Folio Talk with Emma from Aquent

Emma was very inspiring and a great help, she came in to speak to us about our portfolios and design CVs. She talked to us about what makes a good and a bad folio and CV. Emma explained that we need to think about the layout and the font for our CV's, these are two very important parts to your CV, when applying for a job, the agency in which your CV was sent to wouldn't even bother reading it let alone hiring you, another thing which goes hand in hand with this is: attention to detail, including spelling, she mentioned getting at least 5 different people to read over your work and check you designs before print. These minor mistakes will be the deciding factor in whether you get the job or not! Your CV also needs to be well spaced out, clear and easy to read and kept to two pages or less, Its also important your CV gets straight to the point, no-one cares whether you got a gold medal in a race etc. This is because the reader tends to no what they need to know about you already and needs to know exactly where to look to find it.

Emma then went on to our portfolios, she had examples of good and bad portfolios and it was very clear who then would hire on the basis of just those, every piece of work we do should have a story behind it and we should not be afraid to tell it, this needs to be shown in our folios: what the client wanted, what I persuaded them to have, who was in the team, and what came out from the brief. You must always open your portfolio with a strong piece of work and have a strong piece of work at the end and one in the middle, to keep them interested throughout. This is so that when talking about your work, you can talk positively and with a constant pace in your voice. Another thing Emma made really clear was to never put a piece of work in your portfolio that you don't really like. If you are negative about it in anyway then the person you are showing it to will pick this up also and wonder why you are showing them the work in the first place. Also always ask for feedback after showing the client or potential employer your folios. Emma also mentioned getting your work photographed in context a well as showing the flats, this ads depth to your portfolio and shows the finished outcome or your design.

All in all this talk was brilliant I stayed alert throughout and will be looking forward to seeing emma again next year.