SISD Spring Newsletter '99

Spring '99 Newsletter
Page One

The Nuts & Bolts of Portfolio Presentation: Panelists Discuss How to Present Your Portfolio
Wednesday, February 17, 1999 at the Advertising Arts College

Some of the finest local design and illustration talent headed up SISD’s panel to discuss how to present portfolios. The evening began with a slide show displaying a few samples of each panelist’s work. Then, Carol Cottone and Kim Fraley moderated the question and answer discussion format. Each question was answered by our panelists from years of experience and dedication from their respective fields. The answers to the questions may have varied, but everyone, both old pros and newcomers, attending would agree the information learned from the meeting was very valuable. Here are just a few excerpts from the “The Nuts & Bolts” meeting:

Society of Illustrators San Diego
Society of Illustrators

San Diego

Art

Illustrators

Illustration

Commercial art

Society

Artists
Bennett Peji
Bennett Peji is President Emeritus of the SD Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and Past Chair of the National AIGA President’s Council. He is owner of Bennett Peji Design. Bennett teaches senior level graphic design at SDSU. He serves on the review panel of the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture. He serves on the advisory boards of Southwestern College Design Dept. and the Baja California Missions Foundation. His firm has received over 100 national and international design awards.
Tom Klare
Tom went to art school at VPI/State University in Virginia. His past work experience includes photography, graphic design and art directing. Several years ago he switched from freelance photography to reduce his “local-clientele-induced” stress level and tap into the national market. Some of his clients include: BMW, AT&T, Doubleday, Food Arts Magazine, Forbes Magazine, and IBM. Most of his assignment work is generated from sourcebook ads and his stock illustrations have been published throughout the industrialized universe.

Pam Tanzey
Pam Tanzey has been an illustrator for sixteen years. Her early freelance experience was in licensing, illustrating children’s books and products with images for Pound Puppies, My Little Pony, Thomas the Tank Engine and others. Since 1990 she has developed two distinct styles, realistic and whimsical, and has turned her focus to dogs, in greeting cards, educational, children’s books and editorial. She has received the Maxwell Award of Excellence in Illustration several times from the Dog Writer’s Association of America.

Jack Davis
Jack is the author of several digital books and is best known for his popular Photoshop Wow series. He is also the owner of Jack Davis Designs. He is in great demand as a consultant and lecturer for his extensive knowledge using digital software programs. Most recently, he has been adding to his digital illustration portfolio.

Day Yantis
Day was born and raised in San Diego and attended UCSD. She moved to New York City to further her education in theatre. While living in New York City she began her career as an artist representative. Day has been in the field since 1986 and is now represent-ing award-winning artist Ken Joudrey.

What should be included in an effective portfolio?
Tom Klare: It depends upon who you are showing your portfolio to and the reason why you are showing the portfolio. If you are showing a portfolio because an art director has a particular job in mind, then the best thing to do is put pieces in your portfolio that relate to what the client wants. If you are showing the portfolio to show just your style and the client or art director doesn’t have a particular job in mind then show what you want to do, but make sure that what you want to do is what they hire people for or it doesn’t do any good to go in there.

Bennett Peji: I would say that one of the greatest things you could do if you are called to show your portfolio is to actually take the extra efforts to interview the art director who’s calling and find out specifically what kind of project he’s looking for. There is no question any time an art director calls, they are looking to solve a specific problem. If you can find out over the phone what the problem is, you have a tremendously better chance of getting that job then if you show your best work overall, since in that body of best work, the solution may not be found. If you know what the problem is, you can taylor your portfolio to the solution.

What makes it a great portfolio?
Day Yantis: For the artist I’m representing, I try to put a personalized letter to whomever has requested the portfolio. I put the strongest pieces in the front of the portfolio, to make a great introduction, and in the back, to make a strong closing statement; with supportive materials in between.

What type of case do art directors like best?
Bennett Peji: I would say that the spiral binder is an absolute no. It represents an entry level artist. If you are a professional and want to look like a professional that is not even an option. Art should be mounted or put in sleeves in a beautiful board very consistently presented. In other words, take the time to make sure your case and presentation are carefully considered and well executed as a complete body of work. By taking into consideration the consistency of the contents, the presentation becomes that much more memorable and impressionistic as a professional body of work.

Day Yantis: I think this is a very important point to bring up. The deal is—when you are sending out your work, art directors don’t want to see many different styles. They get confused. If you are going to show your work or market it, you must be specific. Art directors want to see exactly what their looking for. If they want a pickle, give them a pickle not a cucumber! You must be that specific because they have others artists and those artists are going to be sending them pickles.

Can a good portfolio be achieved on a budget?
Tom Klare: If the material you use shows the work well and gets you the work you want to get, you really can’t skimp. It will pay for itself. It has to be polished to make it look the best. You can have the greatest art work in the world but if you don’t have a good reproduction done or you’ve done a sloppy job mounting it and you have competition, you’re not going to get the job.

Pam Tanzey: I don’t have a large portfolio that I send out or in person. What I do is send my tearsheets. I rarely meet art directors in person since my goal is to get my tearsheets into their files. This is because I do a lot of editorial work and I have found the more I am in people’s files the more they call.

Jack Davis/Bennett Peji: The digital portion of the lecture was covered by Jack Davis and Bennett Peji. Both Jack and Bennett demonstrated how digital portfolios can be part of a great portfolio presentation and fielded numerous questions from the audience regarding digital formats.

—Pamela Wells, quoted from excerpts of recording February 17, 1999.

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	The Nuts & Bolts of Portfolio Presentation: Panelists Discuss How to Present Your Portfolio Wednesday, February 17, 1999 at the Advertising Arts College Some of the finest local design and illustration talent headed up SISD’s panel to discuss how to present portfolios. The evening began with a slide show displaying a few samples of each panelist’s work. Then, Carol Cottone and Kim Fraley moderated the question and answer discussion format. Each question was answered by our panelists from years of experience and dedication from their respective fields. The answers to the questions may have varied, but everyone, both old pros and newcomers, attending would agree the information learned from the meeting was very valuable. Here are just a few excerpts from the “The Nuts & Bolts” meeting:
Society of Illustrators San Diego Society of Illustrators San Diego Art Illustrators Illustration Commercial art Society Artists	Bennett Peji Bennett Peji is President Emeritus of the SD Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and Past Chair of the National AIGA President’s Council. He is owner of Bennett Peji Design. Bennett teaches senior level graphic design at SDSU. He serves on the review panel of the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture. He serves on the advisory boards of Southwestern College Design Dept. and the Baja California Missions Foundation. His firm has received over 100 national and international design awards. Tom Klare Tom went to art school at VPI/State University in Virginia. His past work experience includes photography, graphic design and art directing. Several years ago he switched from freelance photography to reduce his “local-clientele-induced” stress level and tap into the national market. Some of his clients include: BMW, AT&T, Doubleday, Food Arts Magazine, Forbes Magazine, and IBM. Most of his assignment work is generated from sourcebook ads and his stock illustrations have been published throughout the industrialized universe. Pam Tanzey Pam Tanzey has been an illustrator for sixteen years. Her early freelance experience was in licensing, illustrating children’s books and products with images for Pound Puppies, My Little Pony, Thomas the Tank Engine and others. Since 1990 she has developed two distinct styles, realistic and whimsical, and has turned her focus to dogs, in greeting cards, educational, children’s books and editorial. She has received the Maxwell Award of Excellence in Illustration several times from the Dog Writer’s Association of America. Jack Davis Jack is the author of several digital books and is best known for his popular Photoshop Wow series. He is also the owner of Jack Davis Designs. He is in great demand as a consultant and lecturer for his extensive knowledge using digital software programs. Most recently, he has been adding to his digital illustration portfolio. Day Yantis Day was born and raised in San Diego and attended UCSD. She moved to New York City to further her education in theatre. While living in New York City she began her career as an artist representative. Day has been in the field since 1986 and is now represent-ing award-winning artist Ken Joudrey.
	What should be included in an effective portfolio? Tom Klare: It depends upon who you are showing your portfolio to and the reason why you are showing the portfolio. If you are showing a portfolio because an art director has a particular job in mind, then the best thing to do is put pieces in your portfolio that relate to what the client wants. If you are showing the portfolio to show just your style and the client or art director doesn’t have a particular job in mind then show what you want to do, but make sure that what you want to do is what they hire people for or it doesn’t do any good to go in there. Bennett Peji: I would say that one of the greatest things you could do if you are called to show your portfolio is to actually take the extra efforts to interview the art director who’s calling and find out specifically what kind of project he’s looking for. There is no question any time an art director calls, they are looking to solve a specific problem. If you can find out over the phone what the problem is, you have a tremendously better chance of getting that job then if you show your best work overall, since in that body of best work, the solution may not be found. If you know what the problem is, you can taylor your portfolio to the solution. What makes it a great portfolio? Day Yantis: For the artist I’m representing, I try to put a personalized letter to whomever has requested the portfolio. I put the strongest pieces in the front of the portfolio, to make a great introduction, and in the back, to make a strong closing statement; with supportive materials in between. What type of case do art directors like best? Bennett Peji: I would say that the spiral binder is an absolute no. It represents an entry level artist. If you are a professional and want to look like a professional that is not even an option. Art should be mounted or put in sleeves in a beautiful board very consistently presented. In other words, take the time to make sure your case and presentation are carefully considered and well executed as a complete body of work. By taking into consideration the consistency of the contents, the presentation becomes that much more memorable and impressionistic as a professional body of work. Day Yantis: I think this is a very important point to bring up. The deal is—when you are sending out your work, art directors don’t want to see many different styles. They get confused. If you are going to show your work or market it, you must be specific. Art directors want to see exactly what their looking for. If they want a pickle, give them a pickle not a cucumber! You must be that specific because they have others artists and those artists are going to be sending them pickles. Can a good portfolio be achieved on a budget? Tom Klare: If the material you use shows the work well and gets you the work you want to get, you really can’t skimp. It will pay for itself. It has to be polished to make it look the best. You can have the greatest art work in the world but if you don’t have a good reproduction done or you’ve done a sloppy job mounting it and you have competition, you’re not going to get the job. Pam Tanzey: I don’t have a large portfolio that I send out or in person. What I do is send my tearsheets. I rarely meet art directors in person since my goal is to get my tearsheets into their files. This is because I do a lot of editorial work and I have found the more I am in people’s files the more they call. Jack Davis/Bennett Peji: The digital portion of the lecture was covered by Jack Davis and Bennett Peji. Both Jack and Bennett demonstrated how digital portfolios can be part of a great portfolio presentation and fielded numerous questions from the audience regarding digital formats. —Pamela Wells, quoted from excerpts of recording February 17, 1999.
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