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1. Know your objectives. Form a plan.

Before you lift a finger, think about the what, the why and the where of your future portfolio.

Ask yourself, what am I trying to achieve? What kind of work do I want? With what type of employer or client? Found and hired by what type of professional? Ultimately respected and admired by what type of peers? Your answers to these questions will help determine your tactics.

When you know what you’re looking for, you can investigate what your target audience is looking for. Talk to people in your industry. Make a list of portfolios you know are working for your intended employer and break down what you think are their best qualities.

As you create your portfolio, there will be many decisions you’ll make along the way. A well considered strategy will improve your chances of creating an experience that hangs together and is optimized for your objectives. My book provides detail on how to form a strategy and apply it.

2. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

There are many default qualities of a professional portfolio website. You don’t need to start from scratch unless you’re trying to completely redefine what a portfolio site can be.

Consider signing up for an account at one of the several online portfolio services available. If nothing else it will help you prepare your content. What you’ll learn from these sites is what the core building blocks of an industry standard professional portfolio are. The services are easy to use and you can build a site in very little time. If you take advantage of this you’ll be better prepared if and when you choose to create your own site from scratch.

You’ll find reviews of popular online portfolio services in my book.

3. It’s about the content.

Your site is a package for displaying what’s most important: your work (and your story).

Inventing a site that upstages your actual work is not a great approach for this reason. Be sure to provide clear and easy access to your work above all else. Strive for packaging that presents your content in a professional manner.

When you’re ready to put your work in the site, 1) choose the pieces thoughtfully, and 2) put them in an order that helps tell a natural story. If you’re inclined to show a large amount of work, take steps to make sure it’s easy to navigate and try to avoid including work that you’re not thrilled about or you think is excessively redundant.

Your portfolio site is also your opportunity to tell your story. The use of an about page, inclusion of a resume, the descriptions of your work, and demonstrations of your creative process are all storytelling tools to be considered and crafted.

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If you’re interested in learning more, check out my book Creating Your Digital Portfolio: The Essential Guide to Showcasing Your Design Work Online.

This comprehensive manual gives you all the knowledge and skills you need to build and present a digital portfolio that packs a punch. Creating Your Digital Portfolio covers everything from web hosting and uploading content, to personalizing and presenting your work to clinch that job.

Learn more about the book and how to get a copy…

Back then kids under 12 could ski for $5 (so of course we crouched down low at the ticket booth and spoke in squeaky voices until we were 16).

Times have changed.

Checked out Squaw Valley’s website last night and was glad to find something really remarkable – a company that appears to understand completely the simple fact that the content they put on their site should be a crystal clear reflection of what’s most important to them RIGHT NOW.

“SNOWVEMBER! 10 feet and counting” hits you in the face superimposed over the largest image possible of a skier making the most of the mountain.

Video content that was produced literally within days of viewing filled with exuberant people giving updates on conditions and what’s happening with plans to open more terrain is easily accessed.

From the CEO to a charismatic mountain hostess, the subjects are real, candid and totally comfortable on camera.

IMHO they’ve got their content act together and they make it look easy. It’s one example that helps illustrate some important elements in digital marketing:

Be fresh, relevant and authentic with your content.
The most important message, that there’s a bucket load of new snow, hits you straight away and you can’t escape it. The message is reinforced by real people on the scene speaking candidly about info that’s useful to the target.

Set up simple processes that help make hay when the sun shines (or when the snow dumps, as the case may be).
It’s clear that however they’re doing it, making those videos is easy enough for them that they’re able to knock them out quickly and frequently.

Provide, wait for it… clear calls to action.
Everywhere you go in the site there are calls to book accoms and an omnipresent 800 number. It’s so basic but so often undercooked.

It’s nice being back in California and a planned trip to Squaw in January is no exception. My one complaint about the site (apart from some less than stellar typography and other visual design details) is that now I’m a little too fired up for a trip that’s still a few weeks away. Gotta stop checking this…

:-)

www.squaw.com

I’m loving the environment for getting work done.

Because they do a lot of conservation work they’ve built an impressive collection of historic material for inspiration in their design.

There are many books, but the themes are consistent.

If they were digital things the tags would read “classic,” “architecture,” “1800s,” “urban planning,” “Bay Area,” “California…” I discovered they have a book about the history of my small home town on the peninsula (second from the left), a five minute flick through of which quickly tripled my knowledge about the place I’m from.

Makes me think about the importance of surrounding yourself with (relevant) inspiration and reference material when you’re in a creative profession. In most cases the more niche the better. It’s all well and good to be drawn to a wide range of things that are generally inspiring, but if it doesn’t carry some kind of specific significance to your work and interests, it’s less likely to contain those amazing little catalysts of creativity that the most relevant personal reference collections can.

Some quick tips regarding reference gathering for creative professionals:

Add to your reference collection constantly
If something you see pushes your buttons, take a screen grab or a photo and file it away. Do this consistently and over time you’ll find you’ve got an extensive reference library of your own, complete with your own niche themes. Equip yourself with a good screengrab utility and get good at shuffling photos from your phone or other quick access camera onto whatever device you prefer for storing your library. Make it quick and easy and it will become habit forming.

Keep it meaningfully organized
Organize your collection with folders that mean something to you. Make it easy to add to and retrieve from so that the niche aspect has personal meaning. Taking good care of your library will mean that when the deadlines are tight and you’re in a rush it might take good care of you.

Find the streams of inspiration that speak to you
Ffffound.com and tumblr come to mind (for design inspiration) to give two examples worth exploring for visual elements. Delicious is an excellent all around place to start as well. Find the sources that carry the most meaning for you (whether they’re digital or not) and tune in frequently to collect and add to your library.

Happy hunting.

It describes a three part approach to getting people to change their behaviour.

When we design digital experiences we’re trying to change people’s behaviour. We’re trying to get them to perform certain tasks, take in certain information or purchase certain things.

Paraphrased here are the book’s  three essential cogs for revving the machine of change:

1. Establish clear directions for that part of people’s brains that’s responsible for analysis and planning
   This relates most directly to having clear calls to action and presenting information in ways that allow for easy way-finding and good scanability.
2. Provide motivation for action by appealing to people’s emotions
   The most logically arranged digital interface isn’t going to get people to behave how you want them to without some kind of emotive inspiration put in terms that leads people to instantly visualize themselves on a new path.
3. Create an environment in which the change in behaviour can happen easily
   The digital context our target finds themself in needs to enable the new behaviour. Ignoring this is like having a brilliant online storefront with no working shopping cart behind the buy now button.

I’m often wary of official UX books. I tend to value forming my own perspective on experience direction and drawing on non-digital references so this book is fantastic.

Thanks to Sav at MBS for the recommendation.

Interesting idea and slick execution. The teaser on YouTube gets mixed reactions…

“They are abusing urban subculture for their stupid exploiter brand!”

“Ooooh nike are so down with the kids”

The dark/urban slant to it could come across a bit forced, but the idea is exciting and well integrated. Hoping to see it do well.

Activity on Facebook seems more engaged and positive naturally than on YouTube.

Find it here: www.nikegrid.com 

By Wieden & Kennedy, AKQA and Mindshare.

@iclazie

Great fodder for brainstorming ways emerging mapping (and image/data crowdsourcing) technology can be wrapped up in practical applications.

That’s a live video feed layered over 3D map of an interior space.

Layered images from multiple sources.

Look up for time-based constellation mapping.

http://www.ted.com/talks/blaise_aguera.html

@iclazie

Here’s an example showing the musical key distribution of their albums and a conclusion that on average they played mostly in a major key:

Looks kind of like Magical Mystery Tour had the most minor key of any of them. Wasn’t that their least popular album? Coincidence?

http://www.mikemake.com/media/72772/Keys2.5-webfull_o.gif

Other samples here:
http://mikemake.com/#72772/Charting-the-Beatles

The relationship between music and graphics begins with musical notes on paper ahead of a recording session. Interesting to see graphics at the other end.

@iclazie

HT Flowing Data

What I love about these examples is they demonstrate people going out of their way to use real world materials and knowing when to slow down and consider a different approach. An approach that might seem absurd at the time but could lead to great things.

HunterGatherer makes simply beautiful things. Then they make them appear to move. These guys love their wood grain.

HunterGatherer from Arkitip, Inc. on Vimeo.

Johnny Kelly likes paper a lot. Someone should tell him he could really cut his finger on that.

Making of ‘The Seed’ from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

I’m seriously hoping no interns were harmed in the making of this bit of stop motion animation from THANK YOU in Denmark.

BOOGIE Prisen from THANK YOU on Vimeo.

Here in the studio at Amnesia Razorfish we’ve been known to occasionally step away from the keyboards to create things out of real materials.

Sandor Moldan and Mike Kleinman worked bizarre magic on the previous incarnation of Mountain Dew’s site for Australia. Claymation zombies and bitchslapped rhinos adorned a hand crafted mountain of delights. (The site is no longer live, unfortunately.)

…and more recently Sandor and @eunmac created a wave tank for the background effect in the site we concepted and built for P&O Cruises Australia.

Check out the “making of” here…

@iclazie

Topics include:

• Digital Brand Experiences Create Customers
• Actions Speak Louder Than Advertising
• Digital Fluency
• The Language of Love for Brands? Deals.
• Measuring Brand Engagement

…and more.

“This report is probably the best analysis of online consumer behavior” according to Guy Kawasaki.

Check out the blog:
http://feed.razorfish.com/

Download the report:
http://feed.razorfish.com/downloads/Razorfish_FEED09.pdf

If you want to tweet about the report, use the hashtag #FEED09.

@iclazie

Here’s a collection of five seriously impressive efforts to innovate, take chances, do something unique, delight and surprise… Great stuff.

1. Wonderwall Inc. – www.wonder-wall.com

This Japanese interior design firm presents their work via a sproingy, elastic, 3D, slightly off the grid mosaic interface. It’s just fun to play with and tightly executed. It’s not a facade, either – the transitions and detail views are well thought through.

2. Resn - www.resn.co.nz

Not a new site, but if this New Zealand based creative agency ever changes their portfolio I look forward to seeing how they plan to improve on it. The imagination behind the navigation rollover effects and the presentation of the work in the portfolio section are inspiring. Use of full bleed background imagery and subtle audio really surround the visitor. Great balance of creativity and usability.

3. thetoke - www.thetoke.com

Slick, clean, technical. Slightly ambiguous concept around the identity and the intro, but it all makes for good eye candy. Play with the viewing modes in the top right hand corner to see cool applications of 3D in Flash.

4. bio-bak - www.bio-bak.nl

Wow. Also been around a while but something truly bizarre. It’s a game. The object is to find the site’s navigation. This site has balls. And they’re hairy and badly drawn.

5. Futuretainment – www.futuretainment.com

Ok, so it’s a book launch, not a portfolio, but it’s classic Frost and fits beautifully with the others for a range of inspiration on how to simultaneously provide a stage and set a tone.

Enjoy!

@iclazie