Portfolio

I have seen dozens of portfolios. With only moments to get an impression from the designer it is soooo important to get your point across quickly. When I have 6 major projects due in the next 2 days and then my director shoots over 5 resumes for me to look at, what I see has to grab my attention the same way a fun (distracting) website would. So there it is. Tell me a story about yourself and what you like, show me you are passionate about ID the same way I am. Show me how exciting it is to create something from scratch and see it born onto the shelves. This takes my attention on a busy Tuesday afternoon.

Some important tips: 

Watch your fonts. They may not make you, but they can easily break you. Be consistent with your story, and nothing too flashy.

No "cool" pictures of yourself: This isn't Facebook so please don't  show us the unique designer pose. It's most likely already been done and it tends to look silly.

Tell a story: From beginning to end show us who you are and what gets you going. Even if your projects are all over the place, show consistency in how each project is explained and what was tough, fun, sad, ugly or heartwarming about each of them. It may not get read but there is gold in repetition.

Have fun: As I have said in the past, you must have fun. This is what we do and, yes, it's fun. So relax a little, step away from the computer and do some portfolio research at Seven 11, or Target who cares just take yourself out of your element and look at things differently.

Make it available: Whether PDF, Website, or Coroflot make sure we can find your work. In today's economic grandeur, everyone is overworked and trying to save time. HR tends to get help from the creators of the corporate career site gods. These sites can throw you off your game by asking you for things you don't have and not asking for the things you do. If the situation comes up where you cannot upload the awesome images you have onto the corporate career site, then make sure you have a link to something on your resume. Most of the time a link to a PDF portfolio is ideal, however sometimes they are blocked and we have to rely on whatever we can find of Coroflot. So whatever you put online should be consistent with everything else you show, because you never know.

Keep at it and Good luck!!

Get it all out there!

Create a Blog!!

Competitions!!

Sorry its been awhile, but I just wanted to write about competitions. There are a few sites where you can find Industrial Design competitions, but for so many you need to have a product that has hit the market. What about design in general. I came across this site which seems pretty new. Many of the projects are just contract work that you compete for. If you win, you get the contract and bragging rights, if you loose you get a portfolio piece. Pretty cool, check em out and see if there is anything for you.

Click to Enlarge

Heard of This?

As you may know, I'm all about getting better. Constant improvement deters stagnation. So, in my explorations I found this site that has compiled numerous videos on techniques from the big guns. The Gnomon Workshop hits every category from how to draw cars, to the production renderings of Avatar. These DVD's aren't cheap, but they are relatively inexpensive compared to a class, and that's just what they are. I strongly recommend taking a look through what's offered here and choose wisely, don't go broke. I also discovered many of these DVD's are offered on Amazon.com, which is sweet if you have a leftover gift card from the holidays.  I warn you, this can be a time consuming process, due to the vast array of choices and  galleries to view.

Have fun!

 

Click Here

Shoe Sketch

Just got my new Adidas KANADIA TR 3's, and I love them! In fact, I love them so much I just had to draw them. This was a variation on sketching, Illustrator line work, and Photoshop rendering. I'm sure many of you are very familiar with the techniques, but if anyone has any questions I'd be happy to help.

Click to Enlarge

Lady's Messenger Bag Design

Just another quick project. This design was based on the hardcore women we see biking everyday in our cities. I took this opportunity to equip them with a rugged yet feminine (but not too feminine) functional accessory. Like I said, this was a quick project which took less than a day.  From this project, I was able to speed up my technique, solidify my style, and get the juices flowing. I highly recommend taking the time to jump on something outside your comfort zone and make it yours.

Oh yeah, and have fun!

Click to Enlarge

Making Contacts

This is mostly for students. You have undoubtedly heard over and over how important contacts are. This has a tendency to shoot right over many peoples heads until it finally sinks in, and you need some help. Sure, it’s a weird thing to call on someone for help, but that’s just the way things are. I have compiled a few examples of how I got over this problem.

One approach I took after I graduated was to make a conscious effort to consider new people I met, as future contacts. What I would do to solidify this was to let them know right away, “hey your pretty cool, I might call on you someday for help”. This is an easy way to break the ice with new friends, as well as setting the tone for making that call in the future.

Next technique I tried was to create contacts. I would introduce myself to a local prototyper or manufacturer and talk shop with them. Let them know I work in the industry and would love throw business their way, however you should have a project in mind or it might have the opposite effect. This way you are going the round about way to get into your industry. And, who knows you might get a project thrown your way.

Lastly, I went for the next field over. I was taking a business class and was told that as a student, it is perfectly acceptable to approach someone in a marketing department for advice. So I went to a company whose products I loved and approached the director of marketing and asked some questions. I was very gracious for the gentleman’s time so I rewarded him with a box of candy. The box was a hand made promotional piece that had my designs and contact information on it. Next day, I got a call, a meeting with the president, and a freelance job. This approach is a little ballsy and nerve racking, but it paid off very well. A bit tough to do sometimes, but by contacting someone outside of the department I was able to draw their attention (and mine) away from my true intentions. This made things more comfortable and fun. So, keep up, keep at it, and it’s always better to get contacts before you need them.