This is a massive subject, so read through everything and pick one facet to start on. DO NOT PANIC.
Files to Always Have Ready: Varsity Level
This is what I always have on cloud storage in case I find an opportunity. You can build up to this.
General written documents, as Google docs:
- Your designer’s statement: why are you a designer? What do you want to do in the world? Have a point, do not be afraid to have a point of view!!
- One guide for writing one
- Some designer’s manifestos: 10 Examples | 100 Years of Manifestos
- Contact information
- Professional email address: yourfullname@gmail.com
- Unprofessional: hottkittenz133$%4@aol.com
- Only give the basics: phone and email. Sometimes giving your address can make you less a contender if they think you live too far away or in a bad part of town.
- Your CV, with in-depth listings of all shows (solo and group), residencies, internships, publications, etc.
- This is a overall file of info you will use to create the smaller resumés
- CV stands for Curriculum Vitae, and it is basically a record you keep of every single thing you have ever done. You very rarely show the entire thing, but having it all in one spot is essential.
- Your teaching philosophy (if applicable): consider teaching to sharpen your brain, skills, and compassion levels. Just sayin’.
- Your biography, in long and short forms
- You are important and you need to be able to tell your story well.
- All press coverage: links to articles, etc.
- A current list of people from whom you can get references for a variety of purposes (go read this article)
- Only give these out when they are requested, after you have asked the references if you can use them
Other assets:
Your work, cleaned up and consistently presented:
- Print-quality and internet ready images
- Print-quality and internet ready pdfs
Be sure not to send huge files in an email: be able to export your documents so they do not choke the recipient’s inbox. If you cannot handle your own files, you will look unprofessional.
Images:
You have to learn how to take decent high-resoultion pictures of your physical work:
Yes, this is a lot of work, but you are a designer, a cultural producer. Learn to produce a high-quality series of your work.
Portfolios: PDFs and Print pieces
You need a beautiful, simple InDesign template that you can keep adding to and subtracting from as needed.
- Print it in color and use a decent display case that you can reuse. I usually use these if I do present print: Itoya Presentation Books
- I do not make the portfolio all fancy and I do not leave printed leave behinds other than calling cards and specifically designed promotional pieces. I do not leave behind original work as I have seen studios rip off the work of applicants without ever considering hiring the person.
- If you send a PDF version, make sure it is an interactive PDF, that will be low resolution–light-weight and harder to rip off directly.
- I do not make my print book fancy as I am not focusing on presenting myself as a print person. And also, I have much better things to do than making nifty hand-produced one-of-a-kind books. Unless those were relevant to my actual body of work.
Digital Portfolios:
Show that you can think: you need to highlight a full-bodied project and walk the visitor through how you defined the problem and solved it. The Pretty™ is just not enough…
