Serena L. Illustrator

domenica 4 novembre 2018

How to create a good Portfolio!

How to create a good Portfolio for illustrators:

As a first thing, it is important to understand the target of your audience according to the style and the genre of your illustrations.

For example: 0-5, 6+, 10+ or young adult. Fiction, Non Fiction, Horror, Adventure… etc.

After having categorized your illustrations by age and genre, you can start preparing your thematic portfolio.

Every publishing house is different and so the portfolio must be targeted accordingly.

For example, if a publishing house publishes books for children and young adults, you can send them a single portfolio containing these two different genres of illustrations. In case the publishing house publishes books only for children, the illustrations for young adults are redundant and it’s advisable to not include them. The opposite is true as well.

How many illustrations should I have in my portfolio?

In my experience, the right number of illustrations (especially to show at book fairs) is 15/20.

The situation is different when you have to send illustrations to a publishing house.

Many publishing houses specify in their faqs the number of illustrations they want to review and other important information on file format and pdf. Occasionally they can also just ask for the website (not social network page) where you post your artworks and projects.

How can I organize the pdf?

It is very important to include in the pdf the illustrations in the same size, or using a large size for the highlighted illustrations and a smaller size for the others of the same project. The important thing is to keep the same design through the portfolio and trying to make it as easy to be read as possible - keep in mind that publishers review lots of portfolios each day, and they rapidly skim through them.

If a publishing house publishes books in grey scale or black and white, remember to include in your portfolio this kind of illustrations.

And at the end of the pdf or the mail, always leave your contact info.

mobile phone

professional website

social networks

And if you want to write titles or description, always use the same font through the pdf.