Specify Your Story & Define Your Goals
Lesson 3 from: Create a Knockout Graphic Design PortfolioRam Castillo
Specify Your Story & Define Your Goals
Lesson 3 from: Create a Knockout Graphic Design PortfolioRam Castillo
Lessons
What is a Design Portfolio
21:47 2Personal Analysis: Defining Your Purpose
14:20 3Specify Your Story & Define Your Goals
08:53 4Recognizing the Obstacles
10:12 5The Power of Personal Branding w/ Dava Guthmiller
25:16 6Analyzing Your Customer & Employer
15:42 7Planning the Customer's Journey
33:32 8The User Experience w/ Arianna Orland
19:47Lesson Info
Specify Your Story & Define Your Goals
number two. Who are you? Let's start. Are you writing? Ah, this question down festival Because we need to specify your story. Okay, So when you when you start thinking about who you are, just go all out. Just think. Who am I? You know, start with your past. How did you grow up? What experiences? And most of them are unique because no one's taking the exact same steps that you've taken in your life. So what are they? How did you grow up? You know, on DWhite are you doing at the moment? Note it down. Think anything from what used to do when you're a kid. Think about your family. How many family members do you have? What cultural background are you? Where did you grow up? All of these environments are really going to affect your answer here. What are you doing now? He's studying. Are you working? If so, be specific. Right down. What are you doing now? Okay, now the more that you get into depth with this the mawr that you're gonna get more the most out of the other segments and you're gonn...
a kick yourself for not writing enough if if you didn't. Ah, really pinpoints who you are again. If values come to the table, then go for it. But now, let's think, What are the things that I'm doing in the world in terms off actionable things? Okay. All right. Good. If I missed out on anything here, it's and foot starters for you on other areas. You can tell me about how your grandparent's gots part of you. If you went for them, you wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be here either. Then move on to your parents. Tell me a bit about them. How did they grow up? Did they have it? Easy toe. Have it hot today. What did they do? Did what they do, influence what you do. I'm sure it did. To some degree. Tell me about your childhood, your adolescence, your upbringing. This isn't some crazy exercises to simply just pinpointing bit of inward reflection. Because in order for us to project a portfolio that's uniquely us, we got to get this down, Pat. We really do. And not only portfolio when you're in an interview, they're looking for who you are in an interview stage, which will get to ah, a little bit But that's more so for my, uh get the design job you want. Workshop this all ties together. Think about your surroundings as I mentioned your culture, your interests Are you active, are you not? You like cooking? Do you know you outdoorsy? Are you more of an indoor person? Any influences you have or any mental? Note them down and any K experiences. Okay? And what are you doing now? Of course where you're living. Working? What are you learning? Because in writing what we what We are at the moment. We also see the gaps of what we're not on. What? Where? What we could potentially start moving towards. What do you aiding these days? What do your activities? What are your hobbies? Tell me about your routines. Are you mixing it up or are you doing the same sign? Do you have a social life? Are you more of a Keep yourself homebody, Papa person. No wrong answer. See you guys. Have you done much traveling? Think about that. That adds to who you are in leaps and bounds. What do you creating at the moment? And here's the funny thing. When I did my 18 events a lot of the times the question came up. How did you stop doing what you do? And I asked them, What do you want to bay? Some of them wanted to be right. Us. Some of them wanted to be photographers. Some of them wanted to be designers. And then I simply Austin this. I said, Are you designing every day? Are you writing every day? You're telling me you want to be a ride off so right every day. Just something to think about. Number three here. What are you after now? Defined your goal. This is incredibly important, guys. Okay, Because you can you can do the 1st 2 questions, you know, in your own time, in your own pace. But when someone asks you if I said Teoh, let's say, for example, Zane here in the audience with us. I grant you one wish, my friend. What do you want? That's a bit of ah, waited question right there. You know, it's funny because I watched I was at the gym in There was a there was, ah, movie repeat off Fight club, and I don't want to ruin it for anyone. That hasn't much Michael But there's that same where Brad Pitt's in front of the guys in the convenience, thorny. And he said, What do you want to pay? What do you really wanna bay? And the guy was saying, I'm studying medicine. He goes, No, no, no. What do you really want to bay? And he said, I think he said he wants to be a vet. Veterinarian will suddenly like that. And he was crying and he said, I'm gonna check up on you in one month. And if you're not on your way to become a veterinarian, I'm gonna kill you. You know, it was like, That's one way of finding what you finding out what you're after. But I think there's a message in that, you know? Ah, I went to this. I went to this meditation thing the other day and it was new for me. And the guy simply said, Live as if live, walk, breathe, sit. Do as if you were a dying man. And then I said, It's a bit the pressing in it that's you know what would I want to do that? But I think the message is simply, be honest with yourself so When you define your goals, think about your future. What are you working towards? What is your vision? Short and long term. And I also encourage it. Teoh, right down to primary and to secondary. Because oftentimes the other goals can be so long. We don't even do any of them now. One of them, of course, is getting the designed of that you want, which is on my other workshop. About that heavily. But portfolio is a huge part of that. But fully is a huge part of getting the designer that you want. So you must define what job? What does that job look like? Where it is, you know? Tell me, and what is the culture of that organization? We'll dive into this in a bit more detail, but just it's something to think about now. What are your primary and secondary goals? As I mentioned, it must be outcome based. Must be specific and memorable. So don't write down. I just want to be happy. How does your happiness, you know, how can we gauge and link an outcome from from happiness? How do we know that we have attained happiness, you know, So when you're writing this down. And the thing is, I do this quite often. It's not just a one time thing. I do this all the time. I reassessed my goals and you look back at the other ones. This is just a good exercise. Put it down on paper. And this something something. That something beautiful happens when you write down on paper like a contract with yourself. Like I wrote that at some point in time, I thought that at that moment it meant something to me. It's important to write down. Don't feel bad about it. Go nuts, scribble away. Okay, so when we're thinking about the design job we want, we need to be ultra specific. This will affect the next steps.
Class Materials
bonus material with purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Stacy
I have been asking for a portfolio class for graphic designers since last year on Creative Live. So, I was excited to see Ram Castillo teach this class. Thank you CL! This is one of my favorite classes on CL. This class is not only for specifically graphic designers, but can also be applicable to other artists and designers as well. I had to create a online, print, pdf and dvd school/job graphic design portfolio to graduate with my degree and was taught vaguely about what exactly to include in the portfolios several revisions later. I wish I had discovered Creative Live, then! Ram Castillo walks you through the steps of getting to know yourself which helps you to create the portfolio and knowing your potential employer/customer which let's you analyze what your portfolio should include. But, it isn't always just about you. A degree in graphic design doesn't always guarantee you a design job. But, Ram Castillo, his sense of humor and his cute accent will show you how to get that design job. Ram shares his secrets some designers probably wouldn't want you to know. Ram Castillo shows the portfolio sites you need to be on and how to market yourself to be seen, how to self edit your work, and getting feedback from others. Ram has guests that explain how they prepared their portfolio to get a design job. Ram addresses what to do and what not to do, what to include in your online portfolio, how to think daily and how to take care of your mind and body which can impact the way you create your portfolio which can also be an emotional journey. This class was a huge source of inspiration and breaking down the steps that you need to do to have a knockout portfolio and be a successful designer to shattering those hurdles and excuses. After watching this class, you too may be inspired to create that knockout portfolio whether you are starting out or not, your confidence may soar after watching this class, you may be the one holding yourself back and this class may help you to get out of your own way. Ram suggests if you don't have that hero project in your portfolio, create those knockout personal projects to put in your portfolio. Ram Castillo prepares you for your portfolio and beyond to get that interview and job. I highly recommend this class for purchase for the bonus materials, the videos for inspiration, how to photograph your work, there is enough room for you, inspiration, process and accountability. This class will also prepare you for the next step, getting a design job which is the next class you need to watch and purchase. Thank you Ram Castillo! Thank you for teaching this class and so grateful that you taught this class. This class has been added to my design library of resources. If you will excuse me, now I have a lot of work to do to create that knockout design portfolio.
JenVazquezPhotography
I was excited to meet Ram from his first email prior to the live class that I was going to take. He is personable, authentic and eager to help others. I thought I would enjoy his class but wasn't sure how appropriate it would be to me as my photography business. Surprisingly this class would be perfect for any Creative business. It was so appropriate for my business and had so much actionable content, that I took 10 pages of notes! Many can train about portfolios. Many can be powerful speakers. Ram was not only those things but so much more. He started out by telling us about WHY and HOW he became who he is and had us explore ourselves. It was powerful. It was a light bulb moment to realize my focus in business has a direct result to how i was raised and what I believe is important. That was just one part of the training. In the end, I had direct and actionable goals toward revamping my portfolio. It's great to take a class that is not only motivating but changes the way I do business. As a direct result of this class, I changed my portfolio and got a photography job where the client told me they hired me due to my portfolio. How powerful!! It would be a FANTASTIC investment you won't regret.
ATworks
this class is amazing! I have just graduated my graphic design education and started completing my portfolio so I could show interested companies or employers wat I am capable of... I will never ever look at my portfolio the same way after this class they don't learn you these things at school... What your portfolio projects should represent, how many, how to show trough your portfolio, what you are looking for in a job, how complete or incomplete your current portfolio could be and how to give it that extra something so they actually check out your portfolio when you contact them to apply for a job... This course was great, the guest speakers made it even more valuable. They are all very experienced in the aspects they were asked for... Ram Castillo has some great life experience to share! Get this course if you want to give yourself that extra push to achieve great things with your design!