In this age of "beauty is justice", most of the first impressions are of your clothes and looks, as are collections of works. Admissions officers do not directly deny a collection of works because of its typographical problem, but if typographical problems occur, it is easy to have unclear expression and confused thinking, which indirectly leads to missing out on Dream School. How to set up a collection of works? How to show your creative concept, design thinking, aesthetic ability and cognitive space in typesetting?

How to set up a collection of works?

First to bear the brunt: cover

The cover is the "face" of the whole collection, which can present the theme of the project content or the characteristics of personal design style. It mainly conveys information briefly, and the text can include: title (can be introduced with short paragraphs of text), specialty, name, etc.

Cover making principle: generally, online application schools do not recommend making covers because they will occupy pages and cannot convey enough project information; The interview school will make the cover, and some special schools (such as ACCD Game Design Professional, Sheffield, etc.).

The cover design of the album can adopt a minimalist style or a combination of graphics and text. It is bold to leave blank or uniform background color and undercoat to express the content in such a simple and straightforward way. One thing we should pay attention to when combining pictures and text is to understand the hierarchical relationship between pictures and text. When choosing pictures, we should integrate the content of the portfolio project, or design a picture that can highlight the personal creative style.

Reject confusion: the overall architecture is logical

　　 Sort out the framework

Before typesetting, one thing should be done first, which is to sort out the overall structure of the collection of works and ensure that the order and logic are clear. Students should sort out the typesetting materials according to the nodes of the design methodology, establish corresponding folders for the design process, and filter and arrange the available images, words and other materials.

Generally, the logic of works can be divided into three types: linear, divergent and combined.

　　a. Linearity is in the order of starting from scratch, that is, your initial conception, research after conception, collection of materials after research, and subsequent experimental operations, as well as the process of starting a collection of works and then the finished product of the collection.

　　b. Divergent style takes ideas and themes as the core, and uses different projects to interpret the theme. This form of portfolio is gradient, more three-dimensional than the traditional form, does not have a single feeling, and shows the applicant's ability and ideas more fully.

　　c. Combination type is a very common typesetting method, which uses different projects to show your abilities in all aspects. If the applicant prepares several projects with different themes, it is difficult to integrate them. Then we can take these projects apart, and two or three independent projects in one work collection are also acceptable.

　　 Screening material

When it comes to screening materials, everyone has a headache, because they are carefully done by themselves, which is difficult to choose. In particular, students applying for the UK direction, full of material accumulation and experimental process, then what should we do? Here are two suggestions for natural light, which can help you make a selection, optimize your own typesetting efficiency and improve the final effect of typesetting.

　　a. Conceptual representative materials

Each college has a clear limit on the number of pages of the portfolio, so we should select typical and representative materials in a limited space. Each page has a unique meaning to play a greater role. Avoid the accumulation of homogeneous materials, even if you think they are beautiful.

　　b. Style and color classification

While selecting and deleting materials, ensure that the style of the remaining materials is consistent. Subdivide and classify the pictures according to their colors and sizes. Remember not to be multifarious. The main purpose of the collection is to present the content and not to dominate.

　　 Establish project layout outline

The early stage has completed the orderly arrangement of each portfolio project. You can list the pictures on each page in the form of PPT, and then review whether the content must be presented, simplified or supplemented. Finally, combined with the brief text description, use Photoshop or Indesign for typesetting.

After a series of preliminary screening and integration, we are about to enter the formal composition stage of the collection, making full preparations for the final effect of the collection.

Art of writing: use moderately, refuse to be miscellaneous

Standard configuration of works collection: project production process+project finished product display+project description, all of which are indispensable. Although the overall focus is on pictures, the proper use of words is often the finishing touch.

How can we grasp the standard? Generally, there are two kinds of words in the composition of works: title and project description. If you can't fully understand the content and meaning of the work simply by looking at the project map, you need words to help. But if your work project map has perfectly interpreted the content expressed, there is no need for text explanation.

　　 Subtitle

In each part of the work collection, remember to put a subtitle and give content tips. Keep in mind that we are not making a ppt when making a collection of works, so don't be too simple and rude. Put such a big title directly on it, which is big and clumsy, and is more eye-catching than the content.

The subtitle must be concise and comprehensive. Don't use the inner "little poetic" here to express the main purpose of this part.

　　 Project description

When writing the project description, you can ask yourself questions. For example, "What did you do in this project? Who is the target group? How did you accomplish it? What are your unique advantages?" Through these questions, you can first open your mind and write concise and useful content.

In general, the first sentence in the project description of the portfolio should be as straightforward as possible to reveal the truth. Because in many works submitted for application, the admissions officer does not have enough time to read your instructions word by word. So I hope you can focus on the front and then enrich the content behind.

The project description can directly describe what the project is and how to use it at the beginning? Focus on the theme design, and the final point is sublimation. recommend: What are the stagnation problems in your portfolio?

In addition to the overall introduction of the project, the research process, production process and results also need to be explained. Especially for students applying for the UK direction, the survey process can be described in detail. The production process should use pictures as much as possible, and the results are mainly displayed, supplemented by text explanation.

The composition of the collection is the final battle of the collection project, so it must be taken seriously. The overall layout style of the collection can be determined according to your own collection. According to different majors, they also have different focuses. For example, the cover of the professional works collection of architecture tends to be sharp black and white style, while the professional illustrators may use more lively colors, but it is generally recommended that the colors should not be too many to avoid too much clutter. Also, don't let the cover of the album be too dazzling and have too many visual decorations. Even the album of graphic design should not be more formal than content.

More recommendations on how to set up a collection of works:

Attention should be paid to the typesetting of the collection of overseas art works that are being trained

Graphic design portfolio composition tutorial, 25 graphic design portfolio composition skills

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