Chewing Pencils

Tip 4: Develop a Folio

Sometimes this feels like the only link we have left with traditional cartooning. There’s just no way around it - you HAVE to have a folio. But how that folio is presented has changed dramatically. When I originally wrote this post, it seemed that the big black folio was still the way to go. Editors seemed to like to see things they could touch and hold.

But in the time since I first wrote this post, there has been a multitude of websites that will host an online folio for you. Some charge a small amount, others are free. Plus, things like small laptops, light weight picture viewers and even portable dvd players have all meant more convenient ways of showing your work to potential clients.

Have a read through and let me know if there’s any other methods you’ve been using to present your folio to clients.

It is a simple fact that nobody will hire you unless they can see the sort of work you do. Developing a folio gives you the opportunity to show off a bit and tell the world, or at least a potential client, what you are capable of. It communicates how well you can communicate a message, what sort of style you have, the sorts of characters you use and, ultimately, whether you are suitable for the particular job a client has in mind.

Before offering some tips on how to get a folio together, there are a few things you should not when it comes to folios.

Do not collect everything you have ever done and stuff it in your folio. If you do, you won’t be able to carry it and a potential client won’t be bothered reading it. If you can carry it, you need to do more work.

Do not put your folio together and think it’s done. A folio is not static, but changes depending on the client, the business they’re in and the type of project they have.

Do not confine it to the physical. Most cartoonists will have a big black folder thing that they have dragged around the city looking for work. There is still a place for this, but a folio must now be in digital form on the web.

Do not rely on your folio alone to get you work. While this may happen occasionally, the folio is only part of the marketing process you will need to employ to be successful.

With those things in mind, here are a few tips to remember when getting your folio together:

1. It is essential that you present your folio well. Hours and hours of work is spent getting your art ‘just right’ but it can be wasted if it is not presented properly. Uncluttered, with one large piece per page or perhaps 2 - 3 smaller ones is plenty. Don’t try and squeeze as much as you can into every square inch of page.

2. Choose a variety of work that represents your style. Include both colour and b/w if you can, as well as examples of the different disciplines of cartooning (strips, single panel etc)

3. Keeping point 2 in mind, it is equally important to choose work that will appeal to the client to whom you are presenting. What you show to a large oil corporation’s marketing department will be different to what you present to a local environmental group. Think about the sorts of things that will not only appeal to the client, but to their customers as well.

4. Update your folio regularly. Turning up to an interview with work that is ten years old does not look good. Projects that you’ve recently completed for other clients should be included. This sends the message that your services are ‘in demand’.

5. Have an online version that a client can refer to after you have left, or that clients from around the world can browse. By necessity, this version of your folio will be much more general, but it should still be well presented and updated regularly.

6. Ask for feedback. Don’t walk away from any interview wondering what the client thought. Ask them what they think of your work and what they think of your folio. This feedback is invaluable.

7. For your physical folio, avoid using originals. They can be easily damaged and often the plastic envelop style pages used in some folios can cause the work to fade. Use reproductions wherever possible.

8. Include good examples of letters of recommendation to let potential clients know you are good to work with.

Thus, a folio is a dynamic collection of your best work, that showcases the scope of your style through examples of work for previous clients and personal interest. It takes a lot of work to get it together and to maintain it properly, but there is no other way that somebody will hire you unless they can see what you can do.