Purchase the highest quality portfolio binder that you can afford. Your binder is your first impression and should be free of marks, staples or glues. It should be easy to open and have no broken zippers. Make sure that it has enough room to hold your entire portfolio without bunching or bulging. Do not oversize the portfolio. Artwork might require a large binder. If you are only using photos, size your binder so that it does not appear so large as to make your work look insufficient and incomplete. Choose a ringed binder that allows you to mount photos and art on cardboard sheets that you will hole punch, cover in plastic sheets and add to the binder as pages.
Write a letter of introduction, center mount it and glue it to a cardboard sheet. Hole punch and place this page at the beginning of the portfolio. This letter should give the review committee information about your development as an artist and your artistic goals. It also should include a brief description of the work that is presented in the portfolio. Never assume that your reviewer will understand abstract meanings in your work. Lay this information out for them in clear terms.
Create an inventory sheet to place after the introduction. Glue this on its own hole-punched cardboard sheet. The inventory sheet serves as a table of contents for the upcoming art pieces and should be well-organized and neat. It should contain the order of presentation and brief information on each object in the portfolio. Information should include photo numbers, transparency photo slide information, titles and dates produced. Also include the type of media of the piece. For example, it might be a kodaochrome slide or DVD. Be specific.
Choose your best work to present in the portfolio. Avoid confusion by carefully deciding on themes for your work and present them one at at time. Using one theme at a time will guide the reviewer to see the concepts present in your best work. It doesn't matter if you use multiple media such as art, photos and DVDs or multiple themes. Use no more than 20 pieces total as reviewers have many to go through and expect a representative of your work, not a total presentation.
Attach all pieces to the binder rings. All pieces should be in finished form. Art pieces should be attached, cleanly glued and centered on cardboard presentation sheets. These will then be hole-punched and placed in the order of the inventory page. Transparency photo slides should be in hole-punched presentation sheets and DVDs should be in clear, hole-punched plastic sleeves made for DVDs. Never put work in the portfolio that does not have some form of professional presentation. Make sure that your presentation sheets are free of fingerprints and marks.
Add a professional and typed label on each piece in the portfolio. Glue these labels to the corner of each cardboard sheet. This is not a descriptive label. Keep it brief. Only include the name of the piece and basic information on the media format. Maintain consistency and use the same words from the inventory sheet. Do not change the description. Instead, shorten the amount of information given.