What to say about your work projects in your portfolio?
polycounter lvl 6
I have an artstation portfolio. I"m in the process of getting ready to upgrade to a plus or pro membership and build a website. I do notice for each project you can type a description. What's should be the description? Is a good description important? Besides talking about what software was used, what else should I say about each piece?
Replies
As far as descriptions, say whatever you feel you need to say. It's great to state your objective and what skills you employed in the project. Like if you were practicing modularity or trim sheets, toss it in. Do NOT talk yourself down or say it could be better or blah blah. That all being said, unless it's a really strong piece, I would wager that most people aren't even going to bother to read the description.
So basically something like "I used software x y z, my goal was to challenge myself to push my skills on modularity, trim sheets, and efficient texture creation. I also wanted to level up my skills with environment lighting. etc." Post some screenshots of breakdown or block modeling or texture uv maps or modular props, etc.
You just summed up the non-website version of ArtStation. I truly do not think having an upgraded account correlates with raising your chances of getting a job. That $84 could buy you a couple quality tutorials or Timothy Dries' (Beyond Extent) environment art pdf.. and you'd still have some left over for a bag of coffee beans to help you get through them.
I feel like cover letters are something that Human Resources asks for so they can print it out and place it in a folder to never be looked at again. Similar for a resume.. these aren't the things that get you a job.