How to build a great portfolio

[Diegio]

CREDITS TO: ARENA.NET
ARTICLE FROM: http://www.arena.net/articles/jobs022503.php

How to Build a Great Portfolio
Introduction

Recruiters, human resource managers, and others who are involved in hiring employees for a game company will tell you that every job opening can elicit hundreds of resumes. This means that an artist aspiring to join a game development team needs to make the best portfolio possible, because as the saying goes, "You only have one chance to make a good first impression."

Here are some tips for those putting together their portfolio for the first time, or for those considering putting a polish on an existing portfolio:

Portfolio Format:
There are a number of ways to get your portfolio into the hands of the person who will be making the hiring decision:

Internet web site
CD-ROM
VHS tape
Printed portfolio
At ArenaNet, our preferred portfolio format is presentation of the artist's best works, resume, and other pertinent information via an Internet web site. Online portfolios are something we can visit easily, spot check or explore at depth, and revisit later at the click of a link. Demo Reels and VHS tapes are more cumbersome to view and time-consuming to investigate, so we cannot emphasize enough how much we appreciate when an applicant presents his or her work in the form of an online portfolio.

Make Your Website Welcoming:
An Internet portfolio should be easy to access and pleasant to explore. Don't bog down the portfolio with entry pages or Flash intros. Use a standard website format rather than putting the entire portfolio into a Flash file that must be downloaded before someone can see a single image. If you use thumbnails, make them square or rectangular, to maximize the view; round and odd shapes are simply not as effective. For color images, use color thumbnails, as black-and-white thumbnails don't help to show the quality of your artwork. Most of all, remember that a prospective employer is judging your art, and not your website!

Categorize the Art:
We suggest that your divide your portfolio into sections, and include the following categories. You should try to include at least three examples of each type of work, as showing only one or two examples will only emphasize inexperience with the subject matter.

3D Character Models
3D Environmental Models
2D Texture Maps
Pencil sketches, particularly those that are then shown in model form

The types of art listed above are the most significant parts of a portfolio designed to get a job in the game industry. You may also wish to include others types of art, such as fully rendered scenes, life studies, images of oil paintings and sculptures, etc. These categories should support your portfolio, but should not be the focus.

Put Your Best Foot Forward:
For artists building a portfolio, we suggest that you focus a lot of effort on character models because we believe that artists who can model, texture and animate great looking characters will be able to create just about anything and make it look great. And because we as humans have so many receptors that tell us when something isn't right with a human design, it's possible to hone and perfect a character many times, edging it closer to the ideal.

Details, Details!
Show all layers of a project. When possible, show a concept sketch, a 2D texture map, and a 3D model with and without textures. If you use textures that you have not designed yourself, show your model in non-textured and textured form, and be sure to name the source of the texture. Whenever you use facets and highlights to reveal the edge definitions, also present a smoothed version of the image, as the faceted version will not show your modeling skills in their best light.

The Highs and Lows of It:
Cinematic-quality images and renders are a valuable part of a portfolio, and including those high-poly images is great. But we also encourage you to include low-poly work, those images that are about 1,000 to 2,000 triangles.

Cut the Fluff!
It is better to show fewer pieces of high-quality artwork than to fill up a portfolio with works that do not show your talents in their best light. The desired number of "at least three" for each type of art mentioned above is great, but if you only have two high-quality examples, put those in your portfolio and skip the others.

Eye on the Prize:
If you are applying for a job with a game company, focus your portfolio towards game-related art. It's very impressive when an artist has a broad palette of skills, but when you are submitting a resume and are sending a infinite number of images by which you will be judged, it is best to send only those most relevant to the offered position.

Show Originality and Give Credit:
All works in your portfolio should be your own work. "Variations on a theme" of another artist's concepts are not of much value in assessing your abilities. You may be able to emulate the work of another, but we want to see what you can do. Again, if you use an element, or build upon the work of another, be sure you give full credit.

Produce a Personalized Application Letter:
When you write an application letter, it's always a good idea to personalize it for the company to whom you're sending it. If you really want the job, know and refer to the company specifically, and address not why you want "a" job, but why you want a job with that specific company.

Other things to include:
Remember to include your resume on your website. Also provide contact information and a few references. If you would rather not post personal information on the website, be sure you have references, and that they are prepared to speak on your behalf if we do contact them. And in order to contact you, we will definitely require your personal address and telephone number, which you may provide via your resume, your cover letter or your letter of application.

Give Things a Professional Polish:
Naturally, since you are sending this off to people you haven't yet met, and since you want to be sure to make that good first impression, you should look at the contents of your portfolio very critically, perhaps have another person review it, and see if you're really sending your best work and expressing yourself well in your resume.

[[hP]]

thanks, very informative.

[Magnel]

Nicely put together, Diegio. Yea what a lot of people tend to leave out is quick sketches. Even people who enter the 3D world of the industry need those quick sketches, and in a lot of studios it's sometimes a required skill to be able to draw and make quick sketches.

Thanks for the post!

--Wade

[Diegio]

You're welcome!

[UnsteadyTeddy]

This is also a very good read:

Your Portfolio Repels Jobs

[GFX Slave]

Very helpful, thanks a lot! I'm long from good enough to start thinking about this, but it's great to have alot of information at hands when starting. Thanks again

[wolfordsworks]

Thanks a lot for this article. I'm definitely going to use this.