Meta Refresh 2018

With graphic design having suddenly taken off as an industry in India the way it has; both designers and employers seem to be bumping around in the dark trying to find each other. Headhunters, managers, CEOs, who are used to gauging a person’s value to the company from a black and white resume, are now faced with the esoteric task of reading a creative portfolio.

What are you supposed to look for in a creative portfolio? How do you know if someone will be the right fit? Is that brother-in-law’s friend’s kid’s cousin your colleague recommended really up to scratch or not? Is this a portfolio or a Tinder profile? I want to help answer these questions.

DISCLAIMER: I’m a print, graphics, and online/offline visual communications person, so this is my context. Some of the pointers may apply to UI/product/other designers but that’s not my forte so I won’t claim to know anything about that.

Outline

Here is a very specific list of things I’d be interested in addressing:

• How do you find out what type of designer you need? (Graphic is too ambiguous)
• Where do you look for designers?
• What expectations should you have?
• Do you really need a designer five/six days a week?

How do you read a creative CV?

• What do educational qualifications mean?
• Do they matter? Which ones matter?
• Do years of experience matter? What am I looking for?
• This person just graduated, do I take the risk?

How do you read a creative portfolio?

• What are all these things?
• How do I read them? (social media creatives, posters, illustrations etc)
• I don’t see an example of the exact specific work that I want, does that mean I need to look elsewhere?
• This portfolio is shiny but this one isn’t. What’s better?
• How do I interpret whether or not what I’m looking for is in this portfolio?

Talking to your potential hire:

• It’s important to ask the right questions (especially in the case of a recent graduate with a smaller portfolio). Design ethics are as important as the designs themselves.
• What questions are relevant for me to ask, with regard to the role that needs to be filled
• How do I interpret the answers
• How do I know if this is the person to close the deal with?

Instilling confidence in your designer:

• What fixable mistakes am I making that might cause a fitting designer to decline?
• How do I discuss stipend?

Audience Questions

Requirements

Nothing necessarily.

Speaker bio

I’m Winona Laisram, a graphics, communications, and illustration designer based in Bangalore.

Current:

• Creative Lead of Marketing at Freshmenu
• Teacher (Design Modules at Mount Carmel College)

Education:

• Communication Studies, Mount Carmel College Bangalore
• Visual Communication, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology

Selected Past Work:

• Happy McGarryBowen India (Digital Media)
• The Takshashila Institution (New Brand Identity and Communications, 2 year engagement)
• The Solidarity Foundation (Communications Design, reports, social, events)
• Namma Pride Bengaluru (Art director 2016, Pro-bono)
• Kodagu Connect (Logo)
• Myro Prosthetics (Logo)
• Testsigma (Logo)
• Human Rights Law Network (Wordpress blog design)
• BRICS (Conference Booklet)
• The Queer Arts Movement, India (Event Posters, Social Media)
• Tattle Tale Marketing (2017 short gig, Instagram Product Posts)
• Forum of Environmental Journalists, India (Print Design)

Links

• https://www.facebook.com/winona.laisram
• https://twitter.com/ReiKuroi
• https://www.instagram.com/winonadraws/