The Most Difficult Task in Building My Portfolio

The hardest thing about building my portfolio was the amount of time it took me to perfect the look I wanted. I think I've spent 85% of the time so far finalizing the design and only 15% of the time actually making content. But, that's how I am.

Once I was happy with the design, it was a breeze from there, just placing items where I wanted them on the pages. Trial and error to see what I liked..

Keep on rollin.

video Video VIDEO!

If a picture is worth a thousand words... well, let's see..

30 frames per second x 60 seconds is...

mmm... math anyone? Wait while I get my calculator.

Okay, it's 1800 pictures! Yes, 1800 pictures in a one minute long video.

So... times a thousand words...

1,800,000 WORDS in 60 Seconds!!

Okay, I get it, that's a little bit over the top. But, really think about it - what better way to showcase your work than by creating a professional video that allows you to paint EXACTLY the image you want your prospect to see?

While video may not be the best solution for everybody's portfolio, I'd say that it has quite a chance of making itself useful on most. In fact, with something as simple as iMovie on a Mac, you can create a stunning video in under half an hour. Heck, a pictures slideshow with sound can take just minutes!

Below is an example of a video template that's made for Adobe After Effects, an advanced video editing piece of software, that shows how you could use video to display pictures of work or photographs! Check it out...

Viable Media Content (Unit 6)

In researching your industry, what is the viable media content to your profession that you should be including in your digital portfolio? Not all industries operate with the same standards when it comes to social media, for example, so it's important to know what platforms 'people' pay attention to and why.

My industry is in software integration and creative display solutions using Apple hardware. To connect appropriately with others, I would definitely integrate all three major social networks (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) into my portfolio — technology buffs and business owners are my main audience and I need to reach them by any means possible.

In terms of what content would actually be suitable for displaying my work, I believe that photos of finished installations, well-designed diagrams of how the software interacts, and even videos of installations are all appropriate pieces of documentation.

Audio may be useful when I want to describe a particular installation, however I don't think it would be very useful on its own.

I've embedded a Lighting 101 video that shows some really great tips on lighting subjects with different types of light. Great for taking some amazing looking portfolio pictures.

Portfolio Highlight: Left Brained or Right Brained?

I'm right brained, but I think that I tend to be closer to the middle than anything. I've always been involved in art, music, and creative things such as web development and programming. The weird thing is that I'm very obsessive-compulsive and I like things to be simple and in order... which makes me feel like I'm a bit left brained as well. Oh great, now I'm confused.

I think that I try to compensate for both which works out well and I guess that means I'm pretty well balanced. But, the fact that I have to work at both sides of the spectrum makes me feel like I'm not always in the right spot.

I'm always playing a game in my head in regards to my career. I think I confuse my managers because one day I want to do this job (which is the technical creative job) and the other day I want to be the manager/leader. I think that I need to get that figured out so that I stop trying to go in so many different directions.

Social Media in the Media Industry

The media industry is grabbing the social media bull by the horns. Companies that provide up-to-date news are continuously looking for ways to deliver their content faster than the rest.

Until the past 20 years, news was primarily delivered through classic means such as the printed newspaper and eventually the television. Then, the news started to become available on the Internet. Today, major news organizations have added another layer into the mix — social media.

What's amazing about this era of content delivery is that users finally have a chance to share their opinions in return, immediately. Not only can they share their opinions, but others have the ability to pick them apart in return. Best of all, nothing is anonymous which makes these opinions real.

The Media Business industry has an opportunity to communicate with their customers (viewers) like never before. Tools such as Twitter (www.twitter.com) and FaceBook (www.facebook.com) allow media organizations gain feedback from their customers that can help them better their services and provide more up-to-date information. Additionally, every social media participant essentially becomes an additional employee to that organization that can suggest new ideas, services, promotions, etc.

Beyond Facebook and Twitter, there are new services popping up that utilize location awareness. Location Awareness (in networks such as Color) allows content delivery to be tailored to their geo-location. Heck, news organizations could even use geo-location tagging to legitimize user-contributed news content by validating that they are actually "on the scene".

More to come.