Portfoli-oh fuck.
The other day I was discussing portfolios with another creative.
We are both old enough to recall owning very large, very heavy cases in which your best print work could be stored alongside a Umatic (completely obsolete system now about as useful as an 8-track) for perusal by a discerning CD. That was how you touted your work around town, and the bigger/swankier the case, the more brilliant you were. Even though it was only protecting a bunch of old ads, several locks and a titanium casing were de rigueur.
This did of course lead to difficulties: smuggling the fuckers in and out of your own agency was nearly impossible, so you had to be cunning. Disguising it as a photographer’s portfolio killed two birds with one stone because you could pretend it wasn’t yours and you could get despatch to bike all six tonnes of it halfway across London. The other difficulty was that carrying it inevitably led to a hernia.
Then there was the fun of laminating your proofs. In those days you would get traffic to laminate the ads of your choice, then get them backed with some kind of felt. I have no idea how much this cost because I was too scared to ask, but I’d get it done to all sorts of slices of unworthy crap, just in case I might need them later (I never did).
As I’m sure you are aware, the above requirements are pretty much non-existent these days. The Worldwide Web has meant that we can all send our online portfolios all over the world at the touch of a button. Hooray (much subtler, too).
But that doesn’t mean everyone has one of these digi-book thingies. I still get calls from people wanting to emulate the somewhat basic site you can check out by clicking the link on the top right of this blog (visit Wix.com and follow the instructions). But as I dip my toe in the water of having a new blog at a new address, I will also be representing myself in other interesting digital ways. However, I will be doing this with a great deal of help because I am a bit crap at stuff like that (Thanks in advance, This Is Real Art).
That leads me to an unpaid plug: my friend Shaheed has started an online portfolio site called The Creative Floor that will make your life piss-easy. He’s even offering free unlimited portfolios to the first 20 people who email him via this blog, so get in touch prontissimo.
Happy hunting for a new job (when you need one). And don’t forget to keep a digital file of everything.
Thanks for heads up Mr Kay. You in a jovial mood tonight?
I’m always in a jovial mood, although sometimes I hide it well.
Good stuff. I emailed Shaheed at the creative floor so hopefully he will help elevate my book.
Btw did you see these
http://www.oki-ni.com/SOP/Raf-Simons-Zip-Change-Sneakers/invt/rs0053cre
Thought next time you are w+k or 180¬∞ (do they have the adidas account) and you’re wearing the wrong trainers you could do a quick unzip.
Alas they are sold out, but thanks for the tip.
I have a confession…
After college and spending about 2 years putting a book together I got a job at the best agency in London in 2001 (according to Campaign), without ever showing my portfolio.
Then a few years later, when we needed to move agencies, we slogged our gutts out to to get our portfolio up to scratch and again, didn’t need to show it to get a job in another top 5 Agency.
I did move again a few years after that to where I am now and this time I did show some work but then it was easy. All they had to do was click on a link. Luckily my work is good now or at least better than it was back then.
But I think my point is, you can have the best or worst book in town but it really helps to know people…
Still heard f-k all from shaheed.