Say McGuffin, It Sounds Funny

Designing a Digital Portfolio, Chapter 5

---

The short version:

Organizing your work is helpful when making a portfolio, you should do it.

 

The long version:

The first step in organizing your work is collecting all of your materials. This includes not only finished work, but also sketches, thumbnails, storyboards and the like that you may have created on the way. Keep editable backups of digital work, not just the final output like a movie or a PDF.

 

The next step is to organize your digital files and in doing so there are five things to focus on:

1. Group: Use folders and make shortcuts to easily move between related works.
   
2. Name: Names should be short, descriptive, and unique.
   
3. Show: Thumbnails and icons make it easier to quickly identify and pick out specific pieces.
   
4. Weed: When you're done with a project move older versions of the file and process ideas in other separate folders. If something in a project needs to be fixed, make the change now, even if you're "done" with it.
   
5. Backup: Should your data be sucked off into the twisting nether, you'll be happy you took the time to make backups. You should make backups anywhere you can; on other computers, on discs, online. If you're so inclined, a database of all your work can also be helpful in keeping track of it.
   
   
   

 

How to be a Graphic Designer, without Losing Your Soul, Chapter 9

---

The creative process, an ongoing part of a designer's quest to do good work. An important aspect of this process is inspiration. As the process is ongoing, everything you see becomes part of it, and at any given moment, something you see can give you that creative spark. But what else do you need besides inspiration? Talent helps and industriousness, dedication, and a love of what you do also help. A designer also needs a voice, some kind of creed. It could be deep and profound, or something aesthetic, anything to help provide a sort of guide for yourself when you're working.

 

That stuff is all well and good, but what about more specific items that are helpful to the creative process? One such important thing is a brief. Briefs should be discussed, questioned, researched (research is always important), and maybe even challenged. Sometimes briefs will provide a good idea of what a client wants, sometimes they won't. If you're stuck with a bad brief sometimes effort and the right attitude can make it work, and sometimes it can't. One thing to look for in a brief though is the McGuffin. A designer should always look for the McGuffin, it is the key to making a project work.

 

---

Another site I've found recently is for 247 MeadiaStudios. Another site with a Flash interface, but this one was done to look like a stack of old books. It even has a fly that will show up and will need to be shooed away.