IDIAMM

Ok so I see alot of portfolios popping up so here’s my general food for thought:

1. Have a teaser folio and main folio (X2/3-see below)
2. A teaser (10-12 pages maybe) is a random selection of your best varying work showing yr skillset. These are given to recruiters a brief overview. Sending out a 49 page folio is hit and miss as if you haven’t grabbed their attention by page 5, often people have more important things to do….Plus if you get an interview where’s the surprise?
3. Show CAD packages (title block etc not just presentation CAD), sketching, design development as well as all the “pretty visuals”. Real world design work is important to demonstrate to a potential employer to show you can work on a project straight away
4. Have multiple MAIN folios to suit different design sectors. If you are applying for a commercial role and your folio is residential heavy it’s a harder sell. Reorganise your folios to be suitable for different sectors now before the role comes up so you are prepared.
5. Have pages in your folio that are SOARs (Subject, objective,action,result) talking points that really tell a design problem/resolution story. These are what sells your attitude and ability beyond the visuals and show your worth as a designer
6. Opinions. Get your fellow students opinions beyond “looks great. Yes this is moral boasting but you want constructive feedback. Is it repetitive? Does it sell your design enough? Does it have SOARs? Are you showing real world CAD work? Every folio I get sent receives a 10-20 point feedback list for review.
7. Know your folio back to front inside out. You should know never page, detail and more. It should flow page to page like a good story. Rehearse your pitch of your folio til it becomes natural. Video yourself and watch it back for the number of Erms/Arhs and more…..
8. Keep it fresh and keep updating it. Uni has finished but doesn’t mean your folio has to be done and dusted 3 months later. Add more work, more sketches, more details to show growth beyond uni and real world standards. Add sketch detail or a GA markup showing Access Control to doors and more, M&E proposals, Power and Data, Signage and more….


FYI interested to know if your university gave you folio advice or reviews as part of your course? If not I think they should…..