Liverpool School of Art and Design Portfolio Guidance

Architecture

Your digital portfolio is a selection of work undertaken in your studies as well as any self-motivated work carried out that we can view online.

We typically recommend including 15–20 images of your work that is relevant to the course you have applied for. Typically for Architecture this includes.

  • Drawings from observation, collages, designs
  • Developmental sketches that reveal a conceptual thought process
  • Images and 3D work that reveal an understanding of, composition and proportion
  • Creative digital images and or digital 3D work
  • Any work experience to date

Images should have a title and a short explanation (one sentence is sufficient). Images should be saved as a continuous pdf file.

Interior Architecture

Your digital portfolio is a selection of work undertaken in your studies as well as any self-motivated work carried out that we can view online.

We typically recommend including 15–20 images of your work that is relevant to the course you have applied for. Typically for Interior Architecture this includes.

  • Drawings from observation, collages, designs
  • Developmental sketches that reveal a conceptual thought process
  • Images and 3D work that reveal an understanding of, composition, proportion and colour
  • Creative digital images and or digital 3D work
  • Any work experience to date

Images should have a title and a short explanation (one sentence is sufficient). Images should be saved as a continuous pdf file.

Fashion Design and Communication

Your portfolio will be a collection of drawings, images, documentation that represents your work.

This could include photographic content, written text, graphics and illustrations. It should contain a well-presented collection of work that is creative and imaginative. When compiling your portfolio, you should work where possible with your current teachers at school or college, who know your strengths and can also give you a fresh perspective. The portfolio should give an insight into your work and it is intended to demonstrate your capabilities, personal style and potential.

Tutors want to see your current ideas, practices, methodologies and lines of interest. Ensure you include your best work and annotate each piece, sketchbook or object carefully.

Fine Art

The BA Fine Art course like to see a variety of approaches in portfolios from candidates, including, but not exclusively, painting, sculpture, drawing and photography. The portfolios do not need to contain finalised work and it is often interesting to see work in progress, providing a sense of how candidates are developing work – the process can be as important as outcome. Failure should not be thought about as entirely negative, and it can be useful to see how candidates have resolved work through identifying potential problems. It might be further beneficial to see how candidates have displayed their work and grappled with aspects of presentation and exhibition-making. For example, when considering installation images: websites such as Art Viewer, Contemporary Art Daily, and Frieze are great examples of how work can be professionally documented. Candidates should not be afraid of including research in their portfolios. Research is key and provides your work with context, and this does not need to be restricted to research in visual arts but could also include other aspects of cultural production such as film, music and books for example. The portfolios are only one part of the process. Important to the BA Fine Art course and unlike the application process at some other universities we interview candidates following receipt of portfolios. The interviews give the opportunity for candidates to explain their work and their interests. It is a two-way process however – a chance for candidates to ask questions and to understand if the BA Fine Art course is right for them. 

Graphic Design and Illustration

You have two options for submitting your portfolio: a Digital Portfolio or a Website

Your Digital Portfolio or Website should contain an ordered, consistent and edited selection of your work that reflects you, your thinking, your skills and your ambition. It should showcase your approach, e.g. sketchbooks showing research and development / test pieces as well as your final, completed outcomes. We would like to see examples of your drawing skills and if possible this should include life drawing. Please also include self directed work and/or any work you may have completed as a hobby, freelance, volunteering, etc. For each piece of work please write a short sentence that explains what you did and why.

We will be looking for:

  • Research and development - evidence of how you approach your work from brief to outcome
  • Skills and competencies - evidence of a range of image making skills (particularly drawing) and visual literacy
  • Ambition and motivation - evidence of breadth, depth and problem solving in the approach to projects
  • Creativity and originality - evidence of your thinking and experimentation
  • Clarity and communication - evidence of your ability to select, present and explain your work

Option 1: Digital Portfolio

This should be uploaded as a single PDF file of no more than 20 pages. All text set at 9/10 point size. A useful guide on how to create a PDF from multiple files and files types can be found here.

Option 2: Website

Please make sure that the link to your site is not your admin login. We need the link to your published site, otherwise we won't have access rights. Please do not send sites that require Flash to upload the page. Suitable sites builders are: Cargo Collective, Muse, Wix, Wordpress, Squarespace.