Preparing a portfolio for Art and Design
Firstly, I’d better make clear that I am not a specialist in art and design. While I have been at the sharp end of making admissions decisions on applications for a variety of subjects, I have not been an admissions tutor for art or design subjects.
What I have had, however, is the opportunity, to work with some amazing art teachers and lecturers (most notably at Loughborough University and the University of South Wales). I have listened to them talk about what they like to see in portfolios, and watched them discuss individual portfolios with the students who created them.
I have attempted to distil what I have learned into a simple guide to preparing your portfolio. You’ll soon realise, however, that it will take more than a short article on a website for you to fully understand what an amazing portfolio will look like specifically for you. So take this article as just the beginning, a jumping off point if you like; a solid platform from which to start your journey.
Read the criteria closely
Your teachers will have told you this about exams until they are blue in the face; read the question, and make sure you understand it before you start your answer. It’s the same with a portfolio. For every art school or university that you are applying for, check exactly when they want to receive your portfolio, how they want to receive it, and what they want it to include.
When ?
Do you need to submit it with your application? Will they ask for it after they have your application? Or will they ask you to bring it to an interview? You’ll want to know this well in advance, so that you have the chance to submit some fully completed projects, even if you are submitting early in the year. It is critical that you submit on time, and (particularly if there is any digital process involved) you should not leave it to the last day under any circumstances. Digital platforms have a nasty habit of going down on the last day, not accepting your format, and causing untold stress for students and teachers. Protect yourself from the stress (or worse still, missing the deadline) by submitting early.
How?
Are you expected to submit it digitally? If so, is there some kind of system to upload it to, or do you simply email it in? Do they require it to be in a specific digital format (e.g. pdf or jpeg)? Is there a maximum number of images, or a maximum file size? Falling foul of any rules as you try to submit might simply mean the system will not accept your submission.
What?
Most art schools will not prescribe exactly what you should include. However, some will have information and guidance that is pretty clear. For example, they might give strong hints that they want to see drawing and sketching. If they do, then exclude these at your peril! They may give suggestions about how many projects to include. If they give a minimum, then make sure you meet that, so you are not shooting yourself in the foot for no reason.
In short, read the instructions, and don’t start preparing your portfolio submission for a particular art school until you are satisfied that you fully understand their brief.
Organise and tell your stories
A good portfolio will typically contain a number or projects. Think of each project as a story, not just a final outcome. For each story, they will want to see a thought process; a start, a middle and possibly an end (though ironically, the end is less important than the journey!). This is your chance to show how good your skills are and how good your work is. But it is also the opportunity to show that you are hungry to learn and improve, so the story of each piece - the journey you have taken in developing the project - is more important than the final work.
Most art teachers will agree that it is easier to teach technical skills than it is to teach people how to have an idea. So, when it comes to displaying each of your projects, it's really important to start with the idea. Where did the idea come from? Was it from a brief that you were given? Or was it something in your life that you saw, experienced and particularly cared about? Perhaps another artist, or a specific piece of design inspired you? Show that original inspiration in your portfolio, and tell the story of how it gave you an original idea.
Next up, what observation did you do? Show the early sketches or photos that informed your idea. These can be as basic as you like.
Did you then experiment? Did you try using different mediums? If it’s a 3D piece of work, did you try different materials before settling on the final one?
Show the development: how did you get from those early sketches and experiments to the final piece. So, for example, if you are submitting a short film, then you’ll want to show your inspiration, submit early sketches and photos, plus your storyboards, as well as the final film. And don’t be afraid of showing mistakes as part of the process. There is nothing wrong with making a mistake, so long as you can show how you learned from it, and improved the project because of it!
One project might be displayed all on one page, slide or frame. Others will be told over several pages. That’s up to you. Some of the stories might be self-explanatory, but normally you should put some clear and concise labels on. These could detail the brief, the media, the inspiration, the stage in the journey, even the length of time they took. Include whatever is required to make sense of where you started, and where you got to in each story.
In summary, each project you include should be displayed as an organised story, containing the original inspiration, observation work, examples of development, experimentation or exploration, and the final work.
Show your technical skills, with breadth
Yes, technical skills can be taught, but the school will want to know that you have the basic technical skills to build on. Almost every creative discipline will want you to be able to sketch your ideas simply and clearly on a piece of paper. So even if drawing is not your forte, you should include some sketches! From then on, show a breadth of technical abilities. These may be directly associated with the discipline you have applied for, such as fashion designs, short films, 3D designs etc. But selectors will almost certainly want to see you show some technical ability that is outside of your chosen area. An applicant for a film-making course who can actually paint or make sculptures is a far more intriguing prospect than one who only submits moving images!
With technical ability, go for breadth rather than depth. Even if you are amazing at a particular discipline, such as life drawing, stick to one or two examples of this in your portfolio. Then move on to other disciplines which show a different skill or ability. For the purpose of demonstrating technical ability, it is fine to include a handful of one-off pieces of work. So, for example a full portfolio might include six or seven full projects plus a couple of pages of one-off sketches, drawings and paintings.
Include quality over quantity
Again, every art selector will say the same thing. Less is more, and they’d far rather see ten amazing pieces of work than 20 where the average quality drops off. This sounds straightforward, but it isn’t. It's important to be clear that when we talk about quality, we are talking about the quality of the whole project, not the individual drawings and sketches contained within. A high quality project may contain some very basic sketches, that in their own right may well not stand up to scrutiny, but which are important in telling the whole story of the development of the project. And as mentioned above, mistakes are OK, and can even enhance a project. So, pick your best projects, not just the best pieces of final work.
Think about structure
This might be pretty obvious, but your portfolio needn’t be in chronological order. Rather it should be in an order that showcases your talent to the best effect. My advice? Start strong with one of your very best projects. Whether or not you are there in the room when the selector looks at it, you want to make them sit up and take notice that they have a contender here!
Then move on to some more projects that tell a great story and show a clear process; idea, observation and development. These should be solid projects that show that the first one wasn’t a one-off, but that you have a process you can repeat! Next, if you haven’t already shown them, include some examples of your technical skills. These can be one-offs and will reassure them that you have skills beyond your normal discipline.
Finally, finish strong. In fact, finish with your very strongest work. It might be your most recent work, it might not, but it should leave them wanting to see more!
Be ready and able to discuss your work
For most art school selectors, the most interesting (and important) aspect of the selection process will be the portfolio interview. For this reason, when preparing your portfolio, you must only include work that you are happy and comfortable to talk about. As you prepare each project, have a think about what you might say if the selector asks you about it? Will your enthusiasm for the project shine through? Is there something about the project that is clear and memorable? Chances are that if you loved the project, you’ll want to talk about it, and if you didn’t love it, you probably won’t. So, set yourself up for a positive interview by including the stuff that you love talking about!
Do your research and get help
If I’m brutally honest, I know full well that an article such as this has some pretty big limitations when it comes to portfolio advice. I’ve seen plenty of universities show powerpoint slides on how to prepare a portfolio, or hand out leaflets, and there are of course loads of websites too. But when these powerpoint slides, leaflets and websites are just lists of text, it makes my heart sink, because what you really need to do is to see what a good portfolio looks like and to hear directly from the selectors what excites them.
Thankfully there are plenty of websites, blogs and youtube videos that will actually show you examples of portfolios that will bring to life everything that I have written above. The usual warnings apply, so check the source of the information to make sure it is credible. Universities themselves do some pretty good stuff, and there are a handful of independent blogs that I have found that look good. In this context, just be aware that student-produced advice may not be the best, as the students themselves will have only a very narrow perspective (their own!). Below you’ll find links to a couple of great youtube videos, and from there you can explore away!
Most of you will also have the opportunity to attend open days prior to applying. These are important for most students, but are vital for those submitting portfolios and attending interviews. Universities want you to submit the strongest possible application, and so at the Open Day they will literally tell you exactly what the process is, what you need to do, and what they want to see, along with anecdotes about the best (and sometimes worst) applications and portfolios they have seen. If you are serious about getting into a particular art school, my most important advice is to visit before you apply.
And finally, most of you will of course have an art teacher. They will not be an expert in the requirements of every art school in the country (and so it is up to you to research these) but they will be an expert in helping you tell your story, and helping you to present your projects in the most compelling way. And of course they’ve all been exactly where you are now, and successfully got into their chosen art school. So, listen to them, and be prepared to learn from them.
What next?
As well as drawing on my own experience, I did a bunch of research for this article.
A couple of the best youtube videos I looked at are linked below, so have a look and see for yourself what a great portfolio looks like. You’ll also see where I got some of my inspiration from!
Once you’ve had a look at these two, see if you can find equivalent videos for the schools that you are considering.
🎬 University of the Arts London: What is a UAL Portfolio.
🎬 University of Dundee: Guide to Creating a Digital Portfolio.
