How artists and designers use portfoloios

A portfolio is a selection of work which the student or artist wishes to present to an audience.  This can be for many reasons from applying for a place on a course, applying for a  job, entering a competition, selling their work, or making a proposal to a gallery.  It is a visual diary showing the development of work, ideas and creativity as well as demonstrating  technical ability.

(left is a sample of my lino print design sheet)

The format of a portfolio can range from a selection of original work to a variety of digital media eg photographs, videos, CDs and DVDs, blog and web sites.

The type of portfolio needs to relate to the primary use and should be of the highest quality.  Digital media works well for promoting the artists work and giving a flavour of the range and media used.  However, if someone is buying work or judging for a competition or gallery exhibition, the original portfolio is better suited.  Also, if the artist is not competent at using digital media this may result in a poor quality presentation which will not do justice to the work.

When applying for a place at university, some colleges will request a digital portfolio in the first instance for preliminary selection process, prior to calling the shortlisted students to an interview where they are able to talk through their portfolio in greater detail and with more passion!

The portfolio is also evidence of the student or artists ability to evaluate - the choosing of work to include, the descriptions attached and any commentary - all help to show the person's passion and personality as well as artistic ability.  Make sure the digital images you use are good ones.  In my experimentation I have found that scanned in images are by far the best quality.  However, it isn't always possible to scan an image due to its size and I then used a photograph.  When taking photographs it is best to go somewhere where you can use natural light as the flash of the camera can distort or change the colours of the original.

Cropping digital images for use on a blog or website is as important as finding the right frame!  A badly cropped image, or one that hasn't been cropped or tidied up at all, will again detract from the quality of your work.


Portfolios on websites or blogs have the advantage of being open to a wide an international audience.  The downside of this is that your personal work and ideas are up for grabs!  Anyone can copy or take your ideas.

To conclude, I have experimented with using digital media via photographs and a blog, as well as the traditional portfolio.  I have found the quality of some of the digital images to be not as good as I had hoped and therefore I don't think they show my work to its best in some instances.  On the other hand, I do like the ability to be able to show the viewer a display of my work from a variety of angles (Photo Story videos) which, in itself, is a demonstration of your own creativity.  Digital media is a great way of being able to show an installation and I have put together the following video showing my own 3D sculpture made from discarded materials - old tennis balls mainly!  It can also help you show the humorous side to your work..