Everybody welcome to the process I'm Chris And that's jose and today on our episode we got a question from the internet [to] Twitter we do listen to what you [ask] for Renata Laura asked can you show us your first Portfolio? and so I thought what a great opportunity to talk about how [to] do design or how to prepare your design Portfolio to get a job on this segment we call "How to" Back [alright], so renaud says I looked at her Portfolio. It looks something like this What I'm going to be talking about is my first portfolio Which is a very analog one and today everything's presented online you had mentioned for you.
It was presented Via Yeah, I didn't see you wrong yeah [cdI] [Rom]. You [have] number CD. Rom Cutting-edge technology [alright] Anyways what we want to do is ask your help to spread the word post something from this episode on Twitter Linkedin [Facebook] or Instagram It'll be down below and what are some of those things [those] add down below at the school [Roxas] our [Twitter] and at the school?
Rock is also our Facebook what about any hashtags the school rocks is the hashtag. Well you can use hashtag to school at Tsk. Oh well, and we really need your [help] because we want to grow and create the movement.
[yeah], so we need your help [alright] anyways first job Portfolio or as I said at the top how to prepare your portfolio to get a job in design so I broken it down to Three main things three main things just three things okay one is The I do [t] skill you know the letter t looks something like this. That's what they call the t skill alright, so what you do is at the very top you're a beginner and as you dive deeper you're going to become intermediate advanced an Expert so what you want to do is have one Clearly Demonstrated core strengths so the problem is Many designers have a tee but it's fallen to the side they show lots of different things and they don't show a lot of depth The problem is when we're looking to hire speaking from this side of the table when you submit your portfolio I'm looking for something very specific. I don't want a little bit of clay modeling or puppetry or graphic design I want the best designer I can find one budging a time period Is that the same for hiring?
[I] think is that the same [for] hiring for digital versus for a print Portfolio studio digital studio digital agency What do you think from my point of view yes? What? What's your point of view on that it's similar I mean, you're gonna hire people want a great weapon all right.
Yes, specialize in one thing yeah, unless or at a senior level on what you want is a manager right yeah That's different than you know yes for that much so just to clarify if you're an art director type of creative director type Then it's a little bit different. You want someone who's a bigger broader thinker Someone who can write who can manage the client who can communicate? Those kinds of [because] [the] [director] [tim].
Yeah, here's the problem when I look at Portfolios. They look something like this, so [they] show graphics lettering ux Ui illustration packaging everything the kitchen sink is coming in right now Jose and it makes it very hard to figure out. What are you good at?
Are you good at and what job are you applying for for example if I'm looking for an animator? And you show me lots of graphics and lettering things I can appreciate it [I] love it right, but I'm gonna go a higher different animator because they show you want advertise animator Yeah, yeah, I do so what that's saying is when you show a very broad portfolio like that especially for an entry-level position And it's what I'm talking about so no angry emails guys come on that you're a beginner in all of these things Right I mean and I think you what are you what are you when you say beginner VS. Intermediate you know who are you talking to in terms of you know the people you're talking to somebody that you you and hire Yeah Well like a new graduate or somebody who's in their 20s right trying to get their first freelance job or a full-time job something like that and the reason I ask is because I think that there [is] a Confusion sometimes of whether you position yourself or call yourself a designer But you behave as an agency like you have like a moniker, and you're like one, man, or two men shop And then you want to show all this variety [of] things, so people think that you can do a lot more things versus I want to go get a job at a studio all right?
So one is your marketing towards the studio right the other one your marketing towards client directly right? They're very different and very direct That's a great point that you bring up because you can have multiple sites these days with Different landing pages you can send out different Portfolios. You can have an in Portfolio You can have an animation portfolio or one that positions you as an agency.
Yeah to me. That's a lot of work right now We're talking about just helping people get a job [the] first time you're going out there. You just graduated right now I pulled out three images from the internet [I] have a pizza some some Dim sum and a [Kabob] are you going to trust the Kebab place to make you authentic?
New York Style Pizza Or if you buy the pizza do you you believe that the dim sum is Gonna be really good Chancellor to know that's why when we go to buffet our standards and our expectations are lower much lower What we're doing is we're getting volume yeah and if you think [about] that like I want to go to the best Kebab place And that could be in a food truck. It could be in a fine dining establishment It doesn't really matter, but I want the best in a category So think about that next time you go [out] dining because I know Some of the haters some of the doubters gonna say no, I want to show it all. That's okay If that strategy works for you more power to you.
I'm just saying what's worked for me. I mean I think there's people that are actually pretty good at multiple skills like you have the designer illustrator or developer sometimes Mm-hmm And what those people usually show is the completion of a project? [those] are really rare like people who do that [at] [a] really high level right?
So let's cut back to the slide where we're showing this kind of broad array of services that you're providing so what I want you to tell you to do is just To pick one for now that doesn't mean you have to destroy the work But just present one and I'm gonna say let's focus on lettering okay So when you should lettering and you're going to make a claim. I'm a lettering logo form designer You can show examples and the more examples you show now you're going to establish expertise And that's really important because that's who I'm going to hire but deep right go deep and I'm going to show you portfolio of somebody who has gone deep and has an Amazing following, and it doesn't incredible it has an incredible body of work somebody I respect a lot so his name is seb lester And you guys may know him through his instagram feed he is a graphic designer He lives out of the uk I believe and he's an amazing calligrapher letterform [logotype] designer. He's amazing So you can see on his website.
What do you see here? You see lettering you see It's up there nice and bold and you just see lettering samples And you're going to see more of the same so I grab some things off his website from both his art side and his lettering Side, they're beautiful. So when I need beautiful hand lettered work since told young is no longer alive I'm gonna call [Saben] if he's taking aulia do young is a master letter form designer.
Do you know that work? Yeah? He's passed away unfortunately He was an action teacher he was and and he was amazing so look at The work on the left here more of the same, so it's very consistent He's probably regarded as one of the best latter form calligraphers Right alive right now and working right and so you can see also on the right hand side That's his instagram page and check out that one number right [there] That's a number that you can [nD] He's got over five hundred Seventy-one thousand Followers on Instagram Right so he's creating media and content and art and now you can business position himself as doing anything He wants you can be a juggler now.
It doesn't matter because he's an expert people got to come to him for that So here's the second tip edit people are information rich and time poor Here's a here's the oh, I found a nick cage poster because you guys know I love nick cage There's a movies has gone in 60 seconds right the idea here is you have? About a minutes worth of attention Span from your potential employer yeah When I'm looking at it real and because we're in the motion industry I'm looking at a real you've got about 30 40 seconds into it before I hit stop and move on with my day now oftentimes. I'm an optimist I don't think maybe it'll get better at the 50 60 70 second mark And it never does it never gets better because [people] generally put their best work forward so what you don't want to do is you?
Don't waste a lot of time [upfront] Doing a countdown timer or a very long protracted logo animation of yourself unless it's really really good get right into it Edit your work down. Okay? Jose.
What about in the digital space okay? I'm telling you how much time do you think they have uh? They have a very similar amount of time.
I think part of it I mean, what kind of projects they worked on for who and what role they played? Yeah? That's what I look for what you guys understand is Jose And I we've both been working close to 20 years each, right?
We know what we're looking for we know talent when we see it. It doesn't take a lot a night if there's time later I can relate some stories with you guys, okay? So you gotta edit the work down third tip is to [be] honest and be very selective be honest in know what you're good at Filter out the junk and then be selective [find] companies that that you think you have an [honest] shot at getting a job so if you're doing Puppets, you're not going to get a job.
I don't think designing fashion or Electric razors yeah align the work that you do to the company you want to work [with] and just go after three or four Don't do this broad email. So because it just doesn't work [all] right So we use this slide before this is from our positioning episode where if you're either one of these two personalities? You could be the hippie designer the feel good person, and you're trying to go into like a corporate place like land or I don't think those the work will Match Neither will the Culture I think yes And it doesn't work the other way around if you're a very corporate designer Doctorate in mind that we're talking about a very specific paradigm as it relates to designers going into design jobs So one of the things that is the aunt if it were that is very different than that is if you are going into a marketing or into a Social Media job you actually might be okay with having multiple skills like I can be right photoshop I can do development, and I can do any right lytx, and I write and the employer is going to say well That's kind of good because that person can account manage [some] jobs [you] [acquire] [lovable] things the issues that they're not heavy or in any of those but let's say this so then in that case The general skills work out well for you, but let's say [your] writing style your graphic style is counter to what they do that's gonna be hard you're gonna end up not doing that probably you're probably gonna end up being a manager not not a Not a doer of one specific [task] [alright], so anyways I Included a link here for you guys the positioning episode in case you want to check it out?
We go much deeper Into the issue of aligning what you're good at with the company or client that you're trying to get work with right? Positioning for value so the closer you're in alignment if I'm if my house is flooded over and you happen to sell flood repair Services that creates great value yes in the desert you're Gonna have no value at all. Yes, all right.
So just keep that in mind All right So when you see those two things in there mismatched I just found this image off the internet the two pieces of the puzzle don't fit and That's I think that kind of sums it up now Here's our sum of work from our website a blind you can see that. There's a level of work here so if you're applying for a job with us Profile the site and [say] you're very good at profiling Profile as I look at the work and see how you fit in if you don't currently fit in and it's your dream job to Work there start working and work that looks like what's on their site. Yeah, it'll help you it's a level of quality I mean because I've had a lot [of] people kind of ask me for advice of how can I get a job a blind or in motion [graphics] especially UP-And-Comers, and I'll give you an example there was one one guy that you know sent me that I was working with him [he] was Helping produce my show my old show and he had his shoving his portfolio, and I said well You know talk to this guy and I had him talk to somebody at laundry [to] PJ And I said don't talk to him like you're looking for a job Just go and hang out and say hey, I would like to be like you one day You [know] what do I need to do and he did and he?
Started doing his passion and kind of up in his game But he ended up working a [buzz] [feed] doing all the sort of short animations, right? But he's funny, and he's on camera, and he can write and he's a good designer I mean he can make some really cool little animations right? Yeah Perfect job right buzzfeed right could you work [out] laundry at that time no?
Probably not because they need it like super [high-end] very highly Specialized people it worked out better for him because he got a job that utilized more of his and they're in alignment So he's going to be much more valuable so the concept is matching mirror basically act Talk look like the people that you want to do business with and there's a there's a line here And I'm kind of paraphrasing a little bit from Tony robbins. He says people want to be around people Who are like them who they like to be like so my energy is different than Jose's somehow? We make it work for the show, but [generally] speaking when he goes out he has a good time usually [when] I go out I'm tired of in a day because the social activities drain me all right so here's the recap Focus you need to focus your work remember the I do t scale Mm-hmm have depth in and Mastery over one particular thing and make sure you state [that] and it's obvious because people don't understand when you call yourself a visual communicator That's a lot for me to try to figure out.
I know that's a very popular way to describe work or Graphic design, but don't do that, okay? Edit all the stuff out Here's here's my way of saying it no filler all killer People feel compelled cos insecure about their own portfolio to put in work that isn't very good Is another thing one piece is good then just a few pieces is eliminated and I'm going to show you my portfolio in a little bit cuz I promise it at the head of the show and Lastly matching mirror look talk walk like who you want to work with yeah, and if you're not there yet I understand that because obviously you're a student, but I tell my students this if you have a student Portfolio You're going to be a student for the rest of your life. There is no difference The real world where you are in your game if your work isn't professional-looking.
We're not going to hire You need to aspire to do that Literally study the frames emulate it. Copy it do it you'll get a job there [Jose] you want any well what I was going to say is that there's a difference between So again if you're looking to hire for immediate Plug-and-Play into a team That has a certain level of quality for the output of work. That's being done You know you're going to be looked at for that.
I'll give you an example so when I hired [you] know a lot of people within the web agency world you had a You had like art center students who were really polished in their portfolio you had cal arts students who the portfolio's weren't as polished But their thinking and their process was really good here's what's interesting so that you put them both into a project and the [killer] students might have a tendency to Direct more and be more about what the conceptual framework was and the broad framework for the idea But the art center students could come in and they can plug and play and like just do the production boom [into] each other Into each other doing meticulous beautiful design right organize everything's in its place there any right or wrong It was actually up to the discretion of the person managing them to understand What their strengths were and what their abilities were so that they can position them in the right place [ok] so? Here's my first job Portfolio as promised [a] friend of mine Colleen Mathis got a job at : weber and she invited [me] to Be to come to submit my portfolio because she needed a partner. She's [alright] cole members an advertising Agency in Seattle And I actually lived right or like the second floor to the pyke's market right there It was pretty awesome anyway, [so] here's the portfolio I submitted and and I'm backing up my advice by things that I've done so here's my portfolio This is exactly what I sent I sent four pieces And that was it So I know you're going to think well That's not 12 what I was told in school But and I'll tell you why I chose these four pieces are not my entire Portfolio [one].
It was an ad agency I'm not an ad guy. I took one advertising class. I have no ads So what I looked for were what I thought to be my best conceptual pieces things that said something so things with imagery and typography That was my best chance of getting the job mm-Hm [I] didn't think I'd get the job, but that's what I sent now the rest of my work had been crap But they don't know that I just sent these [boys] [about] yeah, so here's the crazy thing two days later I got a call and they offered me the job Awesome, so I'm gonna show you here's here's let's let's do a caveat here.
Oh you also send the portfolio from [Arts] Center Yeah, and they know the track record. They were gonna look at the rest of your portfolio anyway. Yeah, I you know how much do you think the Where you went to school matters in that whole thing it probably didn't matter as you just opened up a little well a little [camera] I just want to say okay that based on the portfolio alone at that point in history at Cole weber You would have gotten the interview.
No matter. What school you went to you think so. I think so, okay Maybe you're saying that I don't think so okay.
God yeah, I [I] think at the [end] of the day They're gonna hire based on merit. It's nice to know you went to good school. They know that there's a certain kind of rigor That's what I'm saying the training no matter where you went to school.
You would have gotten what okay? Here's the question was [that] art director or was a person looking at Portfolio. Where did they go to school?
They went to they studied English okay got it. Oh. Yeah, there were a lot of people in advertising there Don't don't come from any school got school figuring it out Got anyways, let's cut back to my slide, so I'm going to just push through this a little bit So you guys can see something to work a little more detail here?
This is a poster I did for the museum of tolerance the first poster that you saw was a gun and The gun was facing a mirror it was for the movie unforgiven directed by Clint Eastwood Museum of Tolerance I came upon this image and I was thinking you know I was looking at barbed wire some world war two photography of the concentration camps And I was studying the kind of you know I let my mind go a little bit and found the barbed wire had too similar to the swastika and I put this thing together [and] that's the image I created [the] third piece I sent was a skateboard design with [topography] this was for What was then called topography one with Simon Johnston, and I just wanted to do this because the format was unusually I thoughts just the application was conceptual. That's why I submitted it And type one with simon. It's actually really early on in the track.
He's very early So you were [centred] for [their] took that it was already very sophisticated looking at the time for an early. I'm sorry This is type two okay my about type to Mesa. Yeah that makes for something.
I was gonna say [wow] It is you know and then the last piece [here] is for editorial design with fred fellow at art Center as we mentioned and it was for Magazine cover in the [home] Magazine and the image that you can't see if there is a crack pipe that I bought and I put these thorns on it because I have This whole kind of anti-drug mentality just thinking about The brother you were going about it was a [rosy] very alluring, but it's like full of these barb's that kind of be careful Christo by crack pipe on that [extra] Gerardo and Those four pieces got me a job, and it was a wonderful job in an incredible learning experience And I'm still friends with Kevin my boss back then today And here's some the work that I produced while [us] at the Agency [now] You can see the work is very different than my student work, and now we're kind of entering into a different space It's also very [cool] weber It is it looks like their work At the time yeah, so I got to work on [lessons] silicon graphics and then I Graduated [this] is an internship no no no the full-time job before you graduated. Yeah, so yeah We're getting to I was like super. I was seventh term I took a semester off.
I went to work they offered me job they were flying me back and forth it was [a] great thing it wonderful experience and all of that was because Maybe I was too dumb or I was confident enough just to show four things and that's why I'm telling you guys to edit your work down and Aligned the work that you do matching mirror to the to the place that [was] great Christo It was like boom here it is this is that like take it or leave it mother Well, what do you have to lose? You know as good as funny because the portfolio reflects. You really well my portfolio reflected me Really well next time we're gonna see your portfolio right?
I have to find it. Yeah, but it was funny anyways I'm Gonna show you the rest of my portfolio And you're gonna come [back] to this or you just missed animation. That's okay.
It's all by the episode go man it's gonna try so this these are the spreads just want to show you some of the design the Typography the aesthetics that I was having [I] was very much into Sin City Frank Miller black and white this is like before the movie Even this is 1995 it is in 1995 so here's a What is it called a city brochure for do you realize sense that in five is 20 years ago? Yeah, I said we've been doing this for 20 [years] I Like the work is actually really. It's tight, so [this] is this is a just classic corporate.
It doesn't look like a student work by the way. Thanks. I appreciate that Like you could just see this in any like you know poor Personally this is pre-internet you guys remember so here's I think one more pizza So you guys don't think I just do flat design this is something packaging because back then it was called graphics and packaging It's actually design packages.
What's [a] [digital] track yet? No not even close That's for twinings tea, and then now I'm going to show you some professional work So here's right out [of] school. I actually went back to school [a] [finished] school quick : weber And I started working freelance doing storyboards, and I didn't know how to do storyboards But I'm going to show you my first job Portfolio What you realize really soon after you start working is you spent four years working in Portfolio?
And if you're doing the right things and you're working at the right place Your whole student Portfolio goes in the trash, [and] you develop a whole yeah, you develop a whole new Portfolio, right quick So this is what that is so this is for the island Dr Marell worked with cal cooper inez design the the logo type and a couple of key frames for it and For saving private Ryan. I think this was for a teaser trailer or something like yeah, [just] for you for a good spot It was released by you member. I where I was a nanny around this job What did you were a God it was so much work it was and this is like when I was just like barely learning how to use photoshop and all that kind of stuff yeah, and then as Easy you said before I'm unemployable [I] can't work for a place or a person for too long because you're a pain in [the] ass I am I can be I'm headstrong I want to do things my way your way, right?
So this is a spot that we did for for a partnership for Drg-free America and it's just a lot of animated typography and This is a big breakthrough job for us This is a couple years and we did our [first] kind of national TV spot for Mitsubishi We shot all a typography in camera on film 35 millimeter. It was an awesome experience [really] cool It was [the] thing back then it's quite on what led [to] these other kinds of jobs so this is for Nissan also designed by [a] Vanessa Mars Rolly but necessary Anyways in that all led to this wonderful place Let's cut back and I'm going to show you guys what my portfolio looks like because I may be the format might be interesting just from purely a Nostalgic reasons all mines are now there's four blocks these are four by fives right what that is that? So these are four by [fives] and and this was the size of the film positive So I know Andrew those fascinated by these things like [by] God that's really large film so you can see right here This is how I had my work photographed.
So I would print it out, and then I'd hire a friend of mine Who's a photographer professional photographer? And he would take these and then these would get mounted over time what I did was I changed it I put it into this book I will show you this too and that one by the way was when you actually mailed a physical portfolio to your Potential employer so now What I did was because that required a white box and all these kinds of things it was all behind a I'm matted box So yeah, they're now actually set the light box with their poor yes professional photographers do that Right so here. We are so here [are] some similar early things that we had done as a company some logo work I will move around too much so that Aaron doesn't have to worry too much about focus right, so some some logo work local exploration for a video game and then More logo work for another video game called Star Hunters, and I like to illustrate That's why these a lot of these marks are very lustrous and the clients love these things And then here's that logo for the island of Dr.
Moreau Horrible movie great graphics just Rent the movie So you can see the graphics And then I want to show you this And this is something that you can do if a physical print portfolio is still of interest to you Once you have your beautiful glossy print and gloss works better than that for for this particular purpose you go to this place And there's place in downtown. I think you charge you $20 they laminate it [mm]. So it's nice You know you can wipe off the fingerprints and then they put this beautiful velvet in the back Nice, Fancy my God look at the netscape browser right?
This is like classic work out look at this [I'm] going to show you [this] is for Sebastian international look at the aspect ratio Using pre flash. I don't know what x is 40 by 480 you can only was exported already. It's all one back big ass graphic But we we did try we push things that with rollovers and neat things like that look at the netscape like is netscape surround Jose So this is a nostalgia for you you you exia graphic web people remember this is right around [1998-99] it's not we're not quite there yet, okay back in the Google Wood hadn't been invented back Then I know you guys so another website and and it kind of is a reflection of this darker more gradual [iran] [Alta] [Vista] [was] the leading light post there was a bunch of them [yahoo].
[okay], [matt] in yahoo 1990, okay? They weren't so this is pretty cool and right cuz I remember that so a bunch of websites early web stuff But you can see the early print influences, and I should show my old web stuff man. That would be all well You should so web web work we did for for [Dr].
Brain, and it's an edutainment company well, you know what's interesting is that that that one of my Observation I'm having you know the work looking through it at a historical context. It's very beautiful. [it's] very rich and it's very Here's two more and then I'll end on this it's it's awesome.
It's really good work So this is 20 years old guys that [I] pulled it out of the closet Luckily my wife saves these kinds of things as usual I just throw it on then regret it later cuz then I have no idea Portfolios Other than I do know I have my digital portfolio somewhere So I want to end on a couple of slides Maggie you know any questions [thus] far no Okay, then you can respond [in] one sec wait Let me just show this and then you can ask your question so all that work look at look at the year 1998 dude 90 1998 and Res magazine [Res] is no longer around, but it was really cool Pro So this is res 10 res 10 in broadcast design [check] is out there. We are And you can look [blind] supposed to zoom in on this is a man It's [okay], you can see I did all right there it is No I didn't zoom in on cuz the resolution so low back then I [had] hair That's my wife enter in the upper right corner, and that's some of our work there I looked up the top ten in revit Natalie Did you have her did you have like a puma pattern on your hair? Is that what you had it was a psyche I bleached I think oh, sorry yeah, yeah different time different, air.
Oh my God Alright, so Maggie. What's your question? I think you kind of mentioned it is [a] how do you transition from student work to professional work?
How do you transition from student work in professional work? How do you have your portfolio not look like student work? Well?
What is really the difference between student work and professional work? Do you know can you tell [sometime] right? It's a mentality we have the same tools Everything that's that is being done is documented.
It's out there on the internet It's searchable, so there's really no difference the only difference is your mentality Meaning [that] you think you're a student So this is kind of little sloppy that comp is a little horrible that [images] [low-res] and those things start to tell you it's student Work now there's [another] level that I can tell in terms of how crazy the work is relative to the brief So if you do something [that] doesn't feel like on brand I know it's student work. It's too aspirational if you know what I mean so if you do something for target notice how like if you just watch a few frames of any commercial when you're walking by the Corner of your eye you'll most likely know it's for Target It's a very consistently branded thing over many many years right, so then you come in and do something crazy grungy That's multicolored and all over the place and doesn't have a graphic beauty and simplicity to it. I know it's off-brand Student work or it's experimental [RD] work.
That's typically what it is So we talked about this a lot in class and maybe that's the future episode I think we're almost out of time here, so I just want [to] run a couple of slides right, okay? so you guys please like this video if you liked it and don't forget to subscribe to our show and Comment below because we're highly engaged with you guys And here's my animation Yeah, buddy bow, and that's it. We're out.
We're out credit.
