Portfolio Visit 2: Part 1

Recently I went to Sheffield for my second portfolio visit. It was with a collective called Synergy Sheffield, who are a group of six graduates from Sheffield Hallam University. The reason I chose to show my portfolio to a collective was because I was thinking about what might benefit me the most after I finished the course, and asking recent graduates who had successfully begun to establish themselves seemed like a good idea.

When I got there, I was welcomed by Paul and Taz of Synergy, and it was a very relaxed visit. I only expected to be there for about half an hour to talk about my portfolio, and ask a few questions about the collective after, but they very kindly gave me about three hours of their time!

First we had a conversation about what they did and how they survived in the world after they graduated. They noted that keeping in touch with your fellow classmates was a great way to keep yourself in the design world, and networking was paramount. They also said that there were people who had graduated who hadn’t done very well in terms of getting their work out, and that was mainly due to the fact that they simply weren’t bothered. It takes effort and care to get yourself known, and you have to enjoy what you do if you want to be successful.

Then I showed them my portfolio, which I was slightly nervous about. I decided that I would be perfectly honest with them instead of selling myself, and after they had looked through I told them how my confidence was quite low. Paul said that this was quite apparent in the work, and assured me that I had nothing to worry about, but that the work in my portfolio was quite good.  He also said that I had to make sure that I kept myself absorbed in other artists work to keep my work informed.