Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
64 lines (53 loc) · 4.16 KB

Week-10B-notes.md

File metadata and controls

64 lines (53 loc) · 4.16 KB
Raw

Week 10B - Portfolios

I. Topics

  • Types of portfolios
  • What goes into a portfolio
  • Building a portfolio using a framework

Having an online portfolio you can share with potential employers is very important in your line of work. Today, we will discuss various options for online portfolios, and get you started on the Portfolio assignment (5% of your total grade).

II. Example Portfolios

III. Discussion - What do you put in your portfolio?

  1. For the portfolio mini project, you are going to utilize templates to create a web portfolio that showcases your work to potential employers.
    • Important: Templates are OK for Game Developers and Web Developers/Interactive Developers ... but ... if you are instead interested in working as a web designer or similar, at some point you will need to create a custom web site and forego CSS templates. Here is a valuable course you should check out on Lynda.com: https://www.lynda.com/Behance-tutorials/Welcome/642472/704251-4.html
  2. Think about what you want the site to do for you. What is its mission? What is the goal of the site?
    • to get a specific co-op or job or career?
      • ex. Game Designer, Game Developer, Combat Designer, Software Engineer, Web Developer, Mobile Developer, Creative Developer, Creative Technolgist, Simulations Developer ...
    • to work in a specific industry?
      • AAA Game, Indie Game, Creative/Consulting/Marketing firm, Defense
    • or at a specific company?
      • ex. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Sony - Barbarian Group, Odopod, Sapient Razorfish ...
    • or work for yourself (freelance)?
  3. Craft a tagline or mission statement, just one or 2 sentences, that supports the goal of the site:
  4. The portfolio is a story, everything you put on the site says something about you. Be sure that the portfolio is telling a story that helps you, not one that hurts you.
    • curate your projects and focus on the ones that make you look qualified for your dream job:
      • show only your best work
      • show relevant work. Are you looking for a coding job? Then don't feature that sword you made in the 3D animation class!
      • be careful about selecting HW assignments as portfolio pieces unless they are substantially different or better than what your peers did on the same assignment - recruiters have probably seen them multiple times!
      • show diverse work
      • think about the sequence - put the focus on your best work - showcase your best project
  5. Curated Projects - show them in context:
    • with a web game or other interactive work, link to the actual application, don't just show screen shots
    • create YouTube demo videos for your games that are not published to the web
    • have supporting text that explains what the project does, and its inspiration
  6. Consider showing your development process - this gives employers insight into how you think as a designer (or coder or artist as applicable) - here are some ideas:
    • concept images from sketchbook
    • affinity maps/sticky notes
    • screenshots and notes on prototypes
    • pictures from user testing
  7. For team-based work, clearly identify what you did on the project:
    • be specific!
    • don't exaggerate!
  • Important: Employers will look at your portfolio and make hring decisions based on what their needs are, not yours, so make it easy for the recruiter to figure what you are good at!
    • "We don't hire co-ops for Karmic balance, we hire co-ops because we have a job that needs to get done!" - AA Game Studio owned by AAA Game Company.

IV. Presentations

V. Assignment

<-- Back to IGME-230 Schedule