The portfolio showcase will allow you to introduce your portfolio to an audience of your peers and faculty in the writing program. This is an informal gathering with food and a casual atmosphere, but you will be expected to talk about your portfolio and be able to answer questions about your design and writing. Take advantage of the opportunity to share your work with others and get some last minute feedback.
Each of you will be asked to give a brief introduction. This introduction should include the following
- Your name
- Your major(s) and minor(s)
- When you are expected to graduate and/or what you expect to do after graduation
- How to navigate your portfolio
- Your overall design vision for the portfolio
After the introduction, invite people to browse your portfolio. They cannot be expected to read lengthy pieces, so they will be drawn to shorter works and especially the design, so be prepared to answer questions about the design and direct people to works that you are particularly proud of.
In these types of situations, you should be prepared to answer additional questions as well. For example, here are some questions that you might be asked:
- What interests you about writing?
- What were some rewarding experiences about the writing minor reflected in the portfolio?
- Who is the audience for your portfolio?
- Talk about your design decisions? What were you trying to accomplish?
- How did you arrange or organize the projects in your portfolio?
- Is there any part of your portfolio that you are unsure about or are still working on?
- Are there projects in the portfolio that you learned a lot from?
- Are there projects in the portfolio that you are particularly proud of?
You should make sure that your portfolio links work, and that the overall portfolio looks the way you want.
What should I bring?
Please bring your laptop. We will have a couple laptops there so more than one person can view portfolios, but you should bring your own laptop.
What should I wear?
You aren’t expected to dress in formal attire for this event. However, this is not the type of event to show up in pajamas to either. Dress in a way that conveys the ethos you want.