Portfolios have always been artists' most valuable tools for communicating their talents to the outside world, whether to potential employers or galleries or clients. But the days of sketches and slides have given way to arrangements of digital assets that are both simpler and more complex than their traditional analog counterparts. Instructor and design professional Cynthia Baron covers all the facets that artists need to know, from choosing the best work for a particular audience to using various file formats to organizing, designing, and presenting the portfolio. Beautiful full-color illustrations demonstrate her instructions, and case studies throughout portray examples of attractive and effective portfolio design. This book gives artists at any level a creative edge, ensuring that their portfolios get noticed and help them stand out from the crowd.

About the Author

Cynthia Baron (Brookline, MA) is the Associate Director, Digital Media programs and Multimedia Studies at Northeastern University. Previously Technical Director and Lecturer in the Department of Visual Arts, she holds an MBA from Northeastern University with a Marketing concentration and was the executive vice president of a Boston-based graphic design studio for over a decade. She has written for many publications, been a series editor for Rockport Publishers and a contributing editor to the magazines Critique and Computer Graphics World. She has edited, authored, or co-authored over a dozen books, including Designing a Digital Portfolio and The Little Digital Camera.

Table of Contents

Introduction Part 1: Planning Chapter 1: Professions Chapter 2: Assessment & Adaptation Chapter 3: Your Audience Chapter 4: Format Part 2: Collecting and Preparing Chapter 5: Organizing Your Work Chapter 6: Digitizing Traditional Work Chapter 7: Repurposing and optimizing Chapter 8: Creating written content Part III: Production Chapter 9: Development Basics Chapter 10: Designing a portfolio interface Chapter 11: Digital portfolio reels Part IV: Marketing Chapter 12: Copyright & portfolio Chapter 13. Presenting your portfolio Appendix A: About the Contributors Appendix B: Resources