Call me crazy, but I don't take promote myself with collaborative work. If a collaborative piece turns out strong, I may include it in the back of my portfolio but I make the focus of what I present is based on what my strengths are... and I would expect the same from people I interview.

Surprisingly, this was an issue last year when we were hiring a new designer. We interviewed lots of people and we were turned off during interviews whenever individuals' portfolios contained more or less completely collaborative stuff. It really gives you no sense (as a potential employer) of what you're possibly in line to get.

>And then there is the hyper-sensitive issue of taking clients with you, or having dealings of any kind with clients associated with your previous position. Do you have a policy? Would you/have you offered to do work for former clients? What if they call you with work?

i think its pretty standard these days to have included in an employment contract a clause stating that the employee cannot work for any clients for a certain amount of time after terminating that contract.

I would also shy away from showing work that is primarily collaborative. Except in a situation where one was showing something specific, like saying they did all of the illustration in that project.

>showing work from other clients?

isn't that ALL of your other work? Aside from personal projects I suppose. One thing that surprises many designers, or any creative, is that they do not automatically have the right to put work they do for their employer into their portfolios. Most employers do not care, but it could end up being an issue. It would almost certainly be best to ask.

How do you handle showing work you did while working for someone else?

I show it. It's fine to show in terms of helping yourself find new employment (including freelance gigs). Some firms will encourage you to sign an agreement that will forbid you from showing work you completed there as part of a new company's portfolio (preventing you from immediately quitting and starting your own firm using their work).

Do you feel obliged to explain what specifically was your role on a project?

If it makes me look better, sure.

If they don't ask, you don't tell?

That policy can work in all sorts of situations in life. ;o)

What if they call you with work?

If they call you, that's typically outside the realm of any contract you may have signed. The typical wording prohibits you from soliciting their clients, not the other way around.

A contract is a contract, but some of these anti-competitive contracts have been thrown out in court. If it's a big enough gig, I'd certainly consider taking it, but maybe checking with a lawyer before hand.

Depending on the job I'm interviewing for, I'll be more or less detailed on my role in each project. Since I was with my last employer for over 5 years, and was promoted several times, my roles have ranged from simply being the designer to managing the design team and presenting work to the client.

I have one project, for example, where I did not design the identity, but I did design a good portion of the graphics around it, and I was the client contact and design director. The whole project was very collaborative. I didn't design the signage system, but I did suggest a certain feature tht was included. I won't shy away from pointing out my contributions.

As a freelancer, it is often only important what I myself designed, so I typically explain if I didn't design a part of a project. Maintaining personal ethics is very important to me, and I wouldn't think of claiming someone else's efforts as my own.

One thing that surprises many designers, or any creative, is that they do not automatically have the right to put work they do for their employer into their portfolios.

I'm certainly not a lawyer, but my understanding that is the creator always has a right to show the work in their portfolio unless there was a contract signed that states otherwise.

Unless there's a contract, I think it's not a matter of having the right to show work in a legal sense, because there is no law about showing work per se. The law would cover a contract if such a contract existed, and be a matter of contract law.

I think it's trickiest for a designer looking for their second job. They might still have student work in their portfolio, but they might not have had enough autonomy at their first job to produce work predominately their own. Joy, your perspective from the hiring side of the fence is very interesting, and I think I would feel the same way in your position.

>Unless there's a contract, I think it's not a matter of having the right to show work in a legal sense, because there is no law about showing work per se. The law would cover a contract if such a contract existed, and be a matter of contract law.

It's all a matter of ownership. If you do work without a contract you are taking a real gamble on who a court would decide 'owns' the product. The only way to be sure of what rights you, and what rights your client, have over your artwork / content / whatever is to establish that in writing before hand. The following article at A List Apart is pretty interesting, even though it is written with websites in mind. http://www.alistapart.com/stories/contract/

Another thing to bear in mind is that the design world is a very insular and small community. If you claim (or neglect to state) work in a collaborative project that you did not do, there is a fair chance that it will come back to haunt you. The same goes for showing work. It's best to make sure that your previous employer is ok with you showing work that you did while employed by them. Of course, exceptions always exist.

trickiest for a designer looking for their second job

Because I so disliked my first job, and felt that I didn't like much of the work I did over that year, I shopped for my second job primarily with my student book. I did supplement it with some printouts of more recent work — to show that I could manage out of school — but I wanted the emphasis still on the quality and style of work I did in school. The best response came from the CD who hired me: "There's a lot I don't see in your book, but you'll pick that up here."

A side question: at what point is student work just not viable in your portfolio? I'd offer 2-3 years max. At that point, you should have enough work to comprise a book with 10 good samples, and probably more, if you include exploratory and sketches. After that time period, I begin to wonder why you aren't producing the same quality work in "the real world" and would have reservations about hiring you.

Brook...it's not an issue of who owns the work in question, it's an issue as to whether or not you can show it in your portfolio. My understanding is that unless there is an explicit contract stating otherwise, you always have a right to show it as a sample of your work in your own portfolio. (And note, that's just my understanding combined with a bit of advice from a lawyer...)

But, yea, it certainly wouldn't hurt to put specific wording in your contract that says that.

Here's from the AIGA "Design and Business Ethics" booklet (for what it's worth):

Publicity

Any self-promotion, advertising or publicity must not contain deliberate misstatements of competence, experience or professional capabilities. It must be fair both to clients and other designers.

Authorship

A designer shall not claim sole credit for a design on which other designers have collaborated. When not the sole author of a design, it is incumbent upon a designer to clearly identify his or her specific responsibilities or involvement with the design. Examples of such work may not be used for publicity, display or portfolio samples without clear identification of precise areas of authorship.

I once heard ethics defined as "adherence to the unenforceable" which certainly applies in this case. My feeling is, I show what I need to while being fully honest about what is my work and what's not. But there's no real advantage is showing work that isn't solely, or 95% my idea and execution.

But there's no real advantage is showing work that isn't solely, or 95% my idea and execution.

I suppose it depends on the type of firm. I prefer working in environments where people collaborate on each project. I've found that typically produces better work faster than sending individuals off into their own little corners.

But, again, maybe that's because I come from more of a web background, where collaboration is critical for the success of a project.

But there's no real advantage in showing work that isn't solely, or 95% my idea and execution.

Again, this is really job related. If I'm interviewing for a design director or creative director position, where I'm more managing a team of designers and less hands on, then my role in getting others to produce great work is very important, whereas the actual design I've done is less so.

Perhaps to expand on Jon's comment - when interviewing candidates for a postion, generally I would look for their ability to collaborate with others, and if need be, to be client facing.

Whilst ideas are a big portion of a designer's currency, being smart, presentable and having experience also add up considerably.

A lot of the time, when I would need to hire candidate, their book, or CV would get them through the door, and after that I would largely disregard their work and talk to them/interview them without referring to it.

I looked for someone who generally could think on the spot, take me through their thoughts, introduce ideas - even if silly, and were comfortable doing this without having any preparation. It would be taken as read, that if the candidate had come this far, they had the skills to execute on their concepts and ideas.

but I hasten to add - that this wasn't for every role - there are some roles that demand a high level of commitment to production work and development, where showing work you actually executed was vital.

>at what point is student work just not viable in your portfolio? I'd offer 2-3 years max.

That second job is one of the hardest and most awkward. Add to that that your first job is usually a weird experience and you don't get enough work because you are so busy making mock ups of senior designers' work.

In my case I was able to get some good pieces from m1. A lot of it was "conceptual" or work that was finished but never payed for. I did show that work and I did mention that it was either conceptual or bankrupt in the interviews.

>But there's no real advantage is showing work that isn't solely, or 95% my idea and execution.

I also did a lot of "production bitch" work at m1 and I never mentioned those projects. Yes, they show what a great team player I was, but they were not my ideas or my executions so I didn't want to take responsability from other designer's work. Plus, "production bitch" is not something I wanted to be known for.

> I prefer working in environments where people collaborate on each project. I've found that typically produces better work faster than sending individuals off into their own little corners.

I don't disagree with your notion Darrel but I, personally, like going to my corner. Specially at the beginning of a concept or when I start developing ideas graphically, I just need to get into it myself and hash out all the details in my head. I'm not saying I'm a bad team player or anything, but if you give me the option, I'll choose to go to my corner 9 times out of 10.

Would you/have you offered to do work for former clients?

yes. yes.

What if they call you with work?

take it unless you worked for a vindictive shit of the "you'll never work in this town again" school of thought.

interesting story: once upon a time, while under a former employer, i did a very nice magazine cover for a very high-profile technology rag. at that point, said employer knew i was leaving. while he was away on business, i completed the image in a very different direction from originally stated because the client didn't like the initial direction. it essentially became my piece as the originator, said former employer, was unreachable for direction. the final piece was wildly successful.

when sending final files to the magazine, former employer tried (unsuccessfully) to gracefully tell me he didn't want my name in the credit as he knew he wouldn't be able to turn a future profit from my skills.

i, of course, freaked out. we had a huge argument. i left the job pissed off. i turned right around and 1) continued to work for the client and 2) used the piece to promote myself and get new work.

as far as i'm concerned, if my voice is visible in the work i fucking well am going to promote with it. business is neither gentlemanly nor generous. those employers who emphasize their generosity will always be the first to attempt to fuck you over. there is always someone, especially former employers, willing to make time on your reputation. i've watched it happen with two former employers to date while laboring under the misconception that they actually gave a shit about their own integrity. it will not happen any more.

How does someone go about showing work that is primarily programming or website development?

I am in a situation where my role has changed from production bitch/designer to flash/actionscript bitch. I can not see showing work where I played a supporting design or production role, but my new role as programmer/developer seems more specialized.

I have given static ideas their movement. Some of the was my conception, some of it conceived through a back and forth process that takes place between the cd and me. I feel my "voice is visible" in the work now.

If "the clear identification of precise areas of authorship" is put forth in the writing or what is said about the work in an interview, does that mean it's to my advantage that the work is high-quality visual design? Given that I am not taking credit or trying to get work based on the design.

On the other side is my desire for graphic design work. The work represented here is more personal or it is comprised of concepts that were not choosen by the client as the final direction. Here is where the work is 100%.

thanks for the all great information and opinions on this subject.

Whilst ideas are a big portion of a designer's currency, being smart, presentable and having experience also add up considerably.

that's very encouraging.

>I have given static ideas their movement. Some of the was my conception, some of it conceived through a back and forth process that takes place between the cd and me. I feel my "voice is visible" in the work now.

Well, I think you have to ask yourself what you want to do at your next job, if you feel comfortable and happy being a flash designer and giving other people's ideas movement then you should have no problem in saying "flash was my contribution to this project" and it would be very valid, because a lot of designers can't think in terms of time and movement (even if they think they do) and you bring something valuable to the team.

>On the other side is my desire for graphic design work.

Therein lies the problem. You can be a flash designer, a flash programmer or both, it all depends how you present yourself like Damien said.

Here is a separate question for everybody: do you ever show personal, non-client projects in interviews? I did once and it was well received by some and not so well received by others. In one instance it almost landed me a dream job and in the next one I got lectured.

>business is neither gentlemanly nor generous.

Good piece of advice Patric. Thanks for sharing your experience. It just goes to show you that when money and reputation are involved people can turn ugly.

do you ever show personal, non-client projects in interviews?

I'd be interested in hearing more of the reasoning behind the negative lecture you got on this.

I think showing this type of work can be very valuable, especially if it's very different than your client work. It shows a range of styles and the depth of your creative talent. Your clients may all be financial corporations, thus driving the work to look a certain way. If I then saw some non-client pieces that were, say, music CD's (and they were well designed - this is important!) then I would trust that you could fit fairly well into most design situations.

>I'd be interested in hearing more of the reasoning behind the negative lecture you got on this.

It was based on something about the real world and my project not having relevance. It was an interview I should not have gone too in the first place, so I was probably asking for it.

do you ever show personal, non-client projects in interviews?

Yes, obviously if applicable - I was most proud of a personal site I had done, both because of the coding, but the design - and generally show it if people don't mind the intoduction into my personal life. It can also show, that even outside of project management, client imposed deadlines, and the work environment - you have the ability to be creative, work on other porjects and complete them.

This site, for instance, would be an example of that.

....the misconception that they actually gave a shit about their own integrity.

amen, pk. i have held some very naive views on the issue of integrity in the past, but it's something that keeping a business perspective can overcome. basically, it's no one else' job to look out for your interests, and when they seem to be looking out for you (or they tell you they are), it's wise to ask yourself what's in it for them. plus, there's nothing wrong with looking out for #1--in fact, it's your job. any smart businessperson will tell you that. and there is integrity in that, and if matters are handled professionally, that's life in the big city.