Graduate Portfolio Requirements
The artwork submitted in the application should demonstrate original thinking and should be a reflection of yourself and how you view the world. Edit your work. Quality is more important than quantity. Work completed within the last two years is usually the strongest. Portfolios should be submitted at ccsmfa.slideroom.com, separately from your online application (Note: there is a $18 fee). If it is not possible for you to upload your work, you may request an online portfolio review.
Portfolio Requirements by Program
Color & Materials Design
Portfolios may display examples of work and experiences from a range of undergraduate disciplines, including but not limited to Architecture, Crafts, Fashion, Fine Arts, Illustration, Interior Design, Industrial or Product Design, Photography, Textiles and Transportation Design.
Applicants to Color & Materials Design should include a minimum of six projects in their portfolio, including academic, personal and professional work. Submit a variety of work that shares the breadth of your skills, however seemingly unrelated to color and materials design.
Portfolios should show use of Adobe Creative Suite, specifically Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and additionally, any rendering software if those skills are established.
We look for work that demonstrates:
- A strong interest in color, materials and finish [CMF] design in conjunction with providing insight into your individual work
- The use of CMF design to make aesthetic selections that express the functional and emotional attributes of products, artifacts or experiences
- Both research and making practices e.g. hand skills including drawing, model-making and prototyping, evidence of construction and making
- Good organization and design in presenting ideas and concepts
- Engagement with sustainability and human-centered design methods in developing relevant ideas
- Material based innovation
- The ability to write and communicate in English at a professional level
- The ability to work in interdisciplinary teams, e.g. group projects and collaborations. (Please see below regarding Submission of Collaborative Projects)
Transportation Design
Upload items that communicate your technical and design expertise and problem-solving skills. NOTE: It is required that applicants for the Transportation Design program include a significant number of original sketches in their portfolio submission and/or an additional sketchbook.
- Your portfolio should include a minimum of 3-4 design projects including academic, personal and professional.
- All projects must have a clear representation of the phases of the design process – including your project brief, research, target market development, concept ideation, development and final renderings and models – presented in a fluid, clear, systematic manner that is graphically composed.
- All projects should be collectively presented in / submitted as a single PDF.
- Submissions should demonstrate your technical creative skills including freehand sketching in accurate perspective, use of 2D rendering and 3D modeling and rendering software such as Photoshop, Alias, Blender, ZBrush etc.
- Include a significant amount of original process sketches and/or a separate sketch book as a PDF attachment in SlideRoom.
- The portfolio should reveal a high level of skill in critical thinking, creative conceptualization, overall project development, and visual communication of this development as well as final design results.
- All project design work presented in your portfolio should be exclusively created by you unless otherwise noted. (Creative work from another student participating in a group project with you should be clearly identified as not your work. However, research & inspiration imagery/video/animations do not need to be identified if it is evident they are not your work.)
User Experience Design
The graduate studies program in User Experience (UX) Design seeks students with the maturity and discipline to engage in an intensive, two-year commitment to prepare for a fulfilling career. Candidate’s submissions will be reviewed for clarity of intentions, structure of thinking, and demonstration of discipline and process. Critical thinking, curiosity, and creativity are essential. Point-of-view about user experiences and interaction design and self-awareness as to career aspirations, which may not be fully formed, are also important.
We look for work that demonstrates:
- Portfolios and/or other forms of evidence such as dissertations and thesis projects, may display experience from a wide range of domains, including but not limited to interaction design, product design, industrial design, interior design and architecture, software design, and graphic design; even expertise in engineering, computing, technology, psychology, social sciences, and humanities are welcome. However, they must reflect one or more of the following:
- Design skills: user research, conceptual organization, disciplined process
Systems skills: holistic viewpoints and systemic modeling in order to understand complex situations and needs, and to design for their improvement. - Technical skills: evidence of manual dexterity, whether in physical materials, software interfaces, or human interactions, including iteration, refinement, and convergence toward the exploration of ideas.
- Visual thinking skills: evidence of the ability to visualize ideas and systems, and prototyping using images, plans, diagrams, and physical models.
- Technological awareness: Familiarity with new and emerging technologies in AI, AR, robotics, HMI, HCI and mobility systems.
- Design skills: user research, conceptual organization, disciplined process
- Applicants from non-traditional design and visual arts backgrounds will need to develop competency in Adobe® visualization software (Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign) before commencing the program.
- Added consideration will be given to applicants who possess one or more of the following optional skills:
- Professional experience with design or implementation teams in any of the domains previously mentioned;
- Empathy for social, economic, and global challenges, including but not limited to energy, natural resources, income disparity, and social justice;
- Implementation of web, app, or other general coding skills for front-end, back-end, platforms, cloud, and APIs;
- Proficiency in toolsets for 2D, 3D, animation, and prototyping of all kinds.
Portfolio Best Practices
Check this list to avoid portfolio pitfalls before your submission.
- Please do not include drawings of existing or famous characters anime or cartoon or game characters, create original characters instead.
- If you are submitting a sketch, be sure that the sketch is a strong representation of your skill and ideas, and has a strong composition, movement, line quality, etc.
- Don’t shoot all your photographs in one day or one session to create all the pieces for your portfolio; instead, show us how you use photography over time to document a unique perspective of the world around you.
- When recording and editing sound, double-check your volume levels.
- Supplemental written-word creative work can be submitted but it will not complete the visual art portfolio requirements detailed above
- If you are going to link to a Google folder to share your work, make certain the Share Setting is “Anyone with the link” can view it since we have a team of people who may need to access it.
Chat with the Chairs
Connect with the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research or a Program Chair to learn more about a specific program and CCS.