Five ingredients for a successful art college portfolio

We see a lot of blog posts about the five top mistakes students make in art college portfolios, but we would like to spin this in a positive light! Here are some easy things to keep in mind when making your portfolio:

• Include independent work made outside of a classroom setting.

  The most interesting and compelling portfolios include lots of work that students have made on their own, outside of school or a classroom setting.School assignments have their place — but do they really show you?

  Most students applying to art and design programs have taken classes, whether in school or through extracurriculars. But those projects often come with restrictions, rubrics, and grades. They’re assigned. They don’t always reflect your own ideas, instincts, or obsessions.

  The strongest portfolios show what happens when you take creative ownership:
  – What are you curious about?
  – What would you make if no one were watching?
  – How do you begin to trust your own process?

  Independent work = commitment, curiosity, transformation. And admissions reviewers know the difference.

• Demonstrate critical thinking

  Critical thinking is one of the most powerful tools in your creative process.
  It’s what turns making into meaning.

  Whether you're working intuitively or with a clear plan, great artists pause to ask questions—before, during, and after the work is made:

  Big-picture questions:
  – What am I making—and why?
  – How might others interpret this?
  – Am I guiding the work, or is the work guiding me?

  Specific questions:
  – What are my materials communicating?
  – How does scale affect the meaning?
  – How does this relate to the body, to space, to current events or history?
  – What influences are at play—and are they serving my intention?

  This is critical thinking in action.
  It’s not always linear. Some of it happens before you begin. Some of it happens in reflection, long after a piece is done. But every strong portfolio shows evidence of it.

• Show a diversity of work in a variety of mediums.

  Many students make the mistake of focussing on highly technical or hyper-realist drawings. You can include a few drawings that also convey meaning and show a critical awareness via your choice of subject matter and compositional choices, but it is very important to show that you are exploring ideas across a variety of media. Try making a variety of two dimensional work using technique like collage, rubbings, printing and using materials like charcoal, ink, paint and pencil. Then, move into three dimensions using whatever materials you have- packaging material, cardboard, tape, old clothing, found objects, natural materials, etc etc.

• Thoroughly research the school and the degree program you are applying to.

  Research the program, the courses, the faculty and facilities. Attend virtual or in person open house days! Schools notice who signs up, shows up, asks questions and is genuinely interested in the school. Make sure your portfolio corresponds to the school’s ethos. For example, is it a school like Central Saint Martins in London that values experimentation, risk taking and lots of process? Or a school like FIT in New York that wants to see your technical sewing and garment creation skill?

• Respond to the school’s requirements for content and formatting.

  Make sure you respond to all of their requirements in your portfolio and consider how your work shows an interest in your major or area of future study if you have one. Not doing this is sort of like making a typo in the first sentence of your personal essay- an immediate red flag.

  If they ask for observational drawings, make sure to include them, but also take advantage of every opportunity to show your personality and curiosity - what and how you decide to draw - and draw from life, not photographs or your screen (see our video course for more advice on making great observational drawings - it isn’t all about your technical skill!). US schools in general want to see end results of projects, while the UK wants to see lots of process, research, trial and error.

  For example, if you are applying to a fashion program, make work that investigates the body, materials, ornament, and spend time learning about contemporary and historical fashion. For an architecture portfolio, you want to similarly think about architectural concepts, and not worry about making models.

  Also pay attention to their formatting requirements. Your portfolio might need to be formatted in jpgs for upload, or one pdf, a certain page setup (landscape or portrait), etc. Be prepared ahead of deadline so you don’t need to reformat at the last minute.

To sum up, a strong art & design portfolio is more than a set of images—it’s a self-portrait.

It shows who you are, what drives you, and why you belong in a creative community.

No matter the program—art, architecture, fashion, animation, design—your portfolio should include:
_ Independent work
_Curiosity + experimentation
_Your voice (not just school assignments)

And check out our video course for TEN key elements to a successful portfolio!!