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AIAS Illinois

Portfolio Design Workshop

Sponsored by College of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Harold Linton, PhD – Bradley University; Peoria, Illinois

Portfolio Design Lecture

PLANNING the design of a portfolio and how to bring about professional results from the first to the last page with continuity and consistency is a challenging prospect.  It is significant to design professionals, no matter what form of print or electronic presentation one adopts, to have clear plans for the visual and written presentation of your work.  It is perhaps one of the most important decisions one explores in preparation for employment interviews, fellowships, grants and postgraduate academic opportunities.

The latest examples of visual communications for architecture are included in a 1.5-hour slide lecture presentation and also in the workshop through abundant samples of printed and digital materials.  The slide lecture includes sample portfolios gathered from leading design schools throughout the North America, Mexico, Europe and Asia.  A broad range of print portfolios in bound and plate formats created digitally are included along with discussion of the techniques and materials and the necessary resources for production. Examples of the organization and graphic design for digital approaches to creating portfolios on diskette, CD-Rom and on the Internet are also included.

The portfolios included in the lecture represent the work of young professionals who have recently graduated from undergraduate, graduate, and post-professional degree programs as well as portfolios from young professionals in design offices.  The lecture also includes aspects of how several students evolved portfolios from undergraduate to graduate and into professional career positions.  Discussion focuses on making a portfolio including the written materials, reprographics, bindings and cases, photography, typography, electronic approaches, layout design strategies, sequencing, scanning, and more.  Also included is an introduction to design office portfolio presentations and folios where budgets are large and production values are important.  Developing an appreciation for graphic communications useful for client prospecting in architecture and allied design fields helps one to understand contemporary visual communications for print, interactive design, and overall portfolio development.

Portfolio Design Workshop

The workshop is typically an entire day of design activity (7 hours) with focus on the layout design, production, and review of sample portfolio pages based on standard and custom sheet sizes. Students are required to collect and organize photocopies of their design projects including models, sketches, drawings, final boards, and construction documents. These are used in mock-ups of layout pages for the portfolios.  Standard sheet sizes of 8.5" x 11", 8.5" x 14", 11" x 17", and custom sheets of 11" x 11" are provided along with dummy text for the creation of a rehearsal portfolio.

After working with the problems of layout design for the day, a one-hour critique summarizes the strengths, weaknesses, and direction for future development and production of each student's portfolio pages.  Demonstrations of the author's graphic design projects and real world solutions in print and electronic media are included.   

An individual one-on-one discussion with those students who have complete portfolios and wish suggestions and pointers follows the portfolio workshop critique. The text, Portfolio Design 3rd Edition, is available from W.W.Norton and Company, Inc., New York, New York as well as most booksellers.  

for additional info or comments contact Ashley Marsh @ intvp@aiasillinois.org