Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with portfolio

Looking for better airline seat back pocket organizer or portfolio

grouse — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:32:45 -0800

When flying, I use a plastic accordion-style file portfolio to keep a number of things (listed inside) easily accessible in the seat back pocket (or other pocket in a bulkhead row). This makes taking these things out of my carry-on much easier and makes it less likely that I will forget something in the seat back pocket when I leave. It works well for document-shaped things, although the smaller more irregularly shaped things end up getting mixed up together. Is there a better solution? Or even a particular accordion-style organizer you would recommend? I am looking to get a new one. The things I want to organize are:

documents to read
small paper notepad
boarding pass
magazine
inflatable pillow
earbuds
pocket tissue
iPad

I need a Print Portfolio!

gregr — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:02:28 -0800

I need a portfolio to carry 12x16" artwork on paper. All the portfolios I see are cheap looking and cheap or great looking and expensive. I'm looking for cheaper portfolios that have the look of a more expensive portfolio. I'm willing to buy the expensive portfolio if that's the only way to get the look. I need something that will protect my artwork while in transit, allow me to easily show the work off when I get there (no binders), have a carrying handle, and the internal dimensions of the case have to be at least 12x16".

Does this product exist: a "hard" folder / case / portfolio?

ridogi — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:59:41 -0800

Does this product exist: a "hard" folder / case / portfolio, approximately 1" x 9" x 12"? I'm looking for something like this presentation case, but I'm interested in it purely for a functional box for transportation in a backpack without bending the contents.

I'd like it to be much less expensive ($25 or less?) and it could be metal, a rigid plastic or some other solid material. I've looked on office supply and art supply sites, but perhaps there I just don't have the right search term or I am looking in the wrong places.

Legacy book

pseudostrabismus — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 14:05:37 -0800

Beautiful leather or wood binder-type notebook, available for purchase immediately in Toronto? A friend is terminally ill and his friends have compiled stories and letters for him on 8.5x11 paper. We'd like to give them to him for Xmas in a beautiful leather or wood binder- something that can be later given to his sons.

Time is of the essence, so, while getting this properly bound would be lovely, it's probably better for us just to buy something ready-made: a three-ring leather binder like this would be ideal- rustic, tactile, beautiful.
Anyone know where we can find something like this in the GTA?
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Can employer restrict my use of portfolio samples?

AONeal79 — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:36:01 -0800

I'm a graphic designer, employed full-time with a marketing agency. Yesterday my boss said I have to take down examples of work I've done while at the agency. In trying to determine if I can legally show these samples, searching the web is providing conflicting info. Things worth mentioning (a) My portfolio specifies that the work was done on behalf of my employer (b) I never signed anything restricting the use of these images and (c) The images are of works that have appeared in public (stores, events, etc). Is there something "official" I can refer to that shows where the rights to these images lie, especially as they apply to a personal portfolio?

Ohhhh, Dreaaaamweaaaverr

jorlyfish — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:47:25 -0800

Easy-to-use templates (or something?) for a visual arts portfolio site? I already have a domain name and hosting, so I'm not looking for DeviantArt/Tumblr/CargoCollective, etc. I'm an illustration student. I have a portfolio website (purchased from and hosted on A Small Orange) that I made in a web design class, and am a little nervous about breaking it by updating/fiddling with it too much. I need to update the work in there, and I'm also not crazy about the design aspects of it so much anymore, so I want to just do an overhaul. As I said, I took a class, so I have some experience with HTML/CSS -- enough to make a fairly simple yet fully functional website, but I had help with troubleshooting with my professor, and felt like this a lot. I feel like I know enough to not want to hire someone else to do it, but not quite enough to feel OK starting from scratch without the backing of an experienced professor in case everything goes horribly wrong.

So! I'm looking for some sort of template that makes it really easy for me to upload images, add/edit text, link to downloads (of my resume and CV or higher-res images), such that I will not be overwhelmed by the prospect of changing things. Does such a thing exist that I can use with my existing domain name and hosting, or am I better off just trying to recode the damn thing? I can link to my website if it ends up being relevant in terms of what features I need.

Do I have to get my mom to measure all my artwork that's in storage at her house?

dahliachewswell — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 11:05:51 -0800

When creating an art portfolio for graduate school admissions, which may end up online or submitted digitally, is it completely necessary that I include measurements for all the pieces (especially if the original work is several states away at my parents house)? I am not applying for uber-competitive MFA programs, but arts administration/education/museum studies where the portfolio is usually not strictly necessary but can be helpful, I hear.

I'd like to get back into the field of creative media.

st starseed — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:54:59 -0800

I'd like to get back into the field of creative media. Help, please. More details inside. From 2004-2008, my professional life revolved around creating content of various kinds...through video editing, I made slideshows and highlight reels; through animation, I made motion graphics; occasionally I combined audio, video, and graphics to make features, which typically were 3-6 minutes in length, although I do have a few 15 minute pieces in my reel.

In the four years that have passed since I stopped creating content full-time, I've done little-to-nothing in the field. I've made a few feature pieces, but they were for colleagues who were, quite frankly, just happy to see their pictures put to music. So my portfolio is rather dusty, as is, I fear, my knowledge of this particular world.

My goals are as follows:
1. Take a bit of freelance work to a) build a small network of contacts who know I can do good work, and b) make a little bit of money.
2. Rebuild my portfolio.
3. Get my name out there to businesses as a go-to person for content-creation projects, particularly video editing.

I do not, at this point, have ambitions to grow this into a bigger business. I'd like to keep it a one-man operation, taking on perhaps a small project or two every month.

Now that you know what I do and don't want to accomplish, what should be my next steps?

Notes: I am quite comfortable with Adobe Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas. I've used Final Cut Pro...but that was a long time ago. I can't deal with Avid. I'm fairly comfortable with Adobe After Effects, but not Motion. I've never used Flash. I'm above-average (but not a master) with Photoshop and Illustrator.

I'm in the Detroit area. When I lived in Chicago, I very occasionally took advantage of Creative Circle; does a service like that exist for Detroit?

How to deal with draconian personal trading restrictions when working in a Wall St bank

kramer1975 — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 19:27:22 -0800

I've just accepted a job at a large Wall St bank. I have a large amount of cash to allocate at the moment and don't want to leave it in the bank earning zero interest. However, I am designated a "sensitive person" for compliance purposes in the new job and am subject to very severe restrictions on personal trading. How do people in similar situations manage their personal finances? In short, the rules at my new job include not only the usual need to get preclearance from compliance for any personal trades, but I am required to get written approval from both my line manager AND the head of my department for any new trades/investments. For some mystifying reason this even applies to ETFs.

To be clear, I am not asking how to get away with insider trading. My position is in economic research -- I do not cover individual stocks at all. Over the past several years I have traded small cap stocks on the side as a hobby -- these are mostly tiny stocks that have no coverage by big banks. So I see no reason why I can't continue this on a limited basis. If not, I would be happy to simply trade index ETFs, but even then I need multiple approvals.

Anybody out there have experience handling similar dilemmas?

At the moment I'm thinking my options are:

- Keep to a couple of trades a month (mostly in ETFs). And hope that my line manager/dep head won't mind being bugged for approval. I am understandably reluctant to go this route as I'm not sure how it will reflect on me and don't particularly want my manager to know all the details of my personal finances. Am I overthinking this though? Are these manager signoffs just a formality and something that everyone does?

- Avoid individual ETFs/securities and purchase mutual funds or index funds directly from someone like Vanguard (I hate mutual funds, but what choice do I have?). Technically I think I would still have to report this, but since its not going through a brokerage I can't see how they would ever find out.

Once again, I'm not looking to do anything untoward here, but am just trying to figure out the best way to manage my personal finances with minimum hassle within a system that seems ridiculously restrictive given my lack of access to sensitive information.

Any ideas welcome.

What's in an IT Manager's portfolio?

Perthuz — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 13:26:38 -0800

Asking for a friend: He's applying for a job with the title "IT Manager" and is asked to include a portfolio. What kind of portfolio does an IT Manager have? We're both in IT and neither of us have ever had to supply this. The company is quirky and not IT-related, and I'm inclined to think its either a missed copy-paste, or some sort of "do you know how to have fun" test. We're stumped. IT Managers don't keep portfolios... do they?

(I've googled this and I'm having problems with the results because apparently "IT Portfolio Manager" is a thing.)

Making mountains out of molehills and rockin' some mo' skills/Butt naked beats with butt naked fills

Seiten Taisei — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 10:04:48 -0800

How do I design a personal website/web portfolio that will dazzle, amaze, or at least intrigue everyone from professional web developers to non-technical senior level types outside the field and convince them that I do indeed, have the skills to pay the bills. Relevant History: I've got something like 40-60% of a degree in Software Engineering, depending on how you look at it. Haven't held a proper job since 2009 and thus no good references, unless I get friends to lie for me. I dream of going back to school but now, I need some actual (read: well paid) work and my best qualifications can be implied from my history with the formula:

my history → programming V web development V ¬design
So far the few web firms I interviewed with didn't seem to mind my spotty history or lack of references, but were more interested in code samples or actual work I had done, and the only thing I could show them was a rather generic Joomla website I worked on years ago, which wasn't impressive. One of them mentioned personal projects, which is where I got the idea. My other professional contacts outside the field have also expressed interest in seeing a portfolio of sorts and have made mentions on possibly offering me work.

I already own a domain in the form of firstnamelastname.net and to get around the costs of hosting since I don't plan on getting many hits, I've decided to do the entire thing on Google App Engine* using either Python/Django or some combination of Java + framework or some JVM compatible language (I like Clojure because I are dork) and a few static HTML pages, with the all the code on github for bonus points.

Now for the actual question: what the hell do I put on my website? I haven't really done much programming in a while and am just brushing up on my skills with some Project Euler stuff and redoing old Comp Sci assignments in new languages. I guess I could link to a few of those, plus my current resume and contact details, but otherwise I'm stuck for actual content. Also my design skills are somewhat sketchy (hurr!) and beyond putting up my name in a big, well kerned, web friendly typeface on professional white background on the frontpage, I've got nothing. I've thought of a few flashy impressive things like backgrounds that change with the weather, some Easter eggs like a mini tetris game when you press 't' ala utorrent, etc. But I'm not sure on these.

To be honest, I don't care about flashiness as such, but would like to make something that is both visually pleasing and contains concrete examples of my skills. Basically what I want is something that any person in a hiring or business capacity can look at and be satisfied that I either match the skills they're looking for or at least am versatile enough to quickly learn.

Any other input appreciated and so on.

*GAE or Heroku? Any thoughts?
**Is using a ton of HTML5 + CSS3 a good idea? Has the world adapted?

Where can I order a small run of custom printed boxes?

cimton — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:34:37 -0800

Could anyone recommend a website where I can order a (very) small run of (relatively) inexpensive custom printed storage or portfolio boxes? Or, alternatively, could you help me concoct a long lasting, elegant, DIY alternative to custom printed boxes? I'm working on a family history project that involves grouping a small number of prints, booklets, single sheets of paper, and assorted small 3-D items together, and I thought it would be neat to present them in boxes with custom printing on the cover -- ideally an image and text cover layout that I designed myself, but just text would be fine too. Nothing going inside the box would be larger than 8x10.

I need no more than 10 boxes, although I'd be happy to buy more than that if they aren't extremely expensive, and I don't really care what material they're made out of as long as they can withstand gentle handling.

The main problem I've run into is that local printing companies I've approached have either quoted me prices much higher than I'd like to pay ($100+ per box) or refused to do runs of less than 150-250 boxes. Similarly, the online retailers of custom gift, storage, and portfolio boxes that I've come across require high volume orders.

I checked out the suggestions from this question, but the places suggested only do high volume orders.

I've thought about printing onto a sticker and then sticking it on the cover of a plain box, but I'd really prefer a much cleaner, more professional look. Also, I'd love for the boxes to be long lasting, and I'm concerned about the longevity of stickers / ink exposed to the elements on the top of the box.

I'm open to any DIY suggestions; I'm fairly capable at executing DIY projects, but terrible at thinking them up myself.

Anyway, I absolutely understand that such a service may not exist, and my cost / volume requirements may be unreasonable, but I figured if anyone would be able to point me toward a good retailer or DIY (or even help me better articulate what I need to local printing companies) it would be a mefite. Thanks in advance, all!

How to make a magazine-style portfolio

jschu — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 17:45:30 -0800

Ideas for creating a magazine-style portfolio? I want to make a portfolio of my work, mainly blog articles (with accompanying photos) and advertisements. It's all on the same topic (travel) so I thought it would be fun to design it like a magazine.

I was originally thinking of making it using the iPhoto photo album software, but I need to be able to customize the layout a bit more, and besides, I need to emphasize the writing, not the photographs. I would also like to be able to create my own cover.

So what's the best way to lay out, print, and bind a one-off magazine-style project like this?

Showing work in a UX design portfolio without violating NDA's/intellectual property laws

matrushka — Sun, 27 May 2012 01:34:27 -0800

I'm updating my UX design portfolio. I've signed a NDA with my current employer so I can't show work that isn't already live. However, I have a lot of great mockups & wireframes I made either for prospective clients (that we didn't sign) or clients whose sites we haven't made live yet. I designed some amazing mockups for a huge client, but their site won't be live until 2013, and I really want to show my work now. How do I show my work in a way that doesn't violate my NDA? If I redesign the mockups so the UX and design is entirely my creation and not within my company's standard guidelines, and is not work that I turned in to them as part of my job, is it OK for me to feature this on my web portfolio?

In short, if I feature mockups I made for Prospective Client ABC - but never showed my company or Prospective Client ABC - will I be violating any intellectual property law (or be in violation of my NDA or any other law, yadda yadda) if I put them on my web portfolio? Or would Prospective Client ABC say "HEY WHY IS OUR LOGO ON A MOCKUP ON YOUR SITE AND WHY DID WE NOT SEE THIS BEFORE?" and come after me? Do I black out their logo and any other trademarks?

Just trying to figure ways to show my work that isn't violating any rules.

Thank you.

Photography portfolio website suggestions?

michswiss — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:04:02 -0800

I need a photography portfolio website for myself. I already maintain smugmug and flickr sites, but these are mainly used for works in progress and special projects. Not final collections. I want something that is simple, elegant and easy to manage, supporting three or four galleries with limited numbers of images and an about page. I've looked into Joomla with Joom:Gallery and it all seems too much, overkill and means I'd have to become a web gal again. Should I bite the bullet and learn Joomla or another CMS, hire a designer or is there a service that "keeps it simple" and without their own branding?

How do I save these web pages for my portfolio?

rebent — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:45:13 -0800

How do I convert a web page to a PDF? If that doesn't work, how else can I archive the sites for my portfolio? I am creating a portfolio for my upcoming job hunt. I want to include the many Web sites I've created. What I really want is to have PDFs that display the website exactly as I see it in browser, right now.

I'm encountering x problems:
1. when I save the web page, it loses either the PHP or the javascript or something, so it looks completely different than it should.
2. When I print->cutePDF, it only prints out the "printable region" section, which, for some reason, is only the content, and not the entire web page. (this is set by the university I work for, and I don't think I can control that.)
3. I don't want to hotlink to these pages, because after I am gone, someone might change them. It would be possible for me to create a mirror of some of the pages, but not all of them. also, there's no guarantee that that would not be deleted, and also it would take too much time.

Any advice or suggestions?

How to choose a portfolio (book)?

mcbeth — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:14:40 -0800

Tell me about your favorite reasonably priced portfolio brand. I am a photography student, graduating in May. The time has come to assemble my portfolio and I'm thoroughly confused by too many options. I need to assemble 16 images that will be printed on 11x14 paper. I've looked at Lost Luggage and Portfolios and Art Cases so far. I don't want anything that looks or feels cheap but I also hope to have the cost of materials for a binder/book to ring in under $180.

Does the content of a portfolio make any difference when choosing the actual physical materials and, if so, how do I figure out how to match a portfolio to my "style"?

How do I become a web developer when my portfolio is secret?

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:27:27 -0800

I've been working as an IT Guy and part-time web development guru on and off for close to 8 years. I'm looking to take the plunge, and become a full-time web developer, but have virtually nothing in my "portfolio" from those 8 years to show for it. Help! For the past several years, my job has, in one way or another, involved some form of web development work. This past year, I've begun to realize that I enjoy these portions of my job the greatest, and am growing increasingly miserable from my other duties. Being the "does-everything IT guy" requires far too many hours, has done nothing to advance my career, and is shoehorning me into a niche that I don't want to be in. I want to take the plunge, and become a full-time web developer, preferably in an agency setting.

I feel fairly confident in my abilities as a web developer. Although I rarely like to blow my own horn, my work is frequently complimented by our full-time in-house developers and contractors. One of my projects was outsourced to an external consultant who uncomfortably joked that I had already done most of their work for them, and indeed, the final product that they delivered consisted almost entirely of code that I had written.

Unfortunately, I've had "ownership" of very few projects, and almost none of them have been public-facing. Although I've created or maintained several dozen intranet sites, the nature of my employment hasn't really enabled me to release any work into the wild. As I apply for positions, I'm finding it difficult to explain that I don't actually have a portfolio, and that, although I have several years of web development experience, I've never been employed as a full-time web developer. Worse still, many of the projects I previously worked on are either no longer live, or are now inaccessible to me. Simply put, I don't think I can compile a remotely-compelling portfolio.

Although I know that the "best" answer to this conundrum is to create a portfolio of interesting personal/open-source projects that I can display to prospective employers, I want to get out of my job now, and am willing to take a pay cut, or endure a probationary period to do so. Also, my long hours are preventing me from doing very much "personal" work on the side. Current unemployment figures are scary, so quitting my job with no prospects in sight is not an option.

Have you ever been in this situation? How did you make the jump, and more importantly, what did you say or do to convince your future employers that you were actually qualified for the job?

How can I compress my portfolio into something that won't load like a bad animated GIF?

This_Will_Be_Good — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:26:26 -0800

Can somebody please explain to me image compression, specifically with regard to creating smallish PDFs from Indesign files that contain large linked vector graphics? No matter how many times I think I have a grip on compression and resolution and all of those terms, I still end up creating enormous files with no idea what is controlling what.

I am creating a portfolio in InDesign CS4 in which I have linked a lot of large files, mostly Photoshop files and a lot of very large Vector graphics (AI files). From InDesign, I will export the file as a PDF, using the High Quality preset for example. These files are huge, but are lovely when I print them. However, if I want to email a PDF to someone or create a smaller version, I have no idea how to compress these things.

If I try to optimize the PDF or export using settings as low as 72ppi, the file sizes are still huge and the vectors seem to load almost like animations. It seems the large vector drawings are the problem, but I can't seem to figure out how to "flatten" those without making the normal text in the file look terrible. The best option I have found so far is to just export the whole PDF as images, and then recombine into a new PDF but even these are pretty big and the regular text (captions, titles, etc) look a little gritty.

I guess I am not sure where in this process I should have been scaling down the large vector images or even the original PSD files (I was under the impression that these originals should stay uncompressed). Should I have scaled down the original images? Should I have changed some setting in InDesign? Is there a secret setting in Acrobat for vector images only that I can't find?

Please help me figure out what is controlling what, and help me avoid having to hire a courier to carry over a stack of flash drives instead of just emailing a nice, neat PDF.

Where to buy folios?

rebent — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:00:27 -0800

Where can my office get a few hundred custom-logoed folios? We're looking for something like this or this, but large enough to insert 9x11 pages. Leather or faux is desired, and we also want to print the name of our office on them. I don't know where to begin and don't trust google results.

We aren't looking for super high quality, but are trying to avoid getting junk.

Do NSFW tags belong in a résumé?

256 — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:46:04 -0800

Best practices for including pornography in your professional portfolio? Time was that I was a professional PHP/MySQL/JavaScript guy. I've been out of the business for awhile but am looking to pick up a few contracts again.

The thing is that the last time I was employed full-time in the industry it was for a major pornography website.

It's no problem listing them on my resume, as the company's name is of the generic "Foo Media" cast and the corporate website makes no explicit mention of the lurid nature of their content.

But what do I do when people ask for links to sites I have worked on? It would be a shame to leave it off as it's a very high traffic site and I did good work on it. Also, if I jump back to the sites I worked on for my previous employer it will really make my skills look outdated ("Here's an awesome site I developed in PHP 4...").

But at the same time, I feel pretty weird including a URL in my C.V. that fills your screen with boobs, butts and vulvae as soon as you click on it.

Innovative websites as template/model for MFA research community

0bvious — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 06:26:18 -0800

I'm looking for examples of websites that have successfully enhanced a research community (academic or artistic) with a dynamic online/social/mutual-portfolio presence. Blog and social media based hubs, perhaps, that showcase the possibilities of web portfolio/research integration for academic and creative purposes. I've been asked to help implement a website/blogging platform for a community of 20 MFA students.

Basically I'd like to gather up some examples of dynamic websites attached to academia (or similar i.e. the arts). These examples will be then passed on to my superiors with an eye to developing our own platform that takes the best approaches we discover and adds/mutates them to our needs. The cream of the crop in terms of design, content and implementation.

The perfect fit would (perhaps) give each student their own (blog) space from day one, and have the content they choose to share dynamically interface with the other students as the course unfolds. We might use it as a portfolio format (the students are studying art and writing) or we might integrate it with the theoretical components of the course, use it to share tutorial feedback, or even open the reading we do to the wider world.

Ideally we will do this cheaply, with open-source software.

Send me some impressive and inspiring examples!

Cheers in advance

What's the best way to show work to publishers at SPX?

the sobsister — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:41:47 -0800

What's the best way of showing my work to publishers at Small Press Expo? I have a portfolio of dozens of medium-sized narrative drawings from which I'd like to pick 10-12 to show. Is it best to e-mail ahead before the event to reserve time? To go to the event and ask when they'd be free to review them? I know how busy the SPX floor can get on a Saturday afternoon, so I'd like to hear from those who've tried there, at other shows and in general.

Where in Milwaukee can I take a Tiffany Portfolio watch to be appraised/sold?

hafehd — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:57:11 -0800

Where in/near Milwaukee can I take a Tiffany Portfolio watch to be appraised/sold? I looked on ebay, and prices seem to range from weekend drinking money to oh-my-god-no-way money, so I'd like to get a professional opinion. I'm not a jewelry kind of guy so I don't even know where to start.

Ad Flack Woes

themaskedwonder — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 12:57:37 -0800

How do a build a copywriting portfolio? I've somehow found myself as a Copyeditor at a small Internet company startup out of college. It's not really a dream job, but it's something stable I can do while I figure out how to get to where I want to be. Recently, I've decided that I want to move out to The City. I'll need samples of my work for some of the bigger copywriting jobs, but there's a problem: my work is anonymized! We have clients that I write web copy for, but my name's not on any of it; most of the time, actually, it's under someone else's name. How do I get around this when making a portfolio? I'm afraid someone will google any samples I send, find out that it's posted under someone's name, and think I'm lying. How do I fix this? Thanks!