Portfolio

A strong portfolio is indispensable in pursuing a career in Media Arts. In order to secure an internship or job in the field you will need one. You should save, document, and share your work throughout your time at BMCC (and beyond of course!) A portfolio will grow with you, and it is never too early to start gathering your work. Not all the projects you create in your MEA courses will end up in your formal portfolio, but they are all worth saving for future reference and usage. While grades are important when it comes to earning your degree, you will need a portfolio when applying for internships, jobs, and Bachelors’ programs in any field related to design, web development, gaming, video, film, and animation. A weak portfolio will be detrimental to achieving your career goals. So start putting the tips below into practice right away – it’ll become second nature in no time.

Most of the time when someone asks to see your portfolio, they will want a link to an online site where they can see your portfolio. Most of the following information is geared towards online portfolios.

STEP 1: Get Ready

In order to create your portfolio, you will need to gather your work, edit if needed and export it in a format you can use on the web. As you complete work in your classes at BMCC and your own person projects, you should save the files used to create your work.

The Preparing Your Portfolio page has detailed information on where and how to save your files, using the right file formats, selecting pieces for your portfolio and writing about your work.

Also do some research and view portfolios of professionals and fellow students. You can see examples of portfolios from BMCC students here: https://openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu/mea-student-showcase/portfolios/.

STEP 2: Create a First Draft

Once you have selected and described your work, create a website to present it. There are a few different options you can use depending on your portfolio content, your skills and interests.

[option 1] Building and hosting your portfolio on the BMCC OpenLab

BMCC’s OpenLab, where you are right now, is a great place to make your portfolio. Every BMCC student can create a portfolio website for free on Open Lab. This website can be public or private and it is yours to keep even after you leave BMCC. The Open Lab is powered by WordPress so you will use the WordPress site building tools to create your portfolio. When you set up the site, you can select the Media Template, that was created specifically for media-focused portfolios. Once the site is set up, you can control its visual design by customizing the theme or selecting a different theme.

How To Video Guide

The OpenLab Portfolio page has information including video walkthroughs on how to create your portfolio right here on the OpenLab.

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[option 2] Using a website builder to create and host your portfolio

WordPress.com, Wix and Google sites are popular website builders that require no coding on your part and are free, or offer a free plan. All include portfolio templates. You can also use website builders designed specifically to host creative portfolios, such as Adobe Portfolio (free with any CC subscription) or Carbonmade.com (for a fee).

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[option 3]Coding your portfolio website and hosting it on GitHub

If you are interested in a career in web development, creating your own website with custom HTML/CSS/JS is a nice way of showing-off your front-end development skills. You can start coding from scratch or use a library such as Bootstrap. You can also use Github to host it for free (here’s a useful tutorial for this option).

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[option 4] Showcasing your work on Figma

If you like using Figma, the platform also has some portfolio templates and building options (here’s a short tutorial on getting started from scratch). *Figma links can add some unappealing friction to viewers who don’t know the platform – this article makes the case against using it… but this one points out many benefits… consider both arguments before deciding if Figma is the right choice for you.

STEP 3: Get Help

There are a number of formal and informal ways in which you can get help on your portfolio. CCL will organize portfolio reviews by faculty and industry professionals. Conferences aimed at students like The One Club’s Where Are All the Black People will also have portfolio reviews. Informally you can ask a classmate, friend or professor for their feedback.

STEP 4: Rinse and Repeat

A portfolio is never finished. When you get feedback on your portfolio, use that feedback and update your portfolio. As you learn and grow and create new work, you will keep editing and adding to it. You will also find that you may need different versions of your portfolio for different purposes.

Social media

In addition to a portfolio, building a strong, professional social media presence is invaluable for any media creator. Consider creating a separate account for your professional and personal use (or be very mindful of your professional audience whenever you post).

Social media should NOT be used in lieu of a formal portfolio as it cannot easily accommodate high resolution images and thorough descriptions. However, it’s a great way to share your work regularly and to build an audience. It’s also a good place to post experiments, sketches, works in progress, moodboards etc. (vs. the polished/completed work in your portfolio).

Which social media platform should you be active on? Consider the layout, media type, and community. Instagram is probably the most versatile and popular, TikTok is great for video work and younger audiences, Deviant Art leans towards a gaming/anime aesthetic, Dribble is popular with front-end developers, and Behance with graphic designers. Of course, all of these have crossovers, and usage changes as new platforms and features are introduced. So explore each platform thoroughly before deciding which one(s) to invest time into.

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Portfolio Information