Packaging your portfolio.

Matted prints in an attache type case would be a presentation I would look at. Spray the mats with a matte (non-glossy) acrylic protective coat. That will make them washable. However, the edges of the mats could get dinged up unless you are careful.

However, CD or DVD Roms are how we get most portfolios at our Miama main office of the gallery chain, or the artist has put up his own Website.

Here's a quite simple website for one of our artist who we just had a show with:

http://stevekaufmanart.com/

I have been working on a website but I think it would be good for potential clients to have some "real" stuff to look at.

I'd be showing the work directly to clients as kind of an idea book. I think the individually matted prints would have more of a wow factor but I really want it to be unified and I'm puzzled by how to do this when working with various sizes.

I didn't know that about using an acrylic spray to make them washable! Is there a particular brand I should look for? Will it work on a variety of mat surfaces? I tend to use linen mats.

Krylon makes one as well as the manufacturers of acrylic paints. Your local art store will be of help or go to Mister Art's website at:

http://www.misterart.com/index.cfm?WT.mc_id=adwords-artsupplies&WT.srch=1

Real linen mats are fine as you can wrap the edges. I'd use foam core as it will give you a deep bevel to recess the artwork. It will also take up more space. A viewer with 35 MM slides is an essential tool -- you can mat what you consider you best five to ten pieces and then offer the slides and viewer (the viewers are not expensive -- shop them through Google). With linen mats, do not use the acrylic coatings but a fabric protective spray -- the same stuff one used to protect upholstery.

Hey boomer,

I use THIS for my own portfolio. I have the 22" x 17" and each piece is mounted on a high-grade black art paper. It's easy to flip through, easy to carry, and keeps forever. For items larger than that I have taken photos and mounted those.

I've interviewed dozens of graphic designers over the past 2 years and i've made a few notes about their portfolios and my own preferences:

1) The large-scale portfolios matted on artboard look nice only if they are done perfectly and consistently from one to the other. Any difference, no matter how minute, becomes blatantly obvious when you put two pieces side by side.

2) The smaller portfolios (linked above) are easy to turn through, are easy to maintain and don't require a large table to view them on.

Now, having said all that, if you're going to be showing these to clients you may wish to go with the larger-scale presentation. Lightwizard's suggestion of the CD/DVD Roms is a good one, as it leaves the client with something to go back to if they wish to.

As an addition to what LW said in regard to the matted prints, I would also consider covering each print with a layer of tissue paper, attached to the back using glue or art tape. This gives each piece a more professional feel.

Oh lots to consider!

I'd have never thought of using foam core board.

Hmmm.

Scotchguard type stuff for linen mats makes perfect sense!

A slide viewer is something I hadn't considered at all. My work is children's portraiture (photography) and a slide viewer seems to remove a lot of the intamicy of holding something in your hands. I'll have to think on that.

That folio is very similar to the one I was looking at, Questioner. I found one for a pretty good price AND I have a 40% off coupon for it. Moneywise that one makes the most sense so I'm glad to see that it might make the most professional sense too.

It is the perfectly and consistently thing that gives me pause. I like the idea of matted prints just because they are more intimate. The people I would be showing them to are parents and I like the idea of showing them something small that they can hold.

Oh - I forgot!

I like the tissue paper thing a lot! It has a great feeling of unwrapping a little treasure..... a feeling of "revealing" something.....

Black core mats or black foam core makes an excellent presentation. You can reverse cut a bevel on the outside edge of the foam core but on regular mat, it can be a source of serious paper cuts! I've also used black plexiglas which looks really super -- there are online plex sites that will cut the it with an outside bevel. The artwork would be mounted directly on top of the plex with framer's mounting tape or an adhesive spray. You want to, of course, trim off any white border from phtographs.

You can also use thin plastic covers to protect the mat and artwork, with a wrap-around outside edge.

Many framer's linens are already Scotchguarded or some other Teflon based spray.

A clear plastic protective cover can also be hinged (wrapped around only on the top edge of the mat).

The tissue paper idea is fine but you'd probably have to discard it each time. The plastic cover I mentioned above could also be opaque or even a dark grey or bronze see-thru.

Vellum has a frosted appearance and is used in advertising art to protect rough and finished artwork. It's also hinged at the top so one put the artwork on a display easel in the office or boardroom and then lifts up the protective cover to fold onto the back. You can still see through the vellum and identify what artwork you have.

Oh vellum would be really nice.

I really want to go for a "soft" feel.

I typically boarder my work so it looks matted when printed. I could probably flush mount it and cover it .....

That would reduce the initial cost of putting it together and solve some of the inconsistency problem...

Ug!

So many things to think about.

The vellum is quite erasable with an art gum bag eraser to keep it clean. It is the traditional cover for board artwork. It was one of the first things we had to learn in commercial art class! It was on the art itself without any mats. You could not turn in an advertising art design without the vellum cover.

I never had any difficulty with it, though you are quite correct that vellum would do better. I mentioned tissue paper since it was what I used in college as a cheaper equivalent to vellum.

Yes, vellum is not cheap but I think MisterArt has a really good price on it. If you join their "price club," it's really cheaper than even my local discount art store. We have three major discount art stores in Orange County. Sterling Art is the best set-up and I think they sell on the internet.

http://www.sterlingart.com/

Thank you both so much for your help! I feel like I'm starting to get a handle on this.