Dear Sir/Madam, can NIFT/NID portfolios be' handmade' or are they supposed to be 'digital/website' based?

Hi Deekshita,

It is recommended to have a handmade portfolio.

There is no hard and fast rule that your portfolio should be handmade or digitally created. Although being well updated with the technologies is the need of the hour, by doing so with your portfolio is not advisable. So it is better you create/compile your handmade only.

We could easily create digital portfolios online, hence the creativity and hard work gets barred there. You are judged based on your creativity and uniqueness of your work.

Things to remember :

Your portfolio should contain your most recent works

keep your portfolio unique: Don’t clutter your portfolio with the same type of work. Add those work which have an edge over others. It is preferable if you add different specimens of work like logo designing, banner designing, brochure designing, etc. instead of bringing only your best works or a type of work.

keep your portfolio simple: your portfolio should not be bulky it should contain about 10 to 15 samples.

All the pages and designs should be numbered

Resume added should be updated, and well edited to showcase your skills.

Any awards and certificates received should be mentioned

All the similar works could be grouped together for a quick access.

Add a brief introduction to your work: add a one-line description to your works. Don’t think your work are self-explanatory and don’t need any description. A small description is always good. A crisp short to the point description is good.

You should be well versed with your works, like what was the need, why a particular item or design was implemented, what was the thought process behind it, how many working hours it took, if implemented what are the basic needs or capital required, etc. In short, you should not only be thinking about the designing phase but also after it. It shows the panel that your designs and samples are practical and a good thought process has gone behind it.

Don’t forget to label your figures, present around 2 to 3 pre designs and the final design.

They should be arranged in such an order which is visually appealing and understandable also.

A model or a prototype is also good, models made out of foam, clay, etc. can be shown. The prototype should not be compulsorily an implemented one, you could bring any recent work.

If you are knowledgeable with other skills like Photoshop, etc. you could keep a copy of it or show them. This would showcase your other skill sets.

If you don’t have much of works, to showcase then put forward your best recent works. Your samples could be simple but a unique piece of your creativity.

All the best!