Portfolios     Job Sites    documenting work  
No matter how well you’ve designed a piece, if you don’t present it well it won’t impact your audience. Here's how you can document your work affordably.

Digital images
Some work doesn’t need to be photographed, book spreads, brochures and posters can be represented digitally. You can create a nice presentation of your work on the computer using your original jpegs and PDFs, here's how:

Digital & Photographed Spread

  1. Export your spreads, pages, etc. as a pdf.
  2. Create a new InDesign Document that is 1" larger than the full-size of the original document.
  3. In this document create a master page that has (3) three layers. The top layer will have a foreground shadow (for book gutters). The middle will hold your imported image and the bottom layer will have any background shadows and other elements (stacked pages for a book).
  4. Import your images (pages) into the InDesign document, one page at a time.
  5. Export the new InDesign as a PDF.

You can use individual pages of the PDF for your portfolio. But if you are showing the project interactively, you can show the whole PDF to allow the viewer to look at the book page-after-page, just like the hard copy.

 

Project documenting Trends
When you start documenting your work, you'll need to decide what method you're going to use. Which ever you choose, you'll need to be consistent for all your projects.

Portfolio Trends Digital Layout Eric Fillingame David Weik

  • Digital layouts: If you can't get your work photographed, you can do a fair job documenting it digitally (see above). However, showing your actual work is a the best way to show it off.
  • Close-ups: Get nice and close to your project, so the viewer can see your beautiful craft and typography—Sometimes you don't need to show everything to get the essence of your project across.
  • Hand-held: A model is shown (neck to waist) holding the work. This helps show scale, but you'll have to be absolutely consistent when you photograph all your projects. Plus when you add new work, you'll need to wear the same shirt.
Photographing
The most straight-forward way of documenting your work is getting it photographed. First ask around if there’s a photographer that photographs student work at a lower rate. Ask your professors, they’ll know what their students have done in the past. If you can’t find someone, try the photo department, they might know someone or have a talent student studio photographer. I emphasize the need to have the right equipment, that is why a professional photographer is your best bet.

  • Photographing Your Work: If you have to photograph your work yourself and own a digital camera that is at least 6 mega pixels, here are a few tips:
  • Self Timer: Use a self-timer option or a cable shutter release to take shake-free photos.
  • Tripod: Always use a tripod, you won't get a shake-free photo without one.
  • Lighting: If you need to utilize natural lighting, an overcast day is the best bet because it won't cast harsh shadows. The best option is to use two (2) lamps with low voltage. Use one lamp to point light at the object and one to reflect light from a ceiling of light reflector (cardboard with foil on it). The reflected light will soften the shadows.
  • Stage: You need to create a appropriate background to photograph your work. You can use a long roll of paper or a bed sheet (iron it first!). Tack the paper/sheet to the wall and have it roll onto a table top, so no seam is evident. Photograph the object at eye-level for visibility, unless you need a certain angle.


Notice: Don't pay attention if you don't want to get a job.