Putting designs from an internship/job in portfolio

[Brian Farkas]

Hi All, I have a question I'd like your opinion on... What are your views on putting designs or pieces made while in an internship or job in your portfolio? Let's say you make or contribute to a design while employed by a design firm... What cases would it be acceptable to include this work in your portfolio:
1. If you designed the whole piece from start to finish
2. If you contributed to the piece in any way (and noted what your contribution was)

I ask because I was employed in a web/graphic design firm some years ago, and haven't really put any of the web sites or user interfaces I worked on there in my portfolio... I guess this is because I felt other people were responsible for a lot of the work going into it, as well, and that it was really property of the company more than myself.

So I'm wondering what your opinions are on where the line is drawn? What gets included in your portfolio, (if anything), and what doesn't?

Thanks!

Brian

[Ghastly]

In my opinion it should depend on the extent to which your involvement affected the overall piece. If the boss just told you to put a customer supplied logo at the top centre of a letterhead, then personally I think you should leave it out. If it was you that devised and created the logo before someone else took the reigns then include it but be sure to explain exactly what your involvement was.

(I suppose you could just lie and say you did the whole damned thing, but I have no respect for people who take all the credit for work that is not their own. I would urge you strongly not to do this)

[morea]

I only use pieces that I have personally designed in my portfolio... but I also include a small write up of what the customer requested, what - if anything - they supplied, and a brief description of what I did to create the finished piece and why.

[Patrick Shannon]

As Ghastly said, really depends on the situation. If you felt you contributed a huge part to that design, then you should simply be upfront that you were a component of a design. This isn't always bad, it can show you work well with others, but so long as you admit to it.

One piece in my portfolio I did the layout and set it up from provided graphics from the St. Louis Marriott Hotel, but corporate headquarters has really strict rules and guidelines to follow so I was simply following directions. But I still put it into my portfolio because it turned out great, and in the description I mentioned that it shows my ability to follow instructions and specs perfectly. I also injected a little humor by mentioning that following the completion of the project, I found out that Marriott had Quark files all along (which is true).

[Hendo]

I agree with the choir... depends on your involvement. I recreate designs that are low resolution to high resolution. I usually have to do a lot of redesigning so it actually turns into my own design. BUT the concept wasn't mine. Sometimes to help move forward you have to show that you can do this kind of work, so include some designs to show that you can perform in Photoshop or Illustrator.

[GreenThumb]

This is a tricky situation. Our industry does have a double standard in that if -lets say- you are a copywriter and write tremendous copy but place it on a poorly designed piece---I would be more likely to skip past it.

However, if you are a copywriter who teams up with an Art Director and then does some good work--Id be more likely to look through your portfolio.

Weigh your options and contributions to each particular piece. If you think that the ad loses its wow factor without your contribution then its worth including in your portfolio. But, make sure that you include everyone's name somewhere in your portfolio ie the people who worked on the project and what your specific role was.