I'm just putting this here for debate (and to continue livening up the forums) and I'd like to hear personal opinions on it.
If there is one opinion I've heard across the board in regards to providing a portfolio, its the old proverb "You are only as good as your worst work". This saying has always baffled me in regards to portfolios and I often see it moreso in the mindsets of artists more than anyone else.
As a designer, personally I do not believe there is such a thing as irrelevancy to game design. If I was to look at a portfolio, I would look for both creativity and development. If an applicant shows me three pieces ranging from low to high quality, yet I can see a date-stamp which shows the massive amount of improvement they underwent to obtain high quality. "Learnability" was discussed as one of the essential skills for a junior graduate position, I agreed with those who said this encapsulates all other skills.
On the other hand, I know artists would make a portfolio containing only 2 works they've spent months airbrushing but hesitate to show low level conceptual designs.
So on that note, I believe a portfolio is just as good as it's growth moreso than it's worst work.
Opinions?
I tend to agree with
I tend to agree with JohnN.
This is just my opinion and I'm not saying it is right, but putting in old 'bad' pieces of work to show development would be a mistake. Just showing your best and most recent work should demonstrate an ability and willingness to learn in itself. I mean, if you can produce a brilliant design doc/demo/3d model etc, it would only be assumed that you have put in the hours and the effort to learn. I mean, it doesn't matter how brilliant you are, you're not going to be a master of 3ds Max straight away.
As John said, there are other ways to show your development and learning capabilities; on your website for example. Here is where you should show an expanded collection of your work and information about yourself, your folio is only for your very best pieces to get people interested. When you have their attention they might decide to look over your website and read about your theories on game development or whatever.
When your at interview you can use examples of comparing your first design doc to your third one or whatever to explain how you have improved, the methods you followed to get better etc.
Don't show your bad work!
Well, the general consensus that I gathered from the article I put up about portfolios in 2004 is that you shouldn't show your bad work at all. The link and the relevant comments below...
http://www.tsumea.com/australasia/australia/news/010404/industry-portfo…
From the people who will be looking over your portfolio submissions (well, back in 2004 anyway!)
Steve Stamatiadis, Creative Director, Krome
What do you NOT want to see in a portfolio?
I don't want to see every piece of art you've ever done from pre-school through to current day.
I don't want to see concept art if you can't draw.
I don't want to see anything you aren't sure is good. Chances are if you don't like it, we won't like it.
Ben Lee, Art Director, Irrational Games Canberra (no longer there, however)
I don't want to see everything you've done good and bad.. just the good stuff. If you think something is not your best work , don't include it. I don't care what music is on a reel because I never listen to it. It's irrelevant. All I want to see is relevant examples of your work. 'funky' camera cuts, music , repetition of the same thing over and over.. 'jokes' .. None of it matters and just makes watching the reel a chore.
John Sheils, Creative Director for Sidhe Interactive
Poor or lack of 2d artistic skills / Drawing / Perspective / Design / colour Theory
Alister Lockhart, Art Director, when he was at Micro Forte
What should I NOT put in my portfolio?
Very often, promising artists will damage their chances of being noticed by burying their best work amongst large amounts of superfluous crapola.
Hot Tip #2: DON'T PAD THE JOB
Your portfolio should contain only those samples of your work that showcase your talent in its best possible light. Even if the amount of work you have to show may be light, padding out your material with samples you're not really all that proud of, for the sake of volume, is a bad idea.
I'm not really qualified to
I'm not really qualified to say this,
But I get the impression that recruiters will look at your folio from a perspective of "Does this applicant know what is good and what is bad"? If you include bad work in what is supposed to be a body of work that shows your best, then some will take it as a sign that you think that your bad work is acceptable, and therefore don't know what you are doing.
Slightly off topic, Alister
Slightly off topic, Alister is now with us at Infinite Interactive (been here before, went away, came back again).
Showing growth within your work can be beneficial but I disagree with the idea of showing growth in a portfolio. There are more appropriate places to do this such as blogs, forums and sketchbooks(being the traditional place to show this type of stuff, always take your sketchbook to interviews!). A portfolio is a chance to show a bit of self-art-direction too. If you include work that has glaring deficiencies it might be an indication that you struggle to effectively criticize your own work.
Choosing what is 'best work' is no walk in the park though. It is both subjective and dependent on the purpose of the art/design too. A good portfolio could well include fast visualisation techniques, B&W tonal studies, colour studies as well as polished pieces.
I think most people will agree it really is difficult to objectively select your own best work. It's a process I am once again struggling with as I am in the midst of redesigning my website that will include a gallery of illustration and design samples.