So I did the big thing and I started up my own branding/design firm
I started it with a partner that has more experience in this sort of thing and that I super trust, so I’m very excited!
This has been going for a few months now and it is empowering to be able to control my life to this degree. It’s scary because we have to make sales and handle business things that I haven’t had to handle before, but overall it’s already such a great experience! And to be doing this when I’m 23 is also crazy. An ego boost on one end to be asked to join in on this but also a push for me to present myself confidently and not feel weird about it, haha.
If you guys want to follow along on this check out our website:
ok I’m going on a follow spree because, as made obvious by the most recent ask game I did, I don’t follow enough people. Please send help.
REBLOG IF YOU POST:
studyblr
studioblr/artblr
illustration
graphic design
lettering
(if you have any recommendations you can also mention them in your reblogs! I’m really looking LOL)
Hi there! I sort of have the same issue, but solely with graphic design students (I can’t find a hashtag for us, other than “graphic design student”); I came across your post by punching in designblr, and I think that there is a problem typical of language dialects in general: a couple of groups use different words to signify the same thing, while still belonging to the same group (ask your local langblr for more details on that, I am just studying graphic design).
And yeah, I have a question: do us graphic design students have a hashtag fitting into the greater eco system of *blrs?
If you don’t know of any, care to make one up for us?
Know the differences between kerning, leading, and tracking. Each one is crucial for optimally spacing typography. We hope that the diagram helps your understanding as well!
sooooooo important!! Always watch your spacing! It really adds that finesse and polished look to designs, and can even break them.
Every creative mind has different fuel. Figure out what space and tools you need to be the most productive. This includes music, how you sit or stand, and even the activity around you.
What’s your ideal work environment to be the most productive? Reblog and let us, and others, know! Maybe you’ll help someone else figure out how they’re most productive!
My professor bought my portfolio from me and we talked at her place and I’m still so happy that I was the portfolio she bought to show to other seniors for inspiration
Key things to remember when creating a portfolio website Main Writer: @allydsgn | Allyson Arrogante
Welcome to the Spring Semester, when most design students have either started looking into jobs or even started interviewing for them. Design conferences are holding job fairs and design communities are hosting reviews. Portfolio, business cards, and business-casual outfits either ready to go or in progress, students are trying to make sure they check off every box for what they need to be the best candidate graduating in town this semester.
Studioblr Collective is here to help you check one of those boxes off, and that’s your Portfolio website. Some students use their portfolio website as their portfolio book as well, bringing iPads and laptops to interviews and conferences to click through, so we found this topic to be a big necessity to write at this time of year.
What are we covering?
Why should you have a portfolio site
What should be on your site
How to format what’s in it
How and where to build your site
Disclaimer: you will hear different advice from different people, so please, as always, when you hear advice take what you think applies to you and leave behind what you think does not work. Be responsible for your decisions and believe in them, don’t do something just because someone else told you to.
Hey all! Here’s an article I wrote for Studioblr Collective! I think it’s about that time of year where portfolio sites are getting done and all that good jazz, so check out this article to help you get that situated!
hello, there my name is mar, welcome again! the last intro post seemed rushed so i thought of properly introducing myself this time
about me
♡ i’m eighteen years old (2000’s baby), a libra and an enfp.
♡ currently in my first year at university, majoring in professional graphic design. i just switched majors so i’m still technically a media student :b
♡ my native language is spanish though i feel more comfortable talking in english. in the future, i would like to learn korean, chinese and quechua, an indigenous language from my country.
things i like
♡ nature
♡ documentaries, podcasts and any type of medium that lets me learn stuff
♡ films, photography, theatre, literature, dancing and other expressions of fine art
♡ but dancing tops all. i love it so much i’m training every day so i could be part of a company or a group someday
♡ if we talk about artists, i would say bts (), khalid, janelle monáe, lalá, day6 and nell!
♡ can’t forget about moses sumney, kwaye and the beatles
♡ also cute things asads
oh, these are the courses i’m gonna take this year!
♡ introduction to art
♡ semiotics and audiovisual communication
♡ colour and technique
if you wanna discuss any of these, i’ll be glad to have a chat (♡˙︶˙♡)
what to expect
as an enfp, i can’t assure you my originals posts will be study-related, maybe the occasional desk inspo pic or some motivational quotes. nevertheless, my reblogs are focussed in sending you all luck with your studies or any goals set ( ´ ∀ ` )ﾉ
and finally, but definitely not least, some awesome peeps that inspire me every day to be a better person
We’ll be posting articles, quick tips, and artist features every Saturday, alongside answering questions that come into our inbox as a team!
For those already following the blog and familiar, we’ve been around for a while now, but have been inactive for some time. We have rebooted for 2019 and can’t wait to share what we have in store!
Hey guys, school is starting back up again and I want to talk to my followers a bit and spread some positivity and good vibes about the upcoming school year/semester!
Send me an ask saying what you’re excited about this upcoming school year/semester…
… and I’ll respond with some good vibes about you, your blog, or content!
Know the differences between kerning, leading, and tracking. Each one is crucial for optimally spacing typography. We hope that the diagram helps your understanding as well!
My professor bought my portfolio from me and we talked at her place and I’m still so happy that I was the portfolio she bought to show to other seniors for inspiration
hey gang i’m back n better than ever !! exams are all done n i’m feeling rly good abt the rest of my studios this year :))) as soon as i get my results, i’ll be posting some of my final pieces, so stay tuned
a quick update:
- hephaestudy > samothrce for those who missed it
- new layout, new tags (still tracking#heyachilles tho)
- might be less studyblr content, i’m now using this for my portfolio inspiration folder
how are you all doing? tell me about your day/week/smth good to happen to you recently, i’ve missed u guys :’)
There’s so much to do today! I thought I’d have a day off, but it seems like I won’t! Lots of orders are in right now, and I have a lot to work on for upcoming projects. So, it looks like I’ll be putting in some extra work today!
So I just spend like 45 minutes redoing my blog theme. Fiiiinally found one that didn’t make my content look like a potato. If you’re on desktop, you’ll notice the brand new addition of my face on the sidebar! If you’re on mobile, my face is technically also includes in the header image, but it’s kind of overshadowed by the SHEER BRIGHTNESS of the South Carolina sun.
Anyway, today was really good! I’m trying a new thing with my planner, continuing on from that 20-minute rotation idea I had last week. In order to make sure the most important thing gets hit first, and also acknowledging that the most important thing is prone to shifting, I grabbed some arrow flags and assigned top 5 priorities. Tomorrow I’m going to be spending most of the day at the library—actually reading books! It’ll be great!—so we’ll see how this system works.
Every creative mind has different fuel. Figure out what space and tools you need to be the most productive. This includes music, how you sit or stand, and even the activity around you.
What’s your ideal work environment to be the most productive? Reblog and let us, and others, know! Maybe you’ll help someone else figure out how they’re most productive!
Key things to remember when creating a portfolio website Main Writer: @allydsgn | Allyson Arrogante
Welcome to the Spring Semester, when most design students have either started looking into jobs or even started interviewing for them. Design conferences are holding job fairs and design communities are hosting reviews. Portfolio, business cards, and business-casual outfits either ready to go or in progress, students are trying to make sure they check off every box for what they need to be the best candidate graduating in town this semester.
Studioblr Collective is here to help you check one of those boxes off, and that’s your Portfolio website. Some students use their portfolio website as their portfolio book as well, bringing iPads and laptops to interviews and conferences to click through, so we found this topic to be a big necessity to write at this time of year.
What are we covering?
Why should you have a portfolio site
What should be on your site
How to format what’s in it
How and where to build your site
Disclaimer: you will hear different advice from different people, so please, as always, when you hear advice take what you think applies to you and leave behind what you think does not work. Be responsible for your decisions and believe in them, don’t do something just because someone else told you to.
1. Why Should I Have a Portfolio Site?
To those that do not have a lot of time or experience building a website, building an online portfolio that is supposed to encompass and showcase work in its best light may seem daunting. Some may find reasons to not put the time and effort into one, but it can be through Behance, Dribbble, or your own site. Whatever you choose, you should have an online portfolio that’s easily accessible and identifying to you and your work.
The first, and probably most obvious, reason that you’ll want your work to be 24/7 accessible and easy to find is for potential employers. If they put your name into Google, or stumble across you on LinkedIn and other social platforms, they should be able to find your website: the reliable go-to place to see what you think is your best work and links to all of your other profiles that they are probably interested in seeing. With this said, make sure that whatever you hand out or send to people has your website’s URL on it.
It’s not only a great gallery and showing your best work, but it is also a reliable way to get a hold of you. When you hand out a business card or tell someone your name, an impulse for those interested in you is to look you up later. This could be potential employers or other designers that just want to connect, which could lead to opportunities later. Hook up your professional email to your site to make sure you’re separating your junk mail and spam from the emails you actually want to read. Being timely in your responses also helps you look reliable, professional, and interested.
2. What Should Be On My Site?
Some common mistakes are to include too much or too little information about you and your work. Here’s a list of necessities to make sure you check off:
Your work should be in the spotlight
Context for you and your projects
Resume
A Little About You
Your Brand
Your Contact Information and Other Profiles
Some of these seem obvious or vague, so let’s jump into the details.
3. How to Format Your Website
Overall, your website should be treated as a portfolio piece in itself. Typography, color, hierarchy, brand system, and so on should be considered when building this site. Just like a website you’d make for a school project, you should be sure that your website experience is consistent, meaningful, and intentional. Your site should be responsive and it should be easy to find the things we listed above. Now, let’s talk about how to format and what to remember about the specific parts of your site:
Your Work:
Only your best work should be featured. Your “average” work will distract from your “wow” work.
List projects as campaigns if they have multiple parts, not separated, so viewers can see the system that you built. This format will help you tell the story of the campaign. Your pieces speak louder when together.
Use mockups that are clear, show your work in context, and in its best light
Your work (logos specifically) should be clear to see and analyze with appropriate clearing space.
The process is beneficial to show your thinking/ideation process
Walk through your process per project and pace out your work for easy digestion
Make it clear what people are looking at and what to expect
Context:
As we said above, you should walk through your work, to provide context as to what helped you make certain decisions.
Some things to include per project should be who it was for, the challenges you faced, and how you felt you solved their problems.
If it was a team project, you must say so and list who else you worked with. It is not right to claim a whole project for yourself if you only did a part of it.
Keep descriptions simple, clear, and straightforward. You can add some flavor words for the sake of branding, but don’t get convoluted.
Put relevant text by relevant pictures to help drive your points mentioned.
Resume:
Make a link or button that clearly leads to this as it’s a heavily sought after link when recruiting.
It should be a PDF so that it’s easy to print out if a physical copy is needed for files. A typed and coded page is optional, just be sure it’s formatted well so that it is easy to read and matches your branding.
Use the version of your resume that enforces the kind of work you want to do. Some people have different resumes pertaining to certain types of jobs, so the one that everyone can see at all times should be for the job that you are looking for the most.
This could also be a good place to link to side projects or other online endeavors you’re a part of to show your involvement and what kind of projects interest you.
A Little About You:
A short, sweet, and catchy couple of sentences will do when it comes to personal interests.
Also, use this moment to talk about what kind of work you like and what you want to do. Recruiters will be able to see if you’re the right fit for their position or not.
A picture of you, or some sort of image you resonate with, helps give a visual aid to remember you by.
Your Brand:
This is used to keep everything consistent, not to overpower your work.
Your logo or name should be clearly visible on most, if not all, of your pages. The more your viewers are exposed to it and stays consistent, the easier it’ll be for them to recall you when they see your branding elsewhere.
How you talk in your text and how you display your work also follows your brand. Be aware of what you’re trying to say, how you want to say it, and the tone you want to use to express yourself.
Your Contact Information and Other Profiles:
Make sure a way to contact you is clear on the home page or in your navigation (this can be your email actually listed near the top of the page or a “contact” page that people know to click on.
On this page, it’s up to you to use a contact form or not, but either way, your main form of contact (most likely email) should be clearly listed on this page.
This is where you would put your other profiles for people to check out as well, such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Dribbble, Behance, and so on.
4. Where to Host and Build your Website
Here’s the fun part: development.
As a designer and not a developer, you are obviously not expected to code your site from the ground up. However, if you’re looking into becoming a web designer or partly get into development, it could be a great project to show off those skills. No matter how you choose to build, just remember that you need a domain name and a hosting plan. How you decide to build your site, and what functions you’re planning to have within it, will change if there is a variable third cost: the website builder’s subscription to use their service.
Let’s walk through the options:
Code Your Own Website
If you’re a web developer, this would be a great showcase of that ability on a smaller scale by your own rules
Full control comes with full responsibility. You have to figure out how to do everything on your site or at least hook up to it.
No subscription cost if you know how to develop without a builder and you update files through an FTP server.
Development will take longer.
WordPress/CMS
Good experience to work with WordPress since a lot of sites with bigger databases use this.
More “quick” functionality with the plugin library, but can also get more complicated as you deal with other people’s code and functionality to get things to work how you want them to.
WordPress has the option to upload a custom theme with custom post types if you want to do more than just display your portfolio. Another reason why a developer may want to use this instead.
There are some costs associated with WordPress if you’re using their themes. They also have plans with varying amounts of features where you can choose what’s best for you.
Evolving In-Betweens
Want a CMS with some advanced styling but don’t want to code? Sites like Webflow and Bubble are pushing the boundaries on drag and drop builders by giving you advanced customization.
These sites take more styling attention versus something like Squarespace with a starting template but offer more customization per element.
Some basic front-end styling knowledge would help when making decisions considering formatting and layout.
Subscriptions are not avoidable and should be reviewed for what features you want or need.
Squarespace and Other Site Builders
Most site builders are very intuitive and have great user experience as they are built specifically for those that don’t want to code.
Themes are somewhat customizable with styles, google fonts, and Adobe fonts options. They also will usually include custom CSS and code injection for those specific custom pieces.
Be aware of all functions you want and what functions are available at which subscription plan price. (example: if you want to sell products on your site as well that costs extra per month to host on Squarespace, and other similar website building sites)
There is usually no way around the subscription cost.
Adobe Portfolio (that hooks to Behance)
Very intuitive and easy user experience
If you’re already using Behance then you can easily and quickly sync up, which is great. You can also hide certain projects from your Adobe Portfolio while having them still visible on Behance so you can choose the best work.
Currently has very limited functions, so be aware, again, of what you want and what’s available.
Themes are limited and fixed to an extent, but by default are nicely designed.
Comes free with an Adobe subscription, but you must have one in order to use this service.
In Conclusion
You should have a portfolio site so that people looking to hire or network with you have a reliable place to see your best content, all other relatable profiles, and have a way to contact you.
This website should feature your best work, not too many or too little projects, and should be showcased on a campaign basis, not by its pieces. It should also hold relevant information about hiring you such as your resume, contact information, and a little bit about you. All of these things should be encompassed in your brand’s experience, but not overwhelmed by it.
Your projects need context which can be done with supporting text, walking through its process and pieces, and by supplying information such as its challenge and proposed solutions. Also, make sure that everything is displayed clearly, or can be found easily.
No matter how you build your site you’ll need a domain name and a hosting provider. The third cost that could change depends on what functions you want on your site and which way you choose to develop. Website builders will have subscription fees based on the features you want to have.
The Studioblr Collective hopes that this was helpful and encourages any of our readers to ask questions or provide feedback: we’d be happy to respond!
Not sure what to draw in your sketchbook? Fill a spread of your sketchbook with multiple species of one creature or multiple angles of one animal! This helps you train your eyes and hand to interpret perspective, texture, and color.
What kind of exercises do you do in your sketchbook? Reblog and let us, and others, know!
We’ll be posting articles, quick tips, and artist features every Saturday, alongside answering questions that come into our inbox as a team!
For those already following the blog and familiar, we’ve been around for a while now, but have been inactive for some time. We have rebooted for 2019 and can’t wait to share what we have in store!
The Studioblr Collective has been quiet for some time and that’s completely my fault, but the plan is to start anew in 2019!
We’ve got some great volunteers in the Studioblr Chat Discord server that are willing to help me with producing content and sharing great things about the art and design world. Personally, now that I’m graduated with a full-time design job, I feel even more qualified and more available to share some things I’ve learned and help direct this content in a more professional direction. I’d love for this to be a bigger blog and possibly site one day, but for now, articles, tips, features, and more on a Tumblr blog (and we’re planning also an Instagram) will be what we’re planning to achieve in 2019.
If anyone is interested in joining in this escapade you’ll have to be okay with using Google Drive and join the Discord server (sorry that’s where we’re discussing things) and let me know that you’re interested. You’ll get a role on the server for it to access the channel and stuff.
Responsibilities include helping write/brainstorm content and help to answer questions that we receive through the blog. We’ve gotten some asks already that I feel unqualified to answer, so I do need this team in order for this blog to continue being as helpful as it’s been in the past.
Anyway, happy 2018, and can’t wait to see what unfolds in 2019!
As you may have seen… we have a Discord server now for art/design students! You can check that out here. (we also have a few graduates and freelancers in our midsts!)
One part of our Discord server is having a monthly theme/activity for our members to participate in and to talk about… and this month we’re doing an event to “Meet the Artist”!
Now that March is over we have a list of who participated and where to find their meet the artist post! They’ll also be reblogged onto the Studioblr Collective blog so watch out for it!
Here’s the list! (click on the names for the post and the username for their blogs)
