As with many things in your life, if you want your portfolio to be a hit, you’ve got to have a plan. Have a clear idea of how the finished product’s going to be stitched, it’s paper stocks and formats before you set any wheels in motion, so you can use this to inform your layouts from the very start.
Let the work itself do the talking. Sure, you want to show off how well you can put together a folio, but that means letting pieces you’re most proud of reveal themselves to your potential clients. Unnecessary graphic elements will only distract from what’s really important – your work.
Innovative formats are always effective. Even just an unusual choice of dimension for your book can make it stand out. There’s a multitude of ways to present a print portfolio, including in a box, as a book or even as a folded poster. Just use your imagination to choose which shape, size, colors and graphic elements best suit your work.
Given the expense involved in creating a good print portfolio, it’s a worthwhile exercise to consider how many copies you’re going to have made early on. This depends on wheather you’re going to be distributing them or just showing them off. A digital or offset print run of around 100 copies covering maybe 10 projects is a good general starting point, with these projects updated every year or so.
For many jobs you won’t have samples available, or it might be impractical to bring them along to every meeting. In these cases, photography is an essential part of a good print portfolio. Make sure you photograph work in a clean, ambient space with excellent light (a few reflections can work wonders), and ensure the angles highlight the finishes you’ll want to talk about.
If there’s one thing designers fetishise more than anything, it’s print options. Foil blocks, special varnishes and finishes, weird and wonderful new papers and handsome binding techniques all give print it’s fascinating mystique.
All this, though, leads to a slew of conflicting desires and mind-boggling choices for the typical designer putting together a print portfolio. Alongside the need to show creative flair, there’s the question of technical competency – and print can be very expensive. Should you throw money at it and go for the ‘designer porn’ approach, or make a case for clever use of resources? Do you leave samples? What format should you present your work? Which way is ‘up’?