The Do and Don’ts of your portfolio
If you don’t know already there is a team out there called Wal and Jai, who have more successful blog than me and are probably the most well know placement team on the London circuit. The other day they were at Cream, a place for young teams to show off their work.
They have been there 2 years running and have been on placements at Wieden + Kennedy, Leo Burnett and Adam and Eve just to name a few, but finally they have got around to revealing their portfolio to the big bad world. And I’m not as impressed at I should be.
If you study the 2 pictures here (2007) and here (2008), the work they have put up is almost the same. Now I’m not one to point out the obvious, but, they haven’t come very far in that time. The TFL work won a D&AD Student pencil 2 years ago and the rest looks familiar.
This is my point, and we’re guilty of this too, always keep changing your book. Our Flymo work has been in there too long and everything else is no older than a couple of months.
If you go see the same team for another book crit, make sure at the very worst you only have 1 campaign they have seen before, otherwise what is the point in getting their view on your work? It’ll be the same as before and no help to you at all.
Change your book, keep it fresh, take it in a pizza box then print it on a t-shirt next time. It doesn’t matter. Just don’t let people you’re going to see feel like you’ve wasted their time more than once.
Keep the faith.
