What is the Big Deal about Uploading Your Art Portfolio Online? Learn how uploading your art portfolio online has become an integral practice among college admissions and why you need to learn how to do this.
By Karen Kesteloot
The state of art portfolio
Image by VancityAllie .com at Flickr. Click here to view image source page.
Technology plays an integral part in keeping us connected in this globally expanding world. Before, people had letters delivered to people through telegrams and the postal service...a now slow means of delivery. Nowadays, people can send text messages and post status updates for everyone to see in a matter of seconds! The best advertising campaigns are now executed on Twitter in real time. Communications are moving faster all the time as are the art departments and creative directors. Aspiring artists have also felt the need to take advantage of technology more than ever. In the past, artists and
designers brought their original artworks in a portfolio case and present their artworks – along with a spiel on each work – in front of potential clients or professors. This was next adapted into copies being placed into smaller portfolio books or having artists send in 35mm slides to be viewed by the review panel. While several colleges still use the portfolio book to review your work, others have chosen to use more advanced means. Art and design programs are now asking applicants to upload their portfolios to Slideroom or other applicant management systems to moderate the incoming portfolios they receive. This is not to say that using technology to manage art portfolios is better, but it currently is the most efficient and convenient way to send and view art portfolios. Students don’t have to worry about damaging their artworks when they travel to the college or university to present their portfolio or send over their works through mail. It’s also a lot more affordable for the typically limited student budget. At the same time, this allows professors to focus on checking the artworks without worrying about how they will give the portfolios back to the sender and where they will store the artworks for the time being. With an increasing number of art careers being focused in the digital realm this is often the best way to appreciate the full effect of the artworks. So much colour and detail is lost in the printing process that students can only afford.
The one drawback of digital portfolios is that for handdone works, especially paintings, too much of the detail and laying is lost. So make sure you take some detail shots or scans to show the full richness of your work. What are the main reasons why you as art student should set up your art portfolio online as early as today? Visit http://bit.ly/artportfolioonline for more!