Online portfolios

As a student of a fashion design degree program, we have the privilege of implementing technology in our process and product. One of the further ways to do this is by building an online portfolio, the obvious next step following the traditional printed portfolio. I’ve known how to code HTML since I was 11 (yes, quite nerdy) but never thought that an on again off again hobby may turn out handy one day. For those who don’t have this knowledge, there are other options.

Style Portfolios lets you upload images and a resume.  It’s good just to take a look around and see how others are doing this, how their experience matches (or doesn’t) their work and talent.

An online blog allows readers a personal glimpse at your life (let’s hope not too personal – that’s never good with a potential employer). I’ve seen good examples of this being done, and I would imagine garner more return visits and repeat viewers. By adding a personal voice to portfolio pieces, I see this as being one of the more effective choices. Examples: Final Fashion (a recent Ryerson grad), Verbal Croquis. Its also interesting to see the differences between projects done in different schools from different geographical areas with different industry focuses. This one is a bit different from the other two because it uses the blog format but is not a blog. It’s done specifically for a fourth year line from one of 2007’s Kwantlen grads.

This one is from a VCC grad. Her portfolio is simple, uncluttered, and not fussy, but you really get to focus on the portfolio pieces. This is a good format to consider.

This page offers a little tutorial on how to build a one-page graphic design portfolio – not exactly fashion, but applicable as well.

You could also hire a web designer I suppose, but with a student budget, that’s not always feasible. Thinking about something like this is a good idea. Get the basic template and design down so that all you need to do in fourth year is copy and paste. Its fun for me, so I do that when I have free time anyway. But I do have to stress that simplicity is better in this case – you don’t want the site to take too long to load, and people can be turned off by bells and whistles. It’s the little touches that make a difference and let the world know who you are.

A domain name with just a bit of web hosting isn’t expensive at all (I have had both for $50 a year but you can shop around even more, and $50? You’d probably spend more on a “real” portfolio anyway).

Consider an online portfolio. All you need to give people is your business card with the URL on it, instead of lunking around a big black folder. It’s slick. Think about how many people will actually get to see the actual portfolio, the one you will spend countless hours (years in fact) working on. And think about taking a bit of time translating that digital. A worthwhile option that I think makes a big difference with a minimal amount of extra work.

~ by Wang on February 1, 2008.