Ok I'm looking into diving into the wonderfull, wacky world of Graphical Design. There is a design house nearby thats looking for someone who is fimalur with video production and graphical design but not overly experenced so they can train them the way they want to and I want that position. The question is I pretty much know everything that they are requiring except one. What to put in a portfolo so show off what I can do. I was wondering if some of you great pros out there can share the knowlage of what you got in yours so I know how to prepare mine. Thanks PS maybe a mod can whisper to someone that this would make a good subject for the 'making money with art' feature. If it alreadys been done, sorry, a link would be nice though ^_^

Just put your best work in there, show that you can work for a client without imposing your own style on everything and make sure you have a little backstory by your different pieces or work, which shows that you know what to expect from a job like that. If you can tell what had to be done (in what time frame) and with which objective, you can 'color' the pieces of work, to make them more interesting. I have made a lot of brochures that took a lot of time and negotiating, while the end results looks very natural and simple (that was the negotiating for). When you tell a little about the process, you show experience. If there is nothing to tell, your work and attitude have to make clear what they can expect. One of the most important things is to not put stuff in your portfolio that you are not very happy with. If you think there is not enough in it, add some personal works, or just make clear you are pretty young (that's what they want), so you do not have years worth of work to show. If you have video stuff to show, keep it short, only 3 to 5 minutes maximum. Or make one short reel to look at while you are there and keep more material for further reference. Ask if they have a video player at hand or prefer a CD or DVD. Jus my 2 cents... Good luck!

Not sure about the video part of it, but here's my tip on the graphic design part of it. I read somewhere that about 10 pieces is good for a portfolio. Sprinkle your very best and most impressive among them so that they're not all up front or at the end. If you don't have that many samples, create them. For instance, pick a product (real or imaginary) and create a design that sells it. And like Hoof said, don't put in anything you're not proud of. It's better to have fewer pieces with a lot of impact than to have a lot of pieces that are only so-so.

Thanks, Video wont be an issue, thats the one thing that I have done on commission. This will be my first venture into a professional design position so I'm going to have to 'invent' some products to make sample brochures out of. I was kind of hoping that, that would be acceptable. Some one also mentioned that I should do some freehand drawings to include. What are your opinions on that? If that is the case then Im going to have to polish up a little on my sketching technique, since I havent done anything not cartoony for quite sometime.

Incorporate it into one of your made up samples -- for instance, one of your pieces can be the entire work in progress, from concept to final. That way, you can work in some sketches and at the same time show that you can work from start to finish, from idea to finished product.

Your best work, of course. But try to get a variety of things that show you can do many kinds of work. As well, a mock uyp of say, an advertisement, but with several versions of the same ad.