There seems to wide variety of portfolios out there. It looks like you may also have to have 1 of each flavor. In my line of work or what I am looking to do. I feel that a digital portfolio would really be the only useful thing for me. Since my work use mostly SQL databases you really need to work with it online. I can understand if you were doing art per say a printed book would be perfect or even handouts of some sorts. As an IT professional I feel the digital portfolio is where it will show the my ability.
Please understand this is just my opinion. I could be totally off on this and may be just may be in the IT field we really should look into different forms to show off our work. A little creativity has never hurt anyone. I guess I should look at this as this could be something that will set me apart from others. I was always told that you must find something that will set your apart from the others and this might just be the ticket.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Your Resume and promo
Resume and promos are a very important part of getting yourself out there. You will need to arrange your resume in a way that suites what you are applying for. I really never thought about from changing from the standard looking resume to a more designer friendly looking resume. All my resumes I have made of come from a template for a corporate style looking templates. Now after reading you should make a resume for the type of person you are as well as the position you are looking to inquire about. here are some tips
Promo material is also very important. You need to get yourself out there to be seen. Also sending friendly reminders of who you are and what your work is all about. These can consist of just about anything you can think of. Postcards, books, pamphlets and cd’s. For me I am taking another approach to this. As a lot my work has to do for databases. This really can only be shown in an online portfolio. But I still want to give them something. Everyone these days are caring around those lovely flash drives. I know this has been done before but as me being a tech guy I am going to take my work and preload a flash drive with it. The drive itself will have my logo on it with contact info. This to me is a great piece as it can be passed around and they can use the drive as storage themselves and will always have me in mind as they see my logo on it.
Make sure that your promo and resume reflected you and what you like to do. Don’t make yourself out to be something you’re not just to get the job because when it comes to actually doing it you may not be able to accomplish this and you don’t want to have a bad reputation.
Promo material is also very important. You need to get yourself out there to be seen. Also sending friendly reminders of who you are and what your work is all about. These can consist of just about anything you can think of. Postcards, books, pamphlets and cd’s. For me I am taking another approach to this. As a lot my work has to do for databases. This really can only be shown in an online portfolio. But I still want to give them something. Everyone these days are caring around those lovely flash drives. I know this has been done before but as me being a tech guy I am going to take my work and preload a flash drive with it. The drive itself will have my logo on it with contact info. This to me is a great piece as it can be passed around and they can use the drive as storage themselves and will always have me in mind as they see my logo on it.
Make sure that your promo and resume reflected you and what you like to do. Don’t make yourself out to be something you’re not just to get the job because when it comes to actually doing it you may not be able to accomplish this and you don’t want to have a bad reputation.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Encasing your Portfolio
I am not sure what do after reading the first 2 chapters in Building Design Portfolios: Innovative Concepts for Presenting Your Work, by Sara Eisenman . It’s almost like you need to know what your interviewer likes. Some like hard cases or others like the three ring notebooks. I feel that you should have little of everything. I have never been in a design interview but from my previous post I have gone through some interviews for IT positions. I always bring a leather portfolio if you could call it a portfolio. Usually have a sheet of references and extra copies of my resume. Also some info on the company that I pre read before I go into the interview.
Also I like the idea of having my material loose so the interviewer or interviewers can both look at different pieces at the same time, anyway to make it easier for them the more the merrier. Also I would make sure to have some mounted on boards and others loose leaf. I feel some working looks better in other ways then other work. Also she talks about have a portfolio that fits your work. This seem to be pretty important. You are very abstract person I would think you would have some type of abstract case or book that works for you. I would have to say I am a very clean cut person. If that makes sense I like things clean and crisp.
Also I like the idea of having my material loose so the interviewer or interviewers can both look at different pieces at the same time, anyway to make it easier for them the more the merrier. Also I would make sure to have some mounted on boards and others loose leaf. I feel some working looks better in other ways then other work. Also she talks about have a portfolio that fits your work. This seem to be pretty important. You are very abstract person I would think you would have some type of abstract case or book that works for you. I would have to say I am a very clean cut person. If that makes sense I like things clean and crisp.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Dealing with clients....
Being in my business and the graphic design business have there are similarities when it comes to clients. Yes you have to sale yourself a bit more as a designer in my thoughts. I will give you the perspective of clients as and IT professional. I have worked with a variety of customers ranging from the real tight ones always wanting to know how much it is going to cost to the ones that are just like get it done no matter how much. I have also done work for friends and family. The friends and family is where I really got the bussines started. Now I feel I am a generous person but sometimes two generous. When you do work for friends and family you have to realize that yes they are friends but you also have to make money you have to remember you are a business. There is always this thin line between family and friends and how to charge them.
Once you have your clients you will learn real quickly how they operate and how you need to handle them. Don’t be afraid if they tell you to do something and it’s not right. My example using pirated software. Be you but don’t be over powerful let them know your reasoning behind what you are saying.
Trying to get your work out there
As I stated above I got most of my work by word of mouth. I have had a client or two that really gave me a push I on making my business what it was. Just like Matt Cook and his blood and fire covers. My name got spread by this company and boosted my clients. As Adrian Shaughnessy says “Every designer and studio must have a client like Blood and Fire”.
Once you have your clients you will learn real quickly how they operate and how you need to handle them. Don’t be afraid if they tell you to do something and it’s not right. My example using pirated software. Be you but don’t be over powerful let them know your reasoning behind what you are saying.
Trying to get your work out there
As I stated above I got most of my work by word of mouth. I have had a client or two that really gave me a push I on making my business what it was. Just like Matt Cook and his blood and fire covers. My name got spread by this company and boosted my clients. As Adrian Shaughnessy says “Every designer and studio must have a client like Blood and Fire”.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Starting Your Own cont.....
Starting your own business or studio is not an easy thing as I stated in my last post. Reading on Adrian Shaughnessy explains how you can promote your business and how to get new hires. I will once again relate some of this to my own business.
He quotes “Most design studios start like this: you do everything yourself until you can afford some help.” This is so true. You can just go out and hire a bunch of people if you don’t have the work. As for my business I only did it part time but at it times it felt like I was doing a full time job part time. Once again doing the work that I am hired for but also doing all the books which in itself is its own full time job.
As of promoting the business I did not do a whole lot as it was part time. I did most of my “promotion” via word of mouth. You would be amazed about how much business you can drum up form word of mouth. I also had a website and business cards. I put a number a number on my cards when I would hang them up so I could see what work best and what got the most viewing. All those boards at the cafe worked the best. All I get say is get them out there and they will come.
He quotes “Most design studios start like this: you do everything yourself until you can afford some help.” This is so true. You can just go out and hire a bunch of people if you don’t have the work. As for my business I only did it part time but at it times it felt like I was doing a full time job part time. Once again doing the work that I am hired for but also doing all the books which in itself is its own full time job.
As of promoting the business I did not do a whole lot as it was part time. I did most of my “promotion” via word of mouth. You would be amazed about how much business you can drum up form word of mouth. I also had a website and business cards. I put a number a number on my cards when I would hang them up so I could see what work best and what got the most viewing. All those boards at the cafe worked the best. All I get say is get them out there and they will come.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Starting Your Own
Reading chapters 3 and 4 of “How To Designer Without Losing Your Soul” by Adrian Shaughnessy explains how to start your own business or studio. I have actually done this. In 2007 I started a LLC which is Limited Liability Company. This is not an easy to do as you need to create a business plan as they said it the book. I did not create a business plan for my company as I should but I was the only one running the company and it was only part time. My company name was progressive computer. I have since dissolved the company as of a couple of months ago. I will take you through the process. First I had to come up with a name. I had no Idea. I knew that I want something to do with computers as it was a company to fix computers. I get my family and friends involved for some ideas. It came to Progressive Computer. Once I had a name picked out I need to see if it was taken in CT as this is where the business would be located. There is a great resource called C.O.N.C.O.R.D. here you can search for your business name and see if it is been taken. You do a test with mine. Once you find out that your name is not taken I then found a lawyer that would help me create my LLC. Luckily I got of light on the fees as the lawyer was a good friend of mine. I just paid for the LLC fee which I think was $60. He does up all the paper work you sign it and send it in. You then get a business ID number. This can be a random generated number or your social. This is number used for tax purposes. Now depend on your company you will need to charge some type of tax. As I was providing a service I had to fill out paper work for service tax. Now its time to keep track of all this. Expenses , invoices etc.. For this I used Quickbooks. Now it is not as easy as you think. There are plenty of help out on the web. Also at this point you should find yourself and accountant; once again I lucked out my fellow math teacher is one. He should give you the ropes on everything. Once you are setup, I then started to pick out a domain name. Many places to go to see if if the one you wanted is taken. I chose godaddy.com very easy to use. I also used them for my hosting at the time. There is many packages to choose from. You can always upgrade later. Now you are underway. There are plenty of resources out there. Google is your friend!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Chapter 1
Since this is my first post I just wanted to say a couple things about the title of the book. How to be a graphic designer with our losing your soul. To be quite honest I first saw this and was like you have to be kidding me. Well I was wrong. Reading the first chapter really gave me an understanding about a designer and communications that has to happen to be a designer. Before reading this chapter I was under the impression that you would produce some work and show it and the client would give you a ya or na. But you have to somewhat sell your idea. I also thought that as a designer you have a particular style of work you do or what you like to put in your work. But after reading as much as you want to put something in your work as “your style” this might not always fit.
http://design.networksolutions.com/article-32.php
Chapter 2
This chapter was about the interview. I myself have been on a bunch of interviews. Not interviews for design but interviews for IT positions. To be quite honest there is not much different between an interview of a designer to any other interview. He states that you need to be well organized and to mark your portfolio so you know top from bottom. This is a great Idea because on one of my interviews I carry a leather binder with me with extra copies of resumes and I have opened them upside down and it is very embarrassing. Something that stuck out from this chapter was the line “It’s also worth considering doing things that attract attention and bring potential employees to you”. In my experience this is totally true you want to set yourself apart from the next guy. It doesn’t have to be a huge difference just something that will set you apart.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2161325_organize-job-interview.html
Since this is my first post I just wanted to say a couple things about the title of the book. How to be a graphic designer with our losing your soul. To be quite honest I first saw this and was like you have to be kidding me. Well I was wrong. Reading the first chapter really gave me an understanding about a designer and communications that has to happen to be a designer. Before reading this chapter I was under the impression that you would produce some work and show it and the client would give you a ya or na. But you have to somewhat sell your idea. I also thought that as a designer you have a particular style of work you do or what you like to put in your work. But after reading as much as you want to put something in your work as “your style” this might not always fit.
http://design.networksolutions.com/article-32.php
Chapter 2
This chapter was about the interview. I myself have been on a bunch of interviews. Not interviews for design but interviews for IT positions. To be quite honest there is not much different between an interview of a designer to any other interview. He states that you need to be well organized and to mark your portfolio so you know top from bottom. This is a great Idea because on one of my interviews I carry a leather binder with me with extra copies of resumes and I have opened them upside down and it is very embarrassing. Something that stuck out from this chapter was the line “It’s also worth considering doing things that attract attention and bring potential employees to you”. In my experience this is totally true you want to set yourself apart from the next guy. It doesn’t have to be a huge difference just something that will set you apart.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2161325_organize-job-interview.html
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