FAQ Portfolio Review

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Art Institute of Phoenix's proudest tradition, Portfolio Review, we here at the Dealy News, have covered it at length to really give our readers an idea.

Common Questions:

Q: What is Portfolio Review?

A: Portfolio Review is showcase for graduates to display their work for the public to see. From flat-books to demo reels, the student portfolio is the focal point of this event. The graduates have display boards, computers, TV's and anything else they need to show off their finished body of work. The idea is to celebrate all their accomplishments and open their horizons to potential employers who use this as forum to find new employees. Not only can they display their work, but they can also pass out their business cards and resumes to anyone who wants one. It is the perfect way to their name out.

Q:Who gets to participate?

A: The participants are the current graduates of AiPX. This is their time to shine. The usual crowd that attends are employers, staff, faculty, current students, other graduates, family, friends, and any interested passer by who wants to see what the Art Institute grads have to offer.

Q: What steps are taken in order be eligible for portfolio review?

A: Each major has to go through their own version of what we call Grad Jury. Each student is brought in front of a panel of employers and faculty that judge their senior projects as well as their portfolios in order to determine whether or not they are fully prepared for the showcase.

I had the pleasure of attending the Advertising Grad Jury, in which Elena Lozano and Lindsey Klies who had to present their senior projects which were a campaign for Binge Drinking awareness. Both did a phenomenal job with their unique delivery style and poise. They showed of their Advertising talents and proved to everyone, including themselves that they were prepared for the world.

Q: What are the benefits for the graduates who participate in Portfolio Review?

A: The best part is the number of employers that come in to see the graduates' work. They get to talk face to face with their potential job holders as well as let them witness at that they have to offer.

There is a little insight into portfolio. We will be posting videos of the whole thing with interviews from the students, employers and faculty. Stay tuned. It's coming to you SOON.

Enter the Vlogger

Allow me to reintroduce myself, I am Michelle and this is the start of the Dealy Vlog. For those of you who 

don't know what exactly a "vlog" is, it's a video log. I really wanted to start doing this due to the current trend and the fact that my good friend/fellow Dealy writer Josh is constantly entertaining us with his hiking updates.After seeing his take on "Phoenix Design" I felt it best for the Dealy to get in on the action. We are going 

to be at portfolio this quarter with our own Dealy booth, showcasing all that Ai has to offer. This will 

enable the world to see first hand as we update the Dealy with live video feeds. We are now on Youtube, so 

if the mood strikes our awesome Dealy Dozen can vlog as well. 

With that said here is our first Dealy vlog, subject: Direct Mail

(there is a tiny audio hick-up, just fyi)

So as advertisers we look to direct mail as an ad solution. Featured in this vlog is Ai Phoenix's direct mail 

campaign for their new photography major. While I do know how direct mail works, I would like to know the 

selection process being that my roommate didn't receive a piece and I did. So PLEASE give us feedback. 

Let us know if you got one and we can try and understand the targeting process better. I will be speaking to 

Ted, our marketing/PR guy at Ai to see if he can shed some light on it.

Pure fruit for thought

A Retailer That's Big on Design

For those of you that know me, I'm always talking about OfficeMax, mostly because it's my job. But one of the biggest things I love about OfficeMax is the beautifully designed campaign that they have. It's like Target; when compared to Wal-Mart, Target stands out as a better designed, better looking business. Officemax is that way when compared to places like Staples or Office Depot.

Part of the Officemax campaign is to focus on women in today's business world. This is a huge market and explains why a lot of their products at Officemax look more or less like something a woman would have. Divoga is one of the biggest product lines right now at Officemax, and that's heavily influenced by the female market. Divoga, by the way, is actually an Officemax brand sold ONLY at Officemax.

From the signage, to the flyers, to the price tags, Officemax is big on good design. Some of the older stores are still going through the transition, but ones like Arrowhead and Tempe Marketplace have already been remodeled with the new campaign. Above is a taste of the Officemax look. It's the MaxPerks Rewards card that you can sign up for to redeem giftcards, coupons and extra savings. The "packet" of information is beautifully designed with floral varnish, bright yellow (Omax colors) and my favorite, the "black on black" envelope inside with an amazing floral design. The cards inside are on a heavy 100lb stock and the actual rewards card itself carries on the look.

Click the image above to look at a bigger view. I love it when retail stores focus on looks and quality products, not cheap prices. Officemax is one of them. I'll be on the look out for some more big retailers who have an amazing campaign.

Nerd Alert!

So my good friend Tiberius has shown me some light on my design world, Pipette it is a handy utility for digital artists and web designers. It allows you to quickly and easily grab the color of any pixel on the screen and copy it in hex format, as used in CSS files, or in paint programs, such as Adobe products. Pretty much if we see a color on screen that we just have to use instead of going in the color palette and spending time searching for that right color we can use Pipette and get the hex# for that specific color. I love and use it all the time now! "And best of all, Pipette is completely FREE!" They have other stuff like Shades which lets you control the brightness of both screens! Thanks Tiberius!