- Of your very best pieces, how many are larger than letter-size? Larger than approximately 11x14?
With a preponderance of smaller pieces, a smaller portfolio is reasonable.
- For pieces that are folded, such as brochures, how large are they when unfolded?
While some clients may want to handle your samples, most will probably prefer just to flip through your portfolio pages. If your best work is hidden within the folds they'll miss it if your portfolio isn't large enough to display the unfolded piece.
- What type of employer or clients are you pursuing?
If you cater mostly to small business people looking for logos, business cards, and brochures then a huge artists' portfolio is overkill. Focus on the smaller cases.
- Are you just starting out with only a few pieces?
A portfolio full of blank pages can highlight a lack of real world experience. Look for expandable cases where you can include only the pages you need and expand later.
Browse these online stores to see some of the many styles of portfolio cases available:
- Dick Blick Art Materials
- Keysan Art Cases
- Simple Covers & Portfolios: Used for reports and basic presentations, these types of portfolios may be suitable for basic needs. They may work well when supplying only a few samples to accompany a résumé, for example.
- Smead Artist Portfolios: These portfolio cases hold larger samples but are still not too overly large or bulky.
Artist's supply and office supply stores often have a range of portfolio cases from which to choose.
Based on what samples you have to display and how you plan to use your portfolio, you're ready to obtain the style and size of portfolio case you need. Before making the actual purchase, you may want to continue first to Lesson 5 on organizing the contents. It may give you some additional thoughts on the type of case you need.
The way in which you place samples in your portfolio is just as important as the case and its contents. In Lesson 5 we'll look at how to organize samples in your portfolio.
If you arrived at this page via search you've landed in the middle of a free class offered by email. This lesson is part of the Create a Portfolio in 6 Days email class offered by About Desktop Publishing. Sign up for the 6-lesson class.