Advice for those interviewing... Print your portfolio.

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

I wanted to post this as advice to young professionals working on landing a job in the architectural visualization industry.

 

Everything you do may be digital, but do not under value the importance of having printed reproductions of your work on hand when interviewing or presenting your portfolio. And I don't mean low quality prints on standard paper. High quality prints are an essential to take to an interview. If you want a competitive edge over other people looking for a job, this will definitely help. You took time and care to produce the work, not present it in a professional manner that shows you have respect for the work you create. It is also is also representative of how you will treat the work you create for the company that is looking to hire you, and if they can rely on you to represent the company well.

 

Showing your portfolio on the web, or even an iPhone is great, and often a necessity, especially to land a first interview or client meeting. But having a tangible item that someone can hold in their hand still has a charm that can not be represented well through digital medium.

[lucho]

Good suggest, it's true a good job have to be showed in a good way.

[Ky Lane]

I print all my work out on 4x6" photo paper, and it must be the res or the ink or something, but they nearly always turn out like real photographs. Seems to smooth out all the little things you see on screen. Clients love them.

 

Ive also bought a digital photo frame and put all my work on it for a client once, and they get a gift - always good to bribe

[jsf]

Hey Travis,

 

I came to the same conclusion myself after seeing a printed book of personal travel photos.

 

A printed book is far superior to the leather portfolio with plastic pages you would normally take to an interview, and can be left with, or mailed to a prospective employer.

 

Essentially you are creating your own marketing materials and advertising your skills in the process.

 

Ky,

 

I'm in agreement with you about the 4x6 printing size. My FryRender images at that scale have fooled a few people.

[Chad Warner]

Ive also bought a digital photo frame and put all my work on it for a client once, and they get a gift - always good to bribe

 

I like the digital photo frame idea.....even for existing clients, it wood be a good way to show them the work that you've created for them, and then they can delete all the renderings and put pics of the family on it!

[shaneis]

3D work on high quality print media looks fantastic. Ky, Jay, I completely agree that photographic renders on a photographic medium just completes the illusion.

 

I've wanted to experiment with various print media for years, it's just the cost that is a little restrictive.

 

The link below will take you to Ray Caesar's site - from memory, he uses Maya and renders a beauty pass and an occlusion pass. The fancy technique is in his style of printing (which he keeps secret) though somewhere along the way I heard he prints to a PVC type medium and infuses the inks into the medium, rather than printing "onto the surface".

 

NB: WARNING - Some people find the artwork unpleasant... creepy... distasteful... and so-on.

 

http://www.raycaesar.com/pages/home.html

[Simon Moir]

Hey Travis,

 

A printed book is far superior to the leather portfolio with plastic pages you would normally take to an interview, and can be left with, or mailed to a prospective employer.

 

 

http://www.blurb.com

[WAcky]

Ive also bought a digital photo frame and put all my work on it for a client once, and they get a gift - always good to bribe

 

Awesome idea. I'm stealing it.

[mattclinch]

www.blurb.com

 

+1

[Ky Lane]

Awesome idea. I'm stealing it.

 

I expect royalties!

[Nic H]

please dont use one of those god awful leather bound plastic page portfolios though with every bit or work you have ever done.

 

id try something different like print out 3 or so of your best images at A5 as postcards on high quality matte card and leave them with the interviewer with your details etc on the back. lots of people will end picking them up and checking them out rather than having to load up a cd etc.

[Ky Lane]

Oh boy! I can see me spending alot of money at blurb.com!

[Ernest Burden III]

Everything you do may be digital, but do not under value the importance of having printed reproductions of your work on hand when interviewing

 

You mean people come in looking for work and they only have a CD in their hands? Really? Well, obviously, or you wouldn't have posted this. I'm amazed.

 

I have to admit that I no longer use a portfolio. People have already seen my work before they call me. But there are times that I judge it advantageous to go to meet a prospective client with some prints to show them. Keep in mind I'm only being interviewed for a freelance assignment. If you are applying for a job you do not want to make it hard for people to see what you do. So you bring prints AND a CD, and you would be wise to include materials from WIP stages so you can demonstrate your process and depth of understanding of how the job you want is done. Maybe the interviewer won't want to see all that, but have it available and remember to ask how they work.

[AJLynn]

Printed portfolios are the standard in architecture, though you see a lot of additional stuff being used as leave-behinds. I always use double-sided really good matte A4 inkjet paper, print on my Epson and get it bound, and last time I was looking for a job I also made some A5 leave behinds, but I have a friend who got his printed as a full color, hardbound, glossy book by lulu.com - it was slick and cost ridiculously little. I would do something like that next time.

[fourthand11]

I've used ritz.com to print on their photographic paper. Love it.

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

You mean people come in looking for work and they only have a CD in their hands? Really? Well, obviously, or you wouldn't have posted this. I'm amazed.

 

You would be amazed. the majority of people bring printed stuff, but a lot of times it is very poor quality, even wrinkled standard laser paper. It bothers me. You are looking for a professional position where your job is creating visuals that are to be presented to the client. The goal of an interview is to sell to sell yourself, and the quality of the work you do. It says a lot about you, and your attention to detail, and the attention to detail you potentially bring to your daily work. If you don't even bother to present yourself well, what are you going to do for the company.

 

I remember interviewing for my first job as an intern at an architecture firm. My portfolio was not the best put together, but I spent more time than a lot of things I see pass my desk. Granted I did have a few cheap black and white laser prints mixed in there.

 

 

I print all my work out on 4x6" photo paper, and it must be the res or the ink or something, but they nearly always turn out like real photographs. Seems to smooth out all the little things you see on screen. Clients love them.

 

Typically my deliverables are digital, but I do often include prints as profs. Maybe I should be thinking about higher quality proofs.

 

[quoate=AJLynn]I always use double-sided really good matte A4 inkjet paper, print on my Epson and get it bound, and last time I was looking for a job I also made some A5 leave behinds, but I have a friend who got his printed as a full color, hardbound, glossy book by lulu.com - it was slick and cost ridiculously little. I would do something like that next time.

 

For the past 3 or 4 years I have taken things to the local photo place or even Target, and had it printed to a 8 x 10 format on photo paper. I then mounted those on a heavy chipboard to give it a better feeling of quality. When something ways a little more, and is a little more rigid, it seems a little more substantial.

 

On and off for the past couple of years I have been thinking about switching from the 8x10 prints to a 11x14 prints done at a professional photo lab on matte paper. I think these are going to run $15 to $25 each. It is a little more expensive, but should be well worth it.

 

I am intrigued by the book, but I don't like that it can't be updated without reprinting. By keeping the prints separate, I would have the ability to move thinks in and out of the collection of work I share with others.

 

The fancy technique is in his style of printing (which he keeps secret) though somewhere along the way I heard he prints to a PVC type medium and infuses the inks into the medium, rather than printing "onto the surface

 

Sounds interesting.

 

id try something different like print out 3 or so of your best images at A5 as postcards on high quality matte card and leave them with the interviewer with your details etc on the back. lots of people will end picking them up and checking them out rather than having to load up a cd etc.

 

Good advice. I have left prints with people before that I needed back at some point. With postcards they can keep them.

 

It reminds me of a project we did for Christmas card once at a previous firm I was working for. Employees brought in art work they had created. The medium did not matter. Then there was a voting process, and the top 4 were selected. Those 4 were then photographed, assembled with a ribbon, and mailed to all clients and professional contacts. They turned out so nice that I kept a few on my home fridge for a couple of years.