By Stephen Yeates

Portfolio Oxygen

There’s no better way to find out how you truly feel about your work than to hand your portfolio over to the process of critique. 

As a book crit progresses from page to page, you go through moments of pride, nostalgia, and – in my experience so far – a fair bit of discomfort. It’s an exorcism that only a book crit can provide.

They can be tough experiences, but rightly so. They are portfolio oxygen. And you soon build a momentum and thrive on each conversation.

One of the best decisions Adam and I have made so far this year was to attend a portfolio masterclass session run by a brilliant organisation called The Dots.

The event was a series of quick-fire book crits of 7 or 8 minutes. They were our first, and with some incredible CD’s and ECD’s. 

To be honest, we were probably out of our depth at the time. But if one thing’s for sure, the event gave us – in a very instant – a healthy disdain for the work we were carrying around with us.

The pride you have in your portfolio should be short lived, but then revived as much as humanly possible.