PLAN

It is so important to know what you need to include in you portfolio before you just start gluing things to big pieces of card, we don’t want to waste any time. I found that the best way to plan my portfolio was to go onto the website of the university/ universities which I was applying for and find out what they look for in a portfolio, it’s also best to look at the requirements specific to your chosen course. Copy and paste all the information you find so that now you have a checklist of what to make sure is in your portfolio so that you get into your chosen University and onto the course you want. I found that printing out the checklist and highlighting the key points worked best for me. Now you will know exactly what your university is looking for.

MAKE A MESS

Get out all of your work, all of your sketchbooks and lay it all out. Now you can see all of the work you have and which parts you want to include and which parts you may not need to include.

START CREATING

Hopefully you have enough work to start creating your physical portfolio. If you’re creating yours using big pieces of card then begin by laying out your images – don’t stick anything down yet! Make sure you show a process in your portfolio. Showing how you planned to make something and then showing the final piece- how you got there and any challenges you faced during the making. Tutors usually look for progress and the process of your work to show how you work.

LOOK BACK

Once you have all of your portfolio (if not, the majority) of your portfolio lay out – you can now look back. Look back over your layout and your order. Is everything up to standard? Have you included all of your best work? Does your portfolio come alive? Are YOU happy with it? You have to like the outcome of your portfolio otherwise you will find it very difficult to talk about in your interview.

BRING IT ALIVE

Glue/stick all of your work down (I like to use double-sided tape as it gives a professional finish) And if you have any sketchbooks make sure they are all complete to a high standard. Unless you have a sketchbook you are currently working on then your sketchbook/s should be complete.