The Graphic Designer's Guide to Portfolio Design

338 Pages·2013·185.647 MB·English

by  Debbie Rose Myers

The
Graphic DesiGner’s Guide
Portfolio desiGn
To

The
Graphic DesiGner’s Guide
Portfolio desiGn
To
Third EdiTion
Debbie rose Myers
Cover Design: Michael Rutkowski
Cover Illustration: © iStockphoto.com/Pingebat
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Myers, Debbie Rose.
The graphic designer’s guide to portfolio design / Debbie Rose Myers.—Third edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-42814-6 (cloth)
1. Art portfolios—Design. 2. Design services—Marketing. 3. Graphic arts—Vocational guidance. 4. Computer graphics. I.
Title.
NC1001.M94 2013
741.6068’8--dc23
2013027973
978-1-118-42814-6
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
PrefaCe vii
aCknowledGments x
1 ThE PorTfolio ProcEss—sTarT To finish 1
2 Planning Your PorTfolio 15
3 ThE TradiTional PorTfolio: 31
The Résumé, Cover Letter, and Business Card
4 ThE TradiTional PorTfolio: 55
Design and Art Projects
5 ThE digiTal PorTfolio: 83
CD-ROMs, DVDs, and Web Sites
6 ThE digiTal PorTfolio: 111
Technical Elements
7 ThE dEsign PhasE 129
8 Working WiTh TYPE 151
9 ManEuvEring around Your siTE: 171
Navigation
1 0 ThE WEb-basEd PorTfolio: 187
Web Page Design
11 ThE WEb-basEd PorTfolio: 211
Technical Elements
1 2 MulTiMEdia and Your inTErfacE 229
1 3 dEsignEr chEcklisTs 253
14 using social MEdia To land a grEaT Job 265
1 5 Taking inTErviEWs and PrEsEnTing 285
Your PorTfolio
Glossary 309
BiBlioGraPhy 320
index 321
vi conTEnTs
PrefaCe
computers? in art? i remember telling my boyfriend (later to become my husband)
glenn that computers would never be used in art as i watched him carry those long
boxes of computer punch cards to class each week, i chuckled, secure in the knowl-
edge that artists had no need for computers how wrong i was!
Back when I studied graphic design and art in to demonstrate your design ability. You went to an
college, you learned how to prepare art for printing interview, talked about your credentials, opened
with materials such as Rubylith and stat cameras. your portfolio, discussed your work, and if all went
Rubylith was a thin, semitransparent acetate well, you were offered a job. Today, though, things
material that was used to block out areas of color. are a little different.
I remember spending hours cutting CMYK (cyan, ■ You go to job-specific Web sites, enter your
magenta, yellow, and key) color separations with an credentials, and begin searching for a job that
X-ACTO knife. Type involved an even crazier pro- matches your requirements.
cess. You would go to a gigantic drawer filled with
■ You design a Web site, post it at a place estab-
type of various sizes and styles and pick the sheets
lished specifically for your profession, send out
of type that were closest to the sizes you needed,
announcements, and wait for job offers.
because, unlike today, type came in only a few sizes.
■ You are asked to submit a DVD of your work
Then you would use Popsicle sticks to laboriously
before you are even invited in for an interview.
rub (or set) the type in place on the page. Stat
cameras gave you the ability to “resize” your type I teach at a college that is always on the cutting
through the photographic reproduction method. edge of design trends. Students are instructed in
You would first photograph the type, then enlarge industry-specific software. But I have learned one
it and paste it down on the final boards. My tools of thing in my 32 years of teaching: design majors are
choice in those days were the T square, the triangle, true right-brained thinkers. You say, “programming
and my trusty non-photo blue pencil, which I used language,” and they say, “bye-bye”!
to draw lines and grids for the type. Naturally, it Here’s how this book on digital portfolios came
took forever to build a layout. Who knew that only about. Over the years, I have spent much time
ten years later, I would be teaching computerized trying to find ways to introduce complex computer
page layout to a whole new generation of art and programs to creative majors in order to enable them
design majors! to embrace the newest technologies. This book,
Why a book on digital portfolios? Once upon then, is for all my students—past, present, and
a time, it was enough to have a great set of boards future—and is designed to allay their fears, answer
vii
their questions, and ultimately empower them to industries at the end of every chapter. They will
succeed. offer you their many years of wisdom and practical
I know it takes time, energy, and patience to experience regarding the interview process. Their
create a digital portfolio that will get you the job of answers are funny and real, and they offer sound
your dreams. If you’re just starting out, you have advice on successful interviewing. I know you will
many multimedia programs to evaluate. You want enjoy their insights.
one that meets your needs but doesn’t take a life- Also new in this edition are up-to-date “design-
time to master. You want proven interface design er’s challenges”—one or more projects that appear
techniques that are easy to understand and utilize. at the end of every chapter. They’ll help kick-start
You want to know what problems you may encoun- your creative portfolio by offering you some “assign-
ter and how to solve them. Or maybe you’re already ments” that will aid in the development of your
at the next level—you know all about the popular portfolio.
programs but want to learn more about interface The first edition of the book offered detailed
metaphors. Whatever your level—novice, interme- information to help design students create both
diate, or professional—this book will help you learn traditional and digital versions of their portfolio
how to create a successful digital portfolio. work. The second edition of the book examined
updated methods for the online portfolio. Since the
publication of the second edition in December 2008,
what’s new in this edition?
many new techniques are being utilized by gradu-
Nothing has changed . . . everything has changed! ates to locate potential jobs. Likewise, the methods
As with the last edition of this book, there is available to a graduate to reach a potential employer
still a need for a book that helps students gather have moved substantially to an online environment.
their art and design pieces to create a market-ready This new edition of The Graphic Designer’s Guide to
portfolio, Every creative can use a bit of help with Portfolio Design will offer a chapter that focuses on
designing effective résumés and business cards and the newest techniques in online marketing.
learning the best techniques to take interviews Likewise, the design software is not the same.
and ultimately secure employment. But a lot has There have been some substantial changes in the
changed, as well! Today’s design students have software industry since the publication of the last
many new tools at their disposal to help create their edition. Once upon a time, QuarkXPress ruled the
own online “brand.” Social media marketing is now publication market. That is no longer true. InDesign
a viable way to reach out to the design industry is now the industry standard, and QuarkXPress is
and find a job. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, concentrating on its new market in interactive book
and Google + all offer new ways to reach a possible design. Adobe purchased Macromedia Director, and
employer. The choices are vast and sometimes some years later discontinued it. Adobe Acrobat
confusing for the young designer. This new edition has morphed into a robust program that delivers
of The Graphic Designer’s Guide to Portfolio Design print and Web-based documents. HTML 5 is gaining
will help the graduating student to understand the ground as the new standard in animation and sound
practical side of social media marketing, as well as for Web design, and Adobe is beta testing a new
the potential problems. Flash-style interface program, called Creative Edge.
This third edition presents new interviews Edge will create robust Flash-style animations that
with leaders in the graphic design and advertising convert directly to HTML 5. All of these changes
viii PrEfacE