Portfolio 1 on 1 : what you missed

If you didn't attend this years portfolio 1 on 1 you should be kicking yourself. Not only was it a great learning experience it was also a lot of fun.

5 Stouties got there around noon on Friday and right away everyone was split up into groups of 10 for studio tours. My group went to Hunt Atkins, Imagehaus and GdB. Each place was very different - in the decor, their attitude and work they've completed. It was a huge insight on how they run their company and what they are all about. My favorite tour and person I met was Jay Miller, the Principal at Imagehaus. In a nutshell he told us to always be true to yourself, develop business relationships and don't work for free. (We also got a way cool pillow case!)

After studio tours there was a panel discussion wit Brian Grant from Olson, Sara Nelson Forss from Werner Works, Jeff Johnson from Spunk Design Machine and Mike Haeg from Schematic.

The next morning was all about Portfolio Reviews. All of us Stouties ended up seeing at least 4 reviewers for a half an hour each to discuss our portfolio. This was a knockout experience. I definitely learned my strengths and weaknesses and what needs to be revised and expanded on. I think we all also learned that our work, how it's put together, how it's shot, how it's displayed, how we present it is completely subjective. I met with 4 different people with completely different roles in the design world and they all thought that I should display my work differently than my last reviewer. Bottom line though: Expand your projects. Even if you were only assigned to do a poster, make an invitation, signage, buttons, bench signs, ANYTHING. Employers want to see a full campaign.

I'm not going to give away all the tips and tricks. It was maybe one of the best ways to spend $90. I gained tons of insight and connected with other students and professionals.