Portfolio Preparation

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I have spent a lot of time in the last 5 months preparing my portfolio. I wish I had more time to spend on it, but as a mom, wife, and full time student it’s been difficult to dedicate the hours I wish I could spend on it. A few of the requirements for showcasing my portfolio is to have business cards, a resume, design illustrations, and completed pieces. I wanted to share my business card designs and the progress I’ve made in learning to use Illustrator.

Business Cards from Moo.com

I ordered business cards the other day and I’m so excited for them to get here. I just have to wait a week and a half. My Illustrator teacher, Tiki, recommended I get my business cards printed at Moo.com. I finally got my business cards done because portfolio show is coming up and it’s required to have them available to give out to industry professionals.

I’ve looked at other websites that let you design your own cards and after trying a few of them I decided I really like the ease and simplicity of Moo.com. I designed my cards in Illustrator and uploaded my design as a PDF. One of the great things about Moo.com is an option to use their templates or make custom designs right on their website.

My favorite two options are the cotton and the luxe. I ordered both to see which I like better in person. I love the idea of cotton because they use recycled cotton from t-shirts, which is right up my alley being in fashion and all. I love the luxe because they sandwich a layer of colored paper between the white layers and they look so fancy! I just love being fancy. Plus, they offer a yellow color, and it makes me so happy so see yellow. Anyway, as soon as I get them in the mail I’ll update this post with my favorite between the two that I ordered.

Update (9/21/2019): I love the Luxe the best! I had a feeling I might. They are just so fancy and extra and when I pick one up to hand it to someone it feels so good to give them a high quality business card that embodies me. Oh, and during portfolio show I was asked why I chose square ones. My answer is because I have to be different and I have to be myself, square just felt so good to choose. I know they won’t fit in standard wallets and such, but at least people are thinking of me, even if they get frustrated my card won’t fit where they want it. They aren’t boring cards and I do hope that I am memorable because of them.

Simply Lush Collection

Portfolio showcase is coming up in a few weeks and I’ve been compiling some of my work from school into my portfolio. In it, I’m including the four mini-collections I designed. Below is an example of a design from my Simply Lush collection. The first image is a hand drawing I did almost two years ago, which I drew before I had taken any drawing classes at school. The second image is the digital illustration of the same outfit which I did in Adobe Illustrator about a month ago. I like to think I’ve learned quite a bit at school and developing skills takes a lot of practice. I’m still learning every day.

Sapphire Dreams Collection

Another one of my mini-collections I put in my portfolio is Sapphire Dreams. I was able to make some of the pieces from the collection, but l still have pieces to make which I will be finishing up later this year. I have a photoshoot scheduled next weekend for the pieces that are done, so as soon as I get those images I’ll have a whole post dedicated to my Sapphire Dreams collection. Until then, enjoy a couple of my favorite looks from this collection.