Blog 2 - February 8

Designing a Digial Portfolio-Chapter 2
Adaptation:

Soul searching; this chapter title hit home, I related to it because I really do find myself often at a loss of words when it comes to describing myself and my work. I usually just go about creating my work, and my assignments by just starting from scratch and moving forward. In the past few months in my classes, my teachers have really honed in the importance of mind mapping, sketching, and thumbnails, before actually starting a new design or project. I feel that as I have become more comfortable and used to this process, that the task of describing my work will become easier.

The self-assement checklist reminded me a lot of when we made our mind maps, where we had to assess our skills and put them into true perspective-what are we really familiar with, what we have slight experience with. I liked the part when the questionnaire asked why we were making the portfolio and the specifics of how we like to work etc, i felt as though they opened my eyes to questions that i should be aware of, if i had not been already.

When Baron wrote about strengths and weaknesses, and how companies look to see if you have the ability to handle their work, it reminded me of my internship at Quad Graphics,where i would change location weekly and get to experience the many different areas of work. The process of magazine printing is exhaustive, and the floor that I worked on had stations where you worked on page inventory, to color correction, scanning of photos and artwork, and any other editing of the page layout. I related to this area of the reading because as i was interning i felt as though they were putting me in different situations where i had t quickly learn the work process and do it well. this work, i found was not that challenging, and i enjoyed it very much. When Baron wrote that "knowledge is tougher to assess because it can be hard to recognize what you don't know", I realized how true the statement was. There is always so much more to learn and its when you are taught something new you can immediately create a connection with what you already know, and it may seem like an easy task to pick up, when in fact it may prove to be more challenging. I know that while I have taken many courses on digital design, that there are so many more tools and skills that I will have to learn and face the challenge of learning in the future. I also agreed with Barons statement "self-confidence is important, but it should be based on reality", this is true because you cannot expect yourself to be able to do everything, however you need to be confident in what you do know, in order to have someone trust that you can do the job for them. Creating short term goals will most definitely be the most beneficial method of moving up in the creative business.

Baron writes on the importance of freelancing or temp jobs as ways of reaching your long term goal. I worked at Conde Nast Publications this past summer, at Self Magazine, and it was there that I saw many freelancers coming into the office to work on the website, or on a photo shoot, to do their work and then leave. I found it intriguing and very interesting that they are almost nomadic in the sense, when they work. They take their job on the run and gain experience and clientele all over the city. By doing this type of work, they develop an extensive portfolio.

PersonAlity-I would love for my portfolio to show some of mine. However, sometimes im at a loss of what kind of personality i have. I know im quirky and sometimes really reserved but other than that I dont really know how I can convey that artistically. As Baron wrote "your personality should be less obvious in a client project" when you are in graphic design, as you are hoping to sell yourself as a flexible and open minded individual. Keeping the quantity down to 20 objects in your portfolio seems smart as well, as you dont want to be overbearing and just make it seem like your throwing everything you've ever done into the mix, when in fact there may only be a few really great pieces. Just like in the "creating your own projects section", where Baron wrote, "if you dont have any good examples of the work youd like to do, and none that can simply be revised, its time to invent your own". I like this statement, because i have truely thought this same thing numerous times. Now that i have to compile all my artwork into a portfolio im feeling as though none of it is good enough, so why not try to revamp them?