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Design O’Blog reader Dan Crowbar sent me an email recently asking about including process work and sketches in your portfolio. In this video I’ll share some thoughts & tips as well as show some of my process work on a recent project.
What Do You Think?
Do you show process work in your portfolio? Why or why not? How do you (or would you) present your sketches? Chime in and let me know what you think.
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McConnell Group says:
Whether on an sketch pad or an ipad Keeping all you rendering is a good idea!
My recent post Real life and Vector’s
May 4th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Nikki says:
I'm a big fan of sketching and tend to sketch out all my designs, regardless of whether they include illustrations. I know some co-workers who don't sketch anything out though and do it entirely online, which isn't wrong, I just like having a hard copy of what's on my mind. They're not only useful when making quick comparisons over what elements I like and which I want to scrap, I also just like sketching so it's a way to relax my mind and my eyes before I have to go back to sitting in front of the white screen.
When I had my interview for my current job, I took my portfolio with me and it contained a few sketches, but at the time, the department I was working for wasn't really interested in base sketches. With our new creative director, we've definitely gone done that root of comparing sketches first with each other before starting on anything definitive in Photoshop. I like it better this way.
Not entirely on the same question, but close enough, Elliot Jay Stocks did a great screencast of desiging a portfolio site and he made some excellent points about including sketches and processes:http://elliotjaystocks.com/blog/how-to-design-a-p...
My recent post Your 13th Webcomic Wednesday!
May 4th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Mirmade says:
Thank-you so much Niki and all the other posts! I am currently working on my portfolio, and have been debating on how to include process work into my portfolio. Some of my friends are industrial design students, and showing process is a vital component to their portfolio. For graphic designers, too, I feel that showing process to employers is really important. They should be able to understand how their potential employee thinks and develops the solution, not just creates a pretty picture in the end. So while my portfolio is still in progress, I will definitely include process work!
May 9th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Paul Galbraith says:
I totally agree, it's good to include some process work, it's something I've always done in the past and potential employers seem to like seeing how ideas were formed and how the end result was reached. It's also worth noting, should you tidy up the sketches and include them in the portfolio or just bring a sketch book along. I would say unless you are going to spend time showing the progression of an idea and make it fit with the overall presentation of your other work, then I would just take a sketch book along or a few sheets in a separate folder.
Paul Galbraith's First Ever Blog Post.. Are there too many Design Blogs?
May 10th, 2010 at 1:27 pm