Portfolios on the Web

Portfolios.com is a directory for art directors, creative directors, marketing managers, publishers, and so on, to locate the right person for a job. It is a way for artists, creatives and writers to self-promote and have their work exposed. This site was the first of its kind, starting in 1995, allowing people to make online portfolios that can be viewed by clients in need of creative talent. The site offers different portfolio packages for different prices. They also have one portfolio package that costs nothing.

The company considers itself extremely dependable on bringing its members exposure because of its powerful brand image, its marketing campaigns, and its partnerships with other companies that expose the portfolios through various websites, newsletters and publications.

This website seems like a pretty sweet deal -- especially the fact that you can create a portfolio at no cost. There are a ton of ways creatives can get their work exposed, such as YouTube, blogs, personal websites, etc., but according to Portfolios.com, they are a source clients are aware of and rely on. A major concern I have for this website is in regards to people stealing other people’s work. The site claims that the image resolution for the portfolios is not good enough quality for someone to copy. However, what about the idea? Someone could easily steal an idea and recreate it. So, it seems that there would be a bit of risk involved.

From the standpoint of an account planner, I don’t see a major strategic opportunity in utilizing this site. This site seems much more advantageous for creatives and clients. It could be a good site for account planners to advertise on if they were trying to find people to participate in a study, or something of that sort. I think in general, this website may make the lives of everyone involved in the advertising industry easier because it facilitates open communication between those involved in the industry.

Do you think this is a legitimate tool for self-promotion? Can you think of any other ways this website could benefit an account planner (because I am struggling to think of ways)? Would you use this site, or any similar sites, to promote your portfolio?

Posted by guest author, Ashley Hildreth.

Comments

[Marcie Blagden]

I love skimming through www.portfolios.com. I came across it while trying to determine a template to use to compile my own portfolio. I would imagine that stealing ideas or images from the site wouldn’t be all that difficult, but I also think that most creative people, the ones who are destined for success anyhow, have far too much self-efficacy to do such a thing. In my opinion, the benefit of the site is that it offers a creative community which can be turned to in the same manner that you would look through the magazine Communication Arts. I love looking through different people’s portfolios in the same way that I love C.A. because I get to see products, images, brands in a way that would never have occurred to me. Appreciating someone else’s work or someone else’s creation can sometimes spark a thought that leads you to develop your own unique creative concepts.
In terms of strategic planning, I think that portfolios.com could, perhaps, offer planners with further insight into how people see brands or products. If there was a product, say V8 Fusion Juice, that ten different creative-minded people had developed advertisements for, I would imagine that as a planner, there would be a lot that could be taken from the manner in which the brands were produced and their tone. Even though we are somewhat different from the average consumer in the way we respond to advertisements, we are still consumers and hence, our creations and how we choose to depict a brand says something about the brand and the brand’s personality or image. So in that way, I think strategic planners could gain some qualitative insight into how brands/products are currently being viewed.
Although I enjoy looking at other people’s portfolios I am not 100% sure whether I would place my portfolio on the site. Ahh - the power of having a copyright.

[V. Stephens]

Yes, I think this is a legitimate tool for self-promotion.
What better way to promote yourself.
Online portfolios are the way to expose your creative talents and achievements to a world-wide audience.
It sounds as if this site is a great way to promote your portfolio.
Especially for free, what can that hurt?

[Sabrina DeMartini]

I think that Portfolios.com is a fabulous way to get your work out there. The best thing about it is that if you’re an artist looking to get your name out into the industry, you can be sure that someone will see your stuff on this web site. I agree with Ashley in her concerns about people stealing work. I feel like there are so many ways to retouch things nowadays that it would be no problem at all for someone to steal an image, focus it in Photoshop or another program, and sell it as their own work.

One of the things I could see an account planner getting out of a website like this is a possible future employee. Say they’re working on an account where they want to use a unique form of art in their advertisement. I feel that a website like this one would give the planner the opportunity to search for the type of work they’re looking for. They could find someone to fulfill the needs of the campaign.

The only “ad” space I can visualize on this kind of website would be for a business that provides managers or publicists for artists. If an account planner was dealing with that type of a company, I feel advertisements of their services would be appropriate here.

Other than that, I think this website should be about exposing your work to the public, more so than advertising other companies/services. It sounds like a wonderful way to show what you can do, as well as communicate with others In the art world to see what they’re up to.

[Andrea Schneider]

A site such as portfolios.com could be a powerful tool for the industry and creative community. It can lessen the barrier to entry for many talented or self-taught creatives who may not have the connections or money to produce a book and shop it around. Like Monster.com or CareerBuilder.com, something like portfolios.com changes the way we look for jobs and seek out talent. As Sabrina said, it can be useful for finding a very specific type of creative. It also consolidates a process. Creative directors and art buyers spend hours looking through books from creatives, photographers, illustrators, and an online portfolio community could put this all in one place.

Today, you can't avoid putting your portfolio online. While some creative directors still want to hold the thing, many don't have time, and heading to a URL is efficient. As a creative there's a certain amount of risk in putting your ideas online, but the benefit is much greater. An idea isn't really an idea if it stays in your head. But there is a bit of a catch 22. Because everyone can put up a portfolio means ANYONE can put up a portfolio. That means you have to deal with a lot of sub-par work to find a great portfolio online. It also takes away from the experience of holding a finished book. As a whole though, I think it’s an invaluable tool for the industry. Other sites like Flickr show an impressive amount of work from many talented artists.

I had an interesting situation the other day. I was flipping through an issue of RED, a magazine produced by Target, and I saw some really cool artwork. I then searched "Target Red Magazine," and I was able to find the work of several of the participating artists. Imagine I were a creative director. I could now hire those artists. Amazing.

Here is some of the talent I would not have been able to find had they not have posted and talked about their work online:

http://flickr.com/photos/94756690@N00/sets/72157600293820137/
http://flickr.com/photos/swankypolkadots/sets/72157594196357017/

[Molly Horner]

I think that this website seems to be a legitimate tool for self-promotion because anything that puts your name or work “out there” is a good tool. It seems like more things on the internet become popular and trendy when they enable self-promotion. Myspace and Facebook may try to come off as networking sites that connect you to people, but they are really just sites for people to say, “look at me.” Since the trend seems to be moving toward making more “me” sites, why wouldn’t it be legitimate to use this technology to say, “Look at my work. Hire me.”?

I could see the website being useful for account planners if creatives were the audience the account planners needed to find out more about. Looking through the portfolios could offer some insights to the account planners, making them better understand their audience. But since I think that is an unlikely scenario, I don’t think the site would be too useful to account planners.

I would totally, and probably will, use the website to promote my portfolio (when I have a good one). The more that you can get your name and/or work out there, the better. I don’t think it would be a bad thing if the Creative Director at Y&R contacted me to come interview with her because she found my work on the internet.