 66 and nutley street.

my feeling about portfolio pieces is keep it simple. too often i see people cramming 20+ pieces in there, and often some of them aren't their best work. i think people worry about having a little bit of everything, which isn't necessarily the best way to go. you should only put your very best work in there. when i ran an aiga student workshop on how to get a job, set up a portfolio, and interview, i think pretty much all six art directors we had there (3 each day on a panel, two separate days) said 10 or so was good enough for them. more importantly (and especially for students), most of them said one of the things they like to see for at least one project is "process." so if you have sketches, intermediate comps, etc, then they can see how you work and what your process is. i haven't had many ask about it in my interviews (altho most of my interviews have been in-house), but i always carry some process work on one piece in case it comes up.

6 to 10 in the physical portfolio has always been my magic number. People tend to get the gist of your work by then. Keep the potential engaged--discuss what piece(s) draws their interest, skim over those that generate no reaction.

Also, I tend to change pieces up from industry to industry--throw in some pieces that I think might tie in with some of the projects that they're involved in.

"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."
— Frank Zappa

Agreed. Nothing kills a meeting faster than too much information. :)

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Powerpoint is not a design application

thanks for the feedback...i know its been a while. Alot of the pieces i am using in my portfolio r scaled down; however, i am gonna print them at actual size. My problem is how do i include the actual size pieces in my print portfolio??

What are they?

When I was showing print work I usually first opted to show the original, printed piece. Without that, I'd move on to scaling the artwork/item to 8.5x11 (that was the size of my portfolio sheets; hate the 11x17 + sized portfolios).

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Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"