Bryony Gomez-Palacio

Soooo… I bought this over a year ago when I started seriously looking for a new job… and then left it untouched on the TBR pile until I had been at the new job for over 6 months, when I didn’t really NEED to learn about how to make a portfolio that will help you land a job. Erm. My timing was a little off this time around.

That said, though, it’s a VERY pretty book. So many pictures of pretty portfolios and pretty examples of work and oh so lovely!! And it’s actually made me want to show more work on a portfolio that isn’t your typical inserts-in-a-book-with-plastic-sleeves kind of portfolio, like I’ve always had. It makes me want to showcase the work that I’m proud of in a manner that actually shows how proud I am of it and what I can do with it. Maybe I can use it for freelance stuff, and revamp my online portfolio at the same time. Possibilities, possibilities.

A lot of what was covered in this book would be really good advice for job seekers and designers looking to promote themselves. (Though some of what was said was rather cringeworthy, like when a designer said he likes that his website is all popup windows. Ouch, so not user friendly.) Along with a page of photographs of each portfolio (the case, spreads or selections of work, etc), there was also a number of questions answered by each person who submitted their porfolios, so it included a little bit of background as to why a particular type of portfolio was selected, whether it’s still in use, how easy it was to keep updated, etc. Personally, I thought that the most interesting part was where they broke down where materials were purchased, how much the portfolio cost, and how long it took the designer to put it together.

In the midst of the portfolio examples, the book also included breakdowns of surveys that they authors did – such as, what both the interviewer and interviewee thought were the best means of first contact (email, phone, in person, etc). This was definitely very interesting information to look through.

Even though I didn’t read this book when I really should have, I hope I still take some of its principles and apply them in a way to work with getting some more part-time freelance gigs.

The Bottom Line
Highly recommended for students and job seekers in the graphic design industry. It’s informative and interesting and (most importantly, imo!) quite pretty. show less