<p>does anyone have a clue on how to make a slide portfolio?</p>
<p>Are you asking just a technical question, that is how to make good slides? Or are you interested in the content of the portfolio? Several admissions websites from art programs and art schools give excellent advice on both. But to these I would add that it really helps if you get a professional critique of your portfolio prior to your putting your final version together. One way to get that is to show your stuff to a college art teacher. Another is to bring your stuff to one of the national portfolio days, which are held all over the country. Here's this year's schedule (about half have already happened): <a href="http://npda.org/events.html%5B/url%5D">http://npda.org/events.html</a></p>
<p>Here's a pretty useful example of how to put a portfolio together, from Kansas City Art Institute: <a href="http://kcai.edu/admissions/portfolio/%5B/url%5D">http://kcai.edu/admissions/portfolio/</a></p>
<p>thanks. i need info on how to make good slides. actually, i need to know what it is. lol.</p>
<p>Well, you certainly need slides that are:</p>
<ol>
<li>Clear and NOT out of focus in any way</li>
<li>Well centered</li>
<li>Good lighting for clarity</li>
<li>numbers </li>
<li>You need some id in the slide such as your name or SS #</li>
</ol>
<p>Believe it or not, there are professional photographers who specialize in preparing slides for portfolios. It really is an art. If you have a couple of hundred dollars lying around, it might well be worth your while to get one of these specialists to photograph your work, unless, of course, you are specializing in photography.</p>
<p>I agree with Taxguy that you might want to get a professional to do the slides. My daughter had a school friend do them, however, and that turned out OK. But that friend was a very experienced (though young!) photographer who had been doing that kind of thing before for her mother, who is a textile designer. Even so, a few slides turned out to be not as clear as others, and they did a redo on those. You need to take multiple exposures of each set-up, and then multiple copies of each exposure, so that you can send them to each school.</p>
<p>If you contact a local art gallery or the art department at a nearby college, they may be able to recommend someone.</p>
<p>Here's an excerpt on portfolio preparation from Carnegie Mellon's art department: The Carnegie Mellon School of Art faculty is more interested in seeing an applicant's creative potential than a demonstration of technical skills. The portfolio should reveal the full scope of the applicant's talent and enthusiasm, with works that engage with the ideas, media and materials of the culture. It should reveal an ability to work on a wide range of artistic concerns, and to work in depth or in sequence on a single topic. The portfolio should feature work done independently, that is, outside of classroom assignments. The Art portfolio is only one part of the application, thus the score of the portfolio review is not disclosed to the applicant. Applicants receive notification of the status of their overall application after all components have been evaluated and the admission decision has been made.</p>
<p>The portfolio should include pieces from as many of the following categories as appropriate:</p>
<pre><code>* Drawings and paintings on a variety of subjects, done from observation and/or imagination
* Photography, printmaking projects, collage, mixed media (etc.)
* Sculpture in any medium or any size
* Environmental or site-specific installation (work made for a particular location either indoors or outdoors)
* Computer-generated imagery
* Work that changes with time, such as kinetic sculpture, animation, installation, performance and digital media, including live action video and interactive work or other time-based works (submitted on VHS format, Zip disk or CD see specifications in guidelines below.)
</code></pre>
<p>Tips for Portfolio Presentation</p>
<pre><code>* The work should be photographed so that the image fills the frame
* A neutral background is recommended so that it does not conflict with the work
* If several exposures of each piece are taken with different camera settings, the applicant will be able to select the best one for use in the portfolio
* It is better to arrange a slide sheet as a composition by organizing the works in coherent visual groups than to put slides in chronological order. Works can be grouped by media, theme, visual motifs, etc.
* Matting and mounting of works is not necessary
* Applying fixative to works that smudge is highly recommended
</code></pre>
<p>Why are slides still required for portfolio? Would digital photos on a CD work -- and be accepted? Can you make slides from digital photos? Sorry....from the stone ages, and the only slides I've seen are from a 35mm. I know nothing about portfolio creation, but my d. is possibly interested in a design field (graphic, visual communciations, industrial, interior, etc.) I assume each college has individual requirements, but in general, do the design fields also require portfolios, as do the more traditional visual arts? Most architecture programs that I know about do not require portfolios, for example. Are these portfolios substantially different? How much time does it take to create a portfolio. Again -- I know the answer varies, but "in general" is it possible to create and assemble over a summer, or in the fall semester of SR. year, or is this something they should have been working on all 4 years of highschool?</p>
<p>So many questions....so little time! Thanks!</p>
<p>You've posed lots of questions. You've answered some with the comment that you have to look at the requirements at each school. A few of them encourage going directly to the school for a portfolio review, for example -- no slides. CMU is one of those; but they also request slides if you plan to mail your portfolio in. Also, not mentioned yet, is that a few schools have "home tests" or special portfolios in addition to the standard one: Cooper Union is the best known for its test; RISD also requires three pencil on 16 x 20 inch paper drawings.</p>
<p>Most design programs ask for a portfolio, to my knowledge. One reason is that when students apply to an art/design school or program thay may not know their major, or they may want to change their major. A second, and perhaps more important reason, is that the ability to draw is fundamental to many design fields. A third is that typically all design and fine arts students take the same "foundation" program in the first year, perhaps with slight variations by specialty. And this may include architecture students as well.</p>
<p>You ask about the amount of time it takes to create a portfolio. Few people sit down and say "OK, I'm going to make my portfolio now" (except in the technical sense of assembling and photographing the art that you have). Instead, creating a portfolio is something that happens over many months and even years. The spex for a portfolio at most colleges tell you to show a diversity of media and subjects but also your strongest work. Your strongest is generally going to be your most recent work. Your target in composing the portfolio is to have somewhere between 12 and 20 pieces. And these may come from class projects, things you did on your own, your sketchbook, any number of sources. Several should be drawings/paintings/sculptures "from life" and not from the imagination or from photographs (if you want to draw a cat, draw from a real cat and not from a photo).</p>
<p>So, yes, you can put together your portfolio during Fall of your senior year. You would probably prefer to wait til then because things you did recently (in the last 6-12 months) will typically be among your best. But the art itself will be things you created over a much longer period of time. You want to present the quintessence of your work. That said, if you go to a portfolio review, some schools suggest that you bring along your sketchbooks. Why? Because you can show some of your more fanciful work, how you think when you're working up a project, some of your less worked over ideas. And as I mentioned, you can even include a couple of items from your sketchbook in your 12-20 pieces in your portfolio. (My daughter included a couple in her portfolio, including one self-portrait from her sketchbook.)</p>
<p>If you have quite a large set of objects then you're going to have to figure out which are the better ones, and which ones should definitely not be included. By attending a couple of national portfolio days, my daughter learned to cut out some stuff and also the value of having a good self-portrait in the mix (something she therefore did shortly before she completed her portfolio). All but a couple of the pieces she ended up including were things she did in the last year.</p>
<p>Kfofkw, you really need to go to web sites for colleges of interest and read up on their requirements. Sometimes, digital photos will not only be acceptable but required. This is especially true for digital design majors and film and video majors. </p>
<p>In terms of time, it takes hundreds of hours to prepare a portfolio IF you don't already have a lot of good work. Much of the portfolio requirements assume that kids work on their own and have lots of art already. I can tell you that my daughter took private art lessons starting in her Junior year for 4 hour a week. She also worked all summer taking art for 6 hours a day for 3 days a week and is taking lessons for 6 hours a week in her senior year. She also attended a 6 week precollege program in the summer of her Junior year at Syracuse and two weeks at the Corcoran. She will barely be finished by December! A good portfolio will probably not be finished in a summer unless you have a very fast working kid. Your daughter should start working on her portfolio as soon as possible. I can't emphasize this enough. Currently, my daughter is in her senior year and is working like a dog on her portfolio, and she has been working on it since her Junior year!</p>
<p>In design, most portfolios adhere to what Mackinaw has posted. His daughter majored in design at RISD; thus, he really knows what he is talking about.</p>
<p>I should note that some schools do NOT require a portfolio for admissions. One such school that has a very higher rated design program is University of Cincinnati school of Design, Art, Architecture and planning. However, you generally need an overall GPA of 3.5 or better and preferably better! Check out their web site for admission requirements for the DAAP school.</p>
<p>Another school is Towson University in Maryland. </p>
<p>All stand alone art schools, however, do require a portfolio to my knowledge.</p>
<p>My daughter attended an arts high school and each semester the art department set aside a day and hired a professional photographer to take photos. The lighting was perfect on each slide and showed her work beautifully. Each of the schools she applied to required a submitted portfolio. Some, but not all, accepted a CD-rom making it easier to submit slides to all. It can get expensive as we needed to have her slides duplicated in order to end up with 6 sets (CalArts wanted them on a carrousel). We shopped around and found the best price for duplicating slides, but it still took about 10 days and $100. So leave plenty of time for re-shoots, slide processing, and compilation. My assumption has been that the portfolios are reviewed by a committee and that slides are easier to review and discuss as a group. In my daughter's case, she was applying as a fine arts major with much of her portfolio being larger mixed-media or 3-D work that did not travel easily. You should also check on portfolio scholarships as they will more likely require slides.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Some, but not all, accepted a CD-rom making it easier to submit slides to all.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>How do you go about having the slides (which are negatives) transferred to the CD so they are viewed correctly?</p>
<p>My point was that since all schools would accept slides, but only some would accept digital versions, that it was easier just to do slides period.</p>
<p>Okay, now I understand. For some of the LACs/universities that are not art schools, I am wondering if there might be an advantage to portfolio submissions on CD?</p>
<p>I think you can only know for certain by checking each school's website. My daughter applied to freestanding art schools only, but I do remember a couple of LACs said that they would not even look at portfolios.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response and good luck to your daughter.</p>
<p>i don't really understand what slides mean. does it mean like put copies of my work in a binder in a clear plastic/slide or is it more complicated and putting my pictures in small slide forms that can get light projected through them? </p>
<p>i'm confused about what some schools are asking for in terms of format. can someone help me? </p>
<p>the schools that require/recommend a portfolio that i'm applying to for interior design:</p>
<p><em>cornell univ</em>.
- they want my work in a 8 1/2 by 11 binder </p>
<p>*pratt institute - *
Slides: Submit slides of your work in a clear plastic sleeve with slides labeled with your name. Include a slide sheet listing each slide by number, the title, the medium you used, and dimensions. </p>
<p>*syracuse univ. - *
Do not send original work of any kind. Send only duplicates. </p>
<p>Make sure your slides, disks, etc. are viewable. Work should be in focus, not too dark or too light, and should have accurate color. </p>
<p>If preparing slides, label the front of each slide with:
Your full name (include middle name)
A number that corresponds with the description on the fact sheet (see below)
A red dot in the lower-left corner
If you have multiple shots per image, label the slides in sequence (2a, 2b)
Please put slides in a box, not in slide sheets. </p>
<p>If preparing a disk, please note:
Two-dimensional work on disk must be readable by a PC.
Images should be formatted as JPG or TIFF files and saved in one file folder for easy viewing.
Title images with the corresponding number on fact sheet (see below).
Please label the disk clearly with your full name. </p>
<p>All students must attach a typed fact sheet to correspond with slides or disk. Please list:
Your full name (including middle name)
Address
Phone number
E-mail address
Status: freshman or transfer
Proposed major (transfer applicants, please indicate if you have a strong second interest)
Semester you plan to enter SU
High school students must list art courses that will be completed by graduation.
Using each slide/image number, indicate:
Size
Medium
Date completed
If done in the classroom or independently
If based on real life, photo reference, or imagination
Concept/ideas </p>
<p>*howard univ. *
- says a portfolio containing twelve slides of original work. Slides of sculptures, ceramics or other three-dimensional works should show two views of each piece. Slides should be presented in a slide page, each slide must be clearly marked as to title, materials, size and date.</p>
<p>Hope I am not stepping on any copywrite toes but here is a link to an online portfolio in slide format. </p>
<p>The individual slides should be labeled with a number and your name and should be accompanied by a typed list with title, date of work, and media used. The slides then are put in a 8 1/2 by 11 clear plastic sleeve with individual little pockets for the slides to go into. These sleeves are three-hole punched and could be put in a binder, but we sent them as part of the application in large mailing envelopes. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Cornell -- put your art in small slide form. </p>
<p>Then after numbering and labeling the slides as instructed (see postings above), you put the entire set of slides into a plastic sleave. These sleaves will hold perhaps 24 slides -- something like this. You can find them at a film/photography/camera store, as well as OfficeMax and other office supply stores.</p>
<p>i'm still kind of confused.</p>
<p>how do i make slides?</p>
<p>To do them right, you need a good 35 mm camera, the right kind of lighting, slide film, etc. Do you have any experience with photography? If not, then you may be best off hiring a photographer to make the slide for you.</p>
<p>Read this link, which I gave before: <a href="http://kcai.edu/admissions/portfolio/%5B/url%5D">http://kcai.edu/admissions/portfolio/</a></p>
<p>thanks for the link. but let's say, i use one of those $10 cameras they sell at like rite aid. if that is good enough, what do i do after i take pictures of my portfolio to make them slides?</p>