While following a link about pencils made from human ash, or, "cremains", I stumbled across this post by Ben Garfinkel, Creative Director at Vancouver's Industrial Brand Creative. [Warning: Their Flash site is cool but slightly disturbing.] In said post, he lays out what he looks for in a portfolio, what impresses him, and what turns him off.
Since a lot of his advice is either common sense - spell his name correctly, tailor your content, etc. - or not actionable - "Fussy, complicated or overly precious portfolios are annoying" - I came away with two questions. The first one was, "Why did he write this?"
I assume that anyone who is sending out unsolicited samples and seriously hoping for a positive response would already be careful about spelling and the like. I would also assume that the applicant would be keen on demonstrating that they not only understand what the firm's about but have thought through why the firm would be interested in them in the first place.
Reflecting on this first question led me to the conclusion that Mr. Garfinkel must have written his piece because, in actual fact, he receives a lot of unsolicited portfolios that are carelessly prepared and demonstrate little more than the applicant's ignorance, or, to put it more gently, naivete. Which led me to my next question: "Why don't people do the right thing, even when it is just common sense?"
I do not yet have a satisfactory answer to that question.
Leave a comment