Artist portfolios, regardless of the artist’s preferred medium, can mean a lot in sales. Sometimes called “Press Kits”, what it comes down to is that it’s a package of materials all about you and your product(s).
In its most basic form, it could be contained in a folder or notebook but most artists (who are already focused on aesthetically pleasing, professional things!) prefer the route of a disc.
This quick guide will show you what should be contained on your disc, and how to take your portfolio from basic HTML to a professional CD or DVD that will run automatically when placed in a computer.
The Portfolio or Press Kit Contents
Even before you start putting “stuff” in HTML, you’ll want to have all the things together so that the process is as smooth and painless as possible. These are the basic ingredients that will make for a truly informative portfolio/press kit:
*Your Biography – brief but detailed, more detailed than a standard resume.
*Your Artist’s Statement – basically, a statement of what you aim to achieve with your work and why you do the work in the first place.
*Press Release – you can write this yourself if you use a template to guide you along. There’s a great free one here: http://www.press-release-writing.com/press-release-template.htm
*Photos – make sure you use high-resolution, full-color photos of your work. If you have Photoshop, consider using the gallery creation wizard to help you along once you’ve got all your photos together.
*Testimonials – get some great comments together from the people/places you sell your work to. This is stuff you want the world to see.
If you would like to create a version that can be sent to buyers of your work, you can also include things like a catalog or product list. Basically, you’ll want to cover the elements above – no exceptions – and then think about anything “extra” that you want the world to know about you.
The Portfolio or Press Kit HTML
Your next step can be a dream-come-true or a total nightmare, depending on how much you like the idea of designing a website.
If you’re the type (like myself) who totally digs the process of website design for no reason other than that it is artistic expression in a completely different medium than what people would think of art as being, definitely dig in and try to design some basic HTML pages for yourself. Keep the layout clean – it doesn’t need to be nearly as detailed as an online website – and think of it more as a book. Make sure that users can easily get from one page to the next. And keep it themed tightly to your product colors and styles.
If you’re the type who can’t stand the idea of creating your own HTML, don’t panic. You can go one of two ways with this. Either you can buy your own website template that is ready to plug your photos and text into, or you can hire a designer to make one for you. Again, make sure that you look specifically for something that is very clean, not cluttered, and keeps in mind the idea of a traditional “book” portfolio rather than a media-driven website.
Making the AutoRun CD or DVD
If you’re just reading through this guide and starting to panic on what seems like a lot of work – take a breath and relax. It seems like a lot of work, sure. But once you get started, you’ll realize that you have most of the components you need anyways. The only part that might take some time is putting it all in HTML format.
Of all the steps, this one is (ironically) the easiest and quickest to do. Here’s how to make your CD or DVD autorun:
1. Download these autorun files provided free of charge by the SoftwarePatch – http://www.softwarepatch.com/tips/autorundownload.html
2. Now, you’ll need to assemble your files. If you’ve gone through and made the HTML, your files will already be assembled. The only thing left is for you to drop the contents of the autorun download into your HTML folder. Make sure that you copy over only the autorun.bat and autorun.inf files – not the folder that they’re in.
3. If your main HTML page is already named “index.html”, you’re set to go – burn your CD or DVD and try it out. It will pull up your portfolio/press kit all by itself!
4. If you need to make changes, here’s what you can do: Open NotePad, and from it click “File”, choose “Open”, and locate the autorun.bat file. In here, there are a couple things you can change. First, you can change the brief message that appears when the CD loads. It is the first line after @echo. You could change it to …
@echo Lolaness’ Press Kit is Loading Now…
The other thing that you can change is what file will be opened once the disc loads. Currently, this line reads @start index.html. You could change that to the name of the home page you’ve created in your HTML, a readme text file, or anything else you want to appear first.
Do not make any other changes to the autorun.bat, or it will not work right.
Once you’re done making the changes, save the file and burn your disc.
Easy stuff, right?
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