Wisconsin Design School
by: madisonmedia
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If you're looking for work in graphic design in Wisconsin
(or anywhere else, for that matter), your portfolio is going to be more
important than where you went to school. This is why the best graphic
design college doesn't rely on some imaginary or historical notion of
"prestige" to attract students. Instead, the archetypal "best school"
simply boasts the best coursework. At the best graphic design college,
upper-division students should be able to take at least one (possibly
more than one) graphic arts course every quarter devoted to helping
them build the strongest portfolios they can during the time left to
them before they must enter the professional world.
The importance of graphic design portfolios
to careers in graphic design cannot be stated enough. Your portfolio
isn't just responsible for starting your career; it's also responsible
for the growth of your career (or lack of growth, in some unfortunate
cases). Veteran graphic designers know to update their portfolios often
with fresh work, and to always keep a critical eye on the contents of
their portfolios at any given moment.
What Graphic Design Portfolios Mean To Prospective Employers
Portfolios of past individual work are important to many creative
fields. However--like resumes and other examples of visual
communication in the business world--they have a special significance
for the graphic designer. The reason for this is that the graphic
design portfolio is, itself, is a design challenge. How does one you
put together a collection of pictures and words--consisting of one's
past work--that reflects who one is professionally? How does one
arrange one's past work in such a way as to best reflect one's "style"
and approach as a designer?
Will the individual pieces suffer when they're all glommed together as
part of a portfolio? How does one avoid selling individual pieces
short? Is there a way to take advantage of the format of one's
portfolio such as to show each piece in an especially flattering light?
One good way is to make sure that your portfolio actually "tells a
story," in the sense that the individual pieces actually follow a
narrative arc. If every individual piece contributes to the story, the
overall effect is likely to be pleasing if the story is dramatic. If a
story is good, strong pieces are more likely to be notice and weak
pieces (of which there really shouldn't be any in the first place) are
likely to be overlooked.
However, organizing their portfolios in this way, it's tempting for
recent graphic arts course graduates to tell the "story" of their
development as an artists and designers. It's best to avoid this
temptation. Employers are not your teachers. They want to see your best
work. They don't need to see "progress" or "improvement."
If you are proud of your ability to design a finished graphic from
nothing; if you want to display your facility with blocking in contrast
and form; in short, if you think your work process sheds as much
insight into your design style as your finished works--then by all
means include preliminary sketches in your portfolios. However, don't
mix the sketches in with the finished graphics, or you will disturb the
viewer's rhythm and introduce confusion.
A good school of graphic design, in Wisconsin or elsewhere, will teach
you not only the basic and advanced principles of design, but also how
to apply those principles to the creation of a powerful portfolio sure
to net you work.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleStreet.com/profile/madisonmedia-8082.html
About the Author
Madison Media Institute, located in Madison Wisconsin, serves as a recording studio, video editing, and graphic arts college. The school is targeting at meeting the needs of those interested in a career in creative video production, careers in music production, recording studio training, or a career in digital design. The institute offers specific training based on each individuals careers goals and academic needs.
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