Since I know about my own experience, I'll stick to it. My portfolio is a PowerPoint file (and anyone who knows me will find that hysterically funny) because (1) I have NDAs that specify I can't reproduce work done online; (2) I've done a lot of work on internal and password protected sites, so they aren't accessible; (3) I've worked with a lot of startups that went out of business (but many of the NDAs are still enforceable); (4) Many of the projects I've worked on have been superceded by later work; (5) Many of my salient deliverables are text based. In short, why require employers to refer to two separate portfolios.
Is it optimal? no. Is it a reasonable representation of what I've done? probably...and it has the advantage of allowing me to explain my role in each project clearly. So, the reasons I use the type of portfolio and treat it as I do are precisely your reasons for finding print style portfolios depressing. In fact, it seems you object to the content, not the presentation method. If you want a portfolio that tells you what the person's role was, what the project was, what the challenges were, what kind of team they worked with, then why not say *that* rather than blaming the presentation method. I've seen a lot more online portfolios that just point me to the sites than I have print portfolios that do the same. Katie At 11:07 AM -0800 2/22/08, Cindy Alvarez wrote: >On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 10:38 AM, Jeff White <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> For months now, I've been wanting to redo my portfolio. I'm curious as to >> what approaches everyone is taking out there, and I'm really interested in >> tangible, print style portfolios, not a website. >> >> What approach did you take for your portfolio? What have you seen from >> others that you like? What resources are out there for portfolio >> inspiration? Hiring managers - what about a portfolio inspires you? Or >> depresses you? :-) > > >As a hiring manager, print style portfolios depress me. > >Seriously, I would expect an interaction designer to have their portfolio >online, and here's why: when people show me a physical portfolio, the >burden is on me to ask "why is this relevant? what was your contribution?" >When people put their work in an online format, it's their responsibility to >figure out "what can I show? how can I explain why what I did was >valuable? how can I explain my thought process?" That's the same type of >critical problem-solving that I expect them to be able to apply to a >software design challenge. > >I don't have super high expectations for the level of visual design or the >amount of detail (I know many people have worked on projects where they >cannot publicly show work due to IP issues) - but I expect to see that the >effort was made. > >Cindy >________________________________________________________________ >Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! >To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe >List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines >List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help -- ---------------- Katie Albers [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
