艺术留学作品集】服装留学导师的十大建议

A beautiful and unusual portfolio illustration style by David Ross.
　　一幅漂亮的与众不同的作品集插图--David Ross
　　Dear Srijaa,
　　Happy to help. I’ve been in the position to help students prepare portfolios, as well as evaluating prospective students’ portfolios, so I am happy to give you some advice. And let it be known that these tips are not only applicable to student’s preparing portfolios to join fashion courses, they are also relevant to graduates looking for fashion jobs.
　　亲爱的Srijaa,
　　很高兴能帮到你。我曾经帮助学生准备作品集也评估过申请者的作品，所以我很高兴可以给你一些建议。这些建议不仅适用于申请时尚设计课程也适用于毕业生应聘时尚相关工作。
　　1. Read the portfolio requirements. All schools have different portfolio requirements, so make sure to READ the requirements and FOLLOW them. This may sounds like a no brainer, but I have seen a lot of students who used the exact same portfolio for ten different course applications, even though it meant they were turning up to interviews with the wrong material. So if they want 3 design projects, a sketchbook, and a toile, bring that. If you’ve got amazing stuff that doesn’t fit into the requirements, bring it separately, and tell them you have a few more things you’d like to show them. Maybe they will look, maybe they won’t. (On that note, make sure to read the course DESCRIPTION, too. I can’t tell you how many students came to the interview for our fashion management and marketing course and told us how they wanted to be designers. Duh.)
　　1.仔细阅读作品集要求。每个学校的作品集要求不尽相同，仔细研究并且遵循其要求。这听起来很白痴，但是我见过很多学生申请10个不同的课程但是用一模一样的作品集，这意味着他们面试的时候带着错误的申请材料。因此，如果学校需要3个设计项目，一个速写本，一种布料，带着他们。如果你有非常棒的材料但是不符合学校的要求，那么分开携带，并且告诉面试官你还想给他们展示其他东西。他们或许会看或许不会。(关于这一点，确认也要认真阅读学校的课程介绍。很多学生我面试时尚管理和时尚营销的时候跟我们说他们想成为一个设计师。 )

　　

       A great way to present fabric swatches, by Katharina Domokosch.
　　展示布料样品-- Katharina Domokosch
　　2. Prepare to be flexible, and take things in and out. Because different jobs and courses will have different requirements, make sure to be prepared to adapt your portfolio according to the position you are applying for (just like you do with a resume, right?) So if you have five great projects, maybe you only bring three to one interview, and four to another, because there were elements that weren’t relevant to one particular school or job. This also means you need a portfolio where you can remove content. Very important, see below.
　　2. 要利于编辑。不同的工作(学校)有不同的要求，根据你所申请的职位(课程)不同对作品集要做相应的调整(就像制作简历那样)。因此，如果你有五个设计项目，你可能面试这个工作(学校)的时候带三个，而去另一个面试的时候带四个，因为作品当中会有某些元素跟你所申请的工作(学校)不相关。这就是说你的作品集也方便你删除内容，这非常重要。

 

　　A line up of the whole collection, by Katharina Domokosch. This is a great way to end a fashion design project, as it allows the viewer to see the collection as a whole.
　　这是一列发布会的作品-- Katharina Domokosch. 这是一种非常好的展示时尚设计项目的方式，因为它可以让人把整个系列作为一个整体来看。
　　3. Buy a good portfolio. And have a great digital version. A good portfolio is an indispensable tool for a fashion person. I suggest A4 or letter size (bigger makes you look student-y, although some schools will require this, see point 1. ) Choose something neutral (ie. black. No logos, no weird colours, no cheap binding, please.) Make sure it is very high quality and has sleeves where you can easily change the content, and how many pages are in the portfolio. Your portfolio will last you for years, which is why you want it to be neutral. Even though you might be obsessed with pink bows and lace now, you don’t want your portfolio to be pink and lacy, as you may end up being a menswear designer in five years. Expect to spend well into the three digits for a good portfolio and sleeves, but count this as an investment.
　　I once saw Louise Wilson (course director on the MA at St. Martins) refuse an application because the portfolio looked “disgusting.” She didn’t even open it. But, I won’t deny she has a good point. What kind of person are you if you go to a job interview in a sweatsuit? The same type of person who puts their prized work into the portfolio equivalent of a sweatsuit.
　　3. 买一个好的作品集子(编者注：速写本之类)，要有很棒的电子版。一个好的作品集子是时尚界人士必不可少的工具。我建议选择A4或者信纸大小(虽然有的学校要求大一点的尺寸，但是太大的话看起来太学生气)。选择普通的(就是黑的，拜托一定不要有logo、奇怪的颜色、廉价的装订等)。确保它质量很好，内页可以很方便的替换，并且页数足够。作品集要跟你好多年所以一定不要太花哨。可能现在你的集子满是粉色的蝴蝶结和花边，但是你一定不希望你的作品集子变成蝴蝶结或者花边，因为你可能五年以后变成了一个男装设计师。就当是一项投资，花费一定的时间将你比较满意的三个作品和单页做成电子版。我曾经见过Louise Wilson(中央圣马丁艺术与设计学院MA的面试官)拒绝了一个申请者，因为其作品看起来很“恶心”。她甚至没有打开作品集。但是我完全同意她的砍伐。试想一下，什么样的人会穿运动套装去面试?就那个申请者就像这样，把获奖作品放在像运动套装一样的作品集里。
　　And don’t forget, a good digital version of your portfolio is also very important since we live in the digital age. This needs to be slightly different than your hardcopy, as some things can’t be represented the same in both formats (ex. videos or fabric swatches.) I make my students do a small 4MB maximum mini version of their digital portfolio, to send out as a taster. Then they need a larger version, which can be sent out on request (don’t ever send a 100MB file to someone unless they have requested it.) Make sure to have flexibility with your pages in case you need to do a 20MB version, or you want to remove pages.
　　别忘了，电子版作品集非常重要，因为我们生活在一个数字时代。电子版跟纸质版稍微有点不同，因为某些东西不能用两种形式呈现(比如食品或者样布)。我让我的学生给电子版作品集制作一个最大4MB的迷你视频作为前菜。然后如果要求的话你可以再寄一个长一点的(除非要求千万不要寄送一个100MB的视频给人家。)确保你的录像可以剪切，以防你需要一个20MB的视频或者你需要删除一些图像。

 

　　A lovely research and fabric page by Cat Patterson.
　　一个很好可爱的研究和布料展示-- Cat Patterson。
　　4. Know your strengths. This is a life lesson for everyone, and applies to all careers, applications, and aspects of life. If you aren’t good at something, try and avoid including it in your portfolio. For example, if you suck at illustrating, don’t put any in your portfolio (this is very possible. On the MA at St. Martins, the course director thought everyone’s illustrations were “shit” – her words – and only one of us was allowed to include proper fashion illustrations in our portfolio. The rest of us managed to make beautiful portfolios without them, proof that it is possible.) If it is presentation skills, have a graphic designer friend help you with layouts. If you can’t spell, make sure your written work is proofread. No one is perfect, so don’t try to be and don’t try and do everything yourself. Remember, you are only as good as your worst illustration/design/layout/essay, so make sure there are no weak links.
　　4. 清楚你的长项。这是一个终生课题，适用于所有职业、申请以及生活的各个方面。如果你不擅长某一方面，尽量避免在作品集中展现。比如，你的插图很烂，别往作品集里放(这非常有可能。中央圣马丁艺术与设计学院MA的系主任说每个人的插图都是“狗屎”—她的原话—我们所有人中只有一个人可以在作品集中放入合适的时尚插图。其他人只能再插图的情况下试图把作品集做的漂亮。)如果你展示技巧很差，找一个平面设计的朋友帮你进行排版。如果你写作比较差，确保你写的东西有人帮你看过。没有人事完美的，所以不用试图自己做所有的事情。记住，大家只会记住你的短板：差劲的插图、设计、排版、写作，所以一定要确保你的作品没有弱项。

 

　　Great use of white space in this design development spread by Cat Patterson.
　　设计过程中留白的使用-- Cat Patterson。
　　5. No unprofessional photoshoots. I was just saying to some students the other day, who are planning photoshoots for their styling class, that it is ESSENTIAL that they get professional models. Nowadays, with Instagram and photo editing software, a good model is even more important than a good photographer. This is one of the reasons why I organize our fashion design graduates’ photoshoots, because most local schools make the students do them on their own, and they end up with poor photos because they don’t have a pro team. As you can see here, a pro team makes a huge difference. And spare me the argument about wanting to use “real women” as models, that is a load of bollocks. If you want a model that isn’t a size four, then hire one who is bigger. Or hire an actress, but it must be someone that is comfortable in front of a camera. Don’t get your mate to model instead. Read more on this here.
　　5. 不要有非专业的摄影。前几天我刚一些计划给造型课摄影的学生说，职业模特非常关键。现在，有Instagram和其他的照片编辑软件，一个好的模特比好的摄影师更重要。这也是我组织时尚设计毕业摄影的原因，很多当地学校都让学生自己做，而由于没有专业的团队学生的摄影非常差。就像你通过这个链接看到的一样，一个专业的团队会带来很大的不同。不要跟我争论用“现实中的女性”做模特的问题。如果找不到四号身材(欧美标准身材，对应的尺寸：胸围83-86 腰围：68-71 臀围：89 -91)的模特，找大一点的。或者雇一个在镜头前感觉比较自在的演员。不要让你的配偶做模特。

　　

       It is great to see research and the designs that followed. By Fernanda Fujiwara.
　　研究与设计一起呈现-- Fernanda Fujiwara
　　6. Edit. When people look at portfolios, they are usually in some type of recruitment process and will be exposed to a lot of work. Which is why you need to make your short and SWEET. Don’t bore people to death. Don’t start with the OK stuff and save the best for last (the interviewer may not even bother to get through the first half.) And don’t include anything mediocre. Editing seems to be something that is FAR more challenging than creating content (I am guilty of this, look at the size of this blog post) and so take the time to edit your portfolio carefully so that it isn’t too long and doesn’t get boring. In the case of applications for courses that require written content, be sure to edit down your projects and use clear titles, introductions, bullet points, nice diagrams, and subtitles so that the interviewer doesn’t need to read your 4,000 word market research project, they can skim it and get an idea of what you’ve done. I am not going to get into specifics of page numbers here, as sometimes a 20 page portfolio will bore me to death, while a 100 page one will be riveting and exciting the whole way through. It depends. And remember point 2, you will probably have a lot of work you want to show, just don’t include all of it for every submission. Edit and choose according the job/school/course you are applying to.
　　6. 编辑。当面试官看你的作品集的时候，他/她通常在招聘季(申请季)，工作量非常大。这就是为什么你要让你的作品集简短而吸引人。别让人觉得你的作品集无聊死了。不要把最好的作品放在最后(面试官不一定会看完)。不要放任何不起眼的作品。编辑似乎远比创造有挑战，因此一定要自信编辑你的作品集，别让它又长又无聊。如果你的申请需要有写作的内容，使用明确的标题、简介、要点符号、漂亮的图表、副标题等，让面试官可以不用看完你4000字的市场研究项目。他们可以跳读获取主要信息。作品的数量我没有什么建议，有时候20页的作品让我看的无聊的要死，但是有的时候100页的作品却让我激动万分，可以吸引我从头欣赏到尾。不过参见上面说的，要递交符合要求的作品。根据你所申请的工作/学校/课程的要求进行编辑。

 

　　More great illustrations and research by Fernanda Fujiwara.
　　插画和研究-- Fernanda Fujiwara
　　7. Excellent presentation. If I had a dollar every time a student handed in good work poorly presented, and got a crappy mark as a result, well, I’d have many dollars. This is fashion, is ALL ABOUT presentation! So how can you ignore it? You can’t. Layouts need to be SPECTACULAR. Maybe I need to do a separate post on layout tips, because I see more fails than I do successes. Go back to the sweatshirt analogy. Or the part about only being as good as your worst element. So think great graphics, a well-considered font, high quality imagery, consistency, white space, good quality paper, and a presentation style that is relevant to your work and yourself. This is a great time to get your graphic designer friends to help out.
　　7. 完美的展示。如果学生每交每一份糟糕的作品，我就得到一美元的话，我现在就已经很富有了。时尚，就是展示!为什么忽略它呢?排版必须非常漂亮，非常吸引人。或许我该另外讲一下排版的建议，我看过太多失败的例子。回想一下那个运动套装的例子，或者你最不擅长的事情。再想象下漂亮的平面设计、考虑周到的字体、高质量的图像、一致性、留白、质量很好的纸张、与你或者申请工作/课程相关的展现方式。这非常需要你平面设计朋友的帮助。

 

　　A nice way to present research, and a good use of white space, also by Fernanda Fujiwara.
　　展示研究的方式以及空白的使用-- Fernanda Fujiwara
　　8. Show your process. Most people like to see the process in which a person goes through to get to their final result, as that is the main part of the role in most fashion jobs. So with design portfolios, make sure to show research, development, experimentation, fittings, and more. This can be as part of a project (all my students need to show these elements when they hand in a design project) or it can be in a sketchbook.
　　8. 展现过程。大部分人想看到你如何获得最终的设计成果，因为这是大部分时尚工作的主要内容。所以在时尚作品集中一定要展现研究、发展、实验、试装等等而不仅仅是设计成品。这可以是设计项目的一部分(我所有的学生在递交设计项目的时候都需要包含设计过程)或者是有速写本来体现。

 

　　It is nice to see research and development side by side, on this portfolio spread by Chichi Luo.
　　并排展示研究和发展过程-- Chichi Luo
　　9. Research and development! See above. But I wanted to have a separate point for this because research is one of the most important elements in a fashion design portfolio and is usually what separates a St. Martins student from a student from crappy fashion school in the middle of nowhere. Our projects and portfolios were probably 50-90% research and development, with a resolution or conclusion at the end. We did research for months before we started designing, and that’s often what happens in industry. I don’t let my students even pick up a pencil until they’ve collected a crap load of research. So if you are wondering what makes St. Martins and all those other English schools so good, it is usually the importance they place on research skills.
　　9. 研究与发展。我想单独说一下是因为研究是时尚设计项目中最重要的因素之一，也是区分中央圣马丁艺术与设计学院的学生和其他糟糕的时尚学校的学生的标志之一。我们的设计项目和作品集的50-90%是研究相关，然后获得一个解决方案或者结论。我们再设计之前花费数月的时间进行研究，而这也是时尚行业的常态。在他们做大量的研究之前我甚至不会让我的学生动笔。为什么中央圣马丁艺术与设计学院和其他著名的设计学院那么的好?原因就在于他们非常重视研究技能。

 

　　Great examples of showing development on the stand, which is a great alternative to sketches. By Chichi Luo.
　　代替速写本运用模特来展现过程-- Chichi Luo
　　10. Don’t limit your content to fashion. If you are great in other things, then make sure they get a mention. Schools and companies aren’t accepting/hiring you based on your work, they are also making an investment in you as a person. And so if you are good at other things, then that will always be a plus.
　　P.S. One last very important tip: if you are applying to schools, check out the graduate portfolios from the recent grads. That will give you an idea of where the course is supposed to take you, and demonstrating that you have the ability to get there will only help you. Most schools do public portfolio shows, or put work online. In fact, all of these images came from Showtime, which has the graduate portfolios of the University of the Arts grads (includes St. Martins and London College of Fashion), a great resource to see what some of the top London fashion school grads are doing. I’ve shown work from students at London College of Fashion.
　　10. 作品集不局限于时尚。如果你也擅长其他方面也可以在作品集里体现。学校和公司不仅会因为你的作品录取或者雇佣你，也会对你个人进行投资。因此你其他方面的长项也可以是个补充。
　　温馨提示：
　　如果申请学校，去看看最近的毕业生的作品。这会让你知道学校的课程方向，也证明如果给你帮助你也有能力可以做到，大部分学校会展示学生作品。事实上你也可以通过Showtime来欣赏毕业生的作品(中央圣马丁艺术与设计学院和伦敦时装学院)，这是一个帮助你了解顶尖的伦敦时尚院校毕业生们的动向的网站。

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