I am working on my first professional portfolio for job interviews and have a question about format. For professional protfolios, do most people make their own or binder or do they buy a prefab leather/metal/plastic one?
I prefer a horizontal layout, but there doesn't seem to be many off the shelf options for that. I don't mind making my own, but I want to make sure it looks professional.
Does anyone know of any good places to get prefab or custom made portfolios for architects? Any advice or suggstions would be greatly appreciated.
call a local book binder for ideas. I've found that small mom + pop kinda shops are usually much more willing to listen to what you want and help you figure out how to achieve it than say the kid at kinko's.
I would get a binding that would lay flat (wire-O, coil, etc). You can make your own cover from paper, cardstock, etc. I ripped apart a cheap binder to get the thick translucent plastic.
I agree with Ross: small mom and pop shops. Additionally, depending on how big your portfolio is, or the stock you have to put into your portfolio. I would try a binding that's versatile, and let's you update your portfolio, depending on the firm you are interviewing with.
This way, each firm gets to see your best work based on what they would be interested in.
I used cardstock for my portfolio and got it bound at Kinkos...if you use your own paper, you can get it bound cheap... they used a black coil binding with a clear cover and a black...it looked really good. they charge I think $5.00 or so to bind it. I had to bind 6...and they will cut paper for $1.50 per 100 pages...
By the time they have 2 or 3 years of experience the majority of the applicants we see tend to have portfolios made up of a variety of different parts (half-size CD sets, bound feasibility studies, booklets or albums of photos of construction and finished projects, smaller portfolio-within-portfolio of elevation studies, renderings, etc....) These would usually be in one of those zippered leather cases, though I've seen some where everything has been formatted to fit into a special box or case...
Most of the handmade type of books we see are from recent grads. I wouldn't discourage you from doing yours this way at this point. It's a good format especially when most of your work can be formatted in some order - perhaps reverse-chronologically - and you can present it in a fairly controlled sequence. But: I'd look for a system that is somewhat flexible so that you can add new things to it easily, and I'd discourage spending a great deal of money on a custom cover or book, because by the time you're a year or two into your first full time job you will probably want to replace a good portion of your academic and pre-graduation work with more recent materials.
I agree that something that opens easily and lies flat is ideal. Also the bigger the better (within reason.) When you apply to grad school there are limits on portfolio size most places. But when you're applying for jobs there are no such limits, and you'll usually be showing your book to multiple people at once, and it's best if images are big/clear enough for at least 2 people to view while going through it pretty quickly.
Make sure that the book is durable and up for quick, rough perusal.
Portfolio - Format/binding?
I am working on my first professional portfolio for job interviews and have a question about format. For professional protfolios, do most people make their own or binder or do they buy a prefab leather/metal/plastic one?
I prefer a horizontal layout, but there doesn't seem to be many off the shelf options for that. I don't mind making my own, but I want to make sure it looks professional.
Does anyone know of any good places to get prefab or custom made portfolios for architects? Any advice or suggstions would be greatly appreciated.
are you including mostly personal work? or do you have professional work to show too?
call a local book binder for ideas. I've found that small mom + pop kinda shops are usually much more willing to listen to what you want and help you figure out how to achieve it than say the kid at kinko's.
Yeah I have some professional work to include also. The content is probably half school/personal work, and half professional work.
I would get a binding that would lay flat (wire-O, coil, etc). You can make your own cover from paper, cardstock, etc. I ripped apart a cheap binder to get the thick translucent plastic.
I agree with Ross: small mom and pop shops. Additionally, depending on how big your portfolio is, or the stock you have to put into your portfolio. I would try a binding that's versatile, and let's you update your portfolio, depending on the firm you are interviewing with.
This way, each firm gets to see your best work based on what they would be interested in.
I used cardstock for my portfolio and got it bound at Kinkos...if you use your own paper, you can get it bound cheap... they used a black coil binding with a clear cover and a black...it looked really good. they charge I think $5.00 or so to bind it. I had to bind 6...and they will cut paper for $1.50 per 100 pages...
black back...sorry
Coldpressed water color paper cover with clear spiral done by mom and pop shop.
my portfolio
By the time they have 2 or 3 years of experience the majority of the applicants we see tend to have portfolios made up of a variety of different parts (half-size CD sets, bound feasibility studies, booklets or albums of photos of construction and finished projects, smaller portfolio-within-portfolio of elevation studies, renderings, etc....) These would usually be in one of those zippered leather cases, though I've seen some where everything has been formatted to fit into a special box or case...
Most of the handmade type of books we see are from recent grads. I wouldn't discourage you from doing yours this way at this point. It's a good format especially when most of your work can be formatted in some order - perhaps reverse-chronologically - and you can present it in a fairly controlled sequence. But: I'd look for a system that is somewhat flexible so that you can add new things to it easily, and I'd discourage spending a great deal of money on a custom cover or book, because by the time you're a year or two into your first full time job you will probably want to replace a good portion of your academic and pre-graduation work with more recent materials.
I agree that something that opens easily and lies flat is ideal. Also the bigger the better (within reason.) When you apply to grad school there are limits on portfolio size most places. But when you're applying for jobs there are no such limits, and you'll usually be showing your book to multiple people at once, and it's best if images are big/clear enough for at least 2 people to view while going through it pretty quickly.
Make sure that the book is durable and up for quick, rough perusal.
Thanks for the great advice!
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