Portfolio critique

I chose to go shopping for my portfolio, because I didn't want to buy it on the internet and for it to arrive and me not be happy with it. I wanted to see it in person, pick it up, see how things fitted in it etc. I knew two things that I wanted when I went shopping for my portfolio - that I didn't want a box, and I didn't want it to be black. For me, even though boxes fit a lot more in them, they are just too bulky and a pain to carry around. I wanted something I could pick up and put in my bag - something practical. I also didn't want it to be black, because everyone's portfolios are black and that's boring to me. If my portfolio was in a pile I wanted it to stand out.

Jarrolds had a lot of style and size choices. I chose this particular style because I think it looks sleek and isn't too heavy or cumbersome. There were a lot of colour choices - red, green, purple, blue and black (of course). I chose red simply because it's my favourite colour. A little personal touch I suppose? I decided to go for standard A4 once again for practicality reasons. Even though bigger prints show a higher quality and more detail, like I said before, I want to be able to pick up my portfolio and run around with it in my bag. A bigger size would just end up hitting other pedestrians in the ankles. I think that A4 is just the right size; not too big, not too small. 

The inside of my portfolio has a small contact type card in the top left, so potential employers and clients can see my web presences and contact details as soon as they open the wallet. On the right you can see how the prints are kept inside. There are a couple of downsides to this method of storage that I have found since making my prints and putting them in. Firstly, I have 6 sheets in the wallet currently, and I would say you couldn't fit much more in if I carried on using the plastic wallets I am using - as they are quite thick. Secondly,the plastic wallets only just fit in the portfolio when it closes, so sometimes the corners can go slightly dog-eared (as you can see when I took the picture). This means anyone looking at my portfolio would have to be careful when closing it. A solution to this problem is to just get better plastic wallets. Now I have seen the ones from Silverprint in person that seems like a good way to go. Other than that, I believe the inside looks neat, simple and professional.

In the above photo you can just see my prints laid out (title, print, title, print, title, print). I decided to have the titles before the images to add curiosity and make the person viewing it wonder what the next photograph is going to be about. I also didn't want to restrict the size of my photographs by having the title on the same page. After reviewing my Constructing Narratives project I decided to edit it so there are less images, and different text to accompany them. They're all that's in there at the moment - simply due to budget. I am yet to decide whether some kind of cover is necessary - as my contact details are separate, and I don't really want to distract from my work.

In the future I plan to continue using this portfolio wallet, but buy different plastic wallets. I would also like to add some more imagery, as and when I can afford to.