Every semester, students ask how to assemble a PDF version of their portfolio to print or to email a potential employer. I used to teach Communications students the basics of InDesign just for this purpose. However, Adobe Illustrator’s capacity for multiple Artboards provides a much-appreciated alternative to learning a new application for this one, important [...]

“May I Show You My Portfolio” is one of my favorite posts on Design Observer. I love it because Michael Bierut openly shares work from his early years as a new designer. I love it because I’m a fan of vintage, cardboard portfolio cases. I love it because I believe that the professionals who rise [...]

My favorite section of Malcolm Gladwell’s latest masterpiece, Outliers: The Story of Success, is the second chapter, The 10,000-Hour Rule. Gladwell makes a strong argument for the role of practice in the success of people you have heard of – Bill Gates and the Beatles, and high achievers whose names may be unfamiliar to you. [...]