Re: Portfolios and Plans

What kind of designer do you want to be, or what do you want to do with this degree? Print, web, user-experience, book, magazine, all of the above? Why? 

 

My dream job would be to work for a lifestyle magazine (think Baltimore magazine). I have interned with a number of publications in the past (Maryland Life magazine, Hagerstown magazine, HM Bride, etc.) and, thus, fell in the love with the process. Coming up with ideas and becoming a part of bringing them to fruition fascinated me, especially when I saw my own name in print for the first time. From that point forward I knew that magazines were where I belonged. 

 

That being said, magazines have become "a dying art form," thus my search to find something as fulfilling has been in full gear. My BA is in Print Journalism so entering into this program has opened my eyes to things I never thought I would be doing. Granted, I have not narrowed down on exactly what I want to do once Spring '15 rolls around, this program has given me quite a few ideas.

 

What kind of workplace do you want, ideally? Freelance, small shop, big agency? Why? How will you search for jobs?

 

I flourish in small companies--I enjoy the close-knit togetherness that comes with working with a limited number of people. The smaller the company, the closer the staff, therefore ideas flow between trusted individuals who are open to honest criticism. I find that I learn better in smaller environments as well (i.e. classrooms). 

With regard to searching for jobs, I HAVE NO CLUE. I have been trying to find my dream field since 2006 and have had limited success (I say limited only because I managed to find an internship shortly after graduation that I loved, though it didn't turn into the job I had hoped for at it's close). Any who, any and all suggestions are welcome when it comes to how to find a career in this lovely field. Many thanks ahead!

For those of who that have portfolios right now, did you build you own site or use a template like Behance? Or pinterest? Can anyone share links to great portfolios (yours or someone else's?)

While I do not have my own portfolio, I am very interested in those portfolios that you guys have come across to add to my [empty] repertoire of inspiration :)