Monday, September 14, 2009

Leave Behind Your Criteria

I've been so delinquent in my blog posts, I almost feel criminal. It's funny how that happens. You get so wrapped up in being 'active' at all times that it feels weird to step away. You wonder what it is you may be missing or what you're leaving behind.

But a leave-behind was exactly what I was aiming to do as I've been productive designing one - you know a 'leave-behind' portfolio?

When I first thought of designing one I had no rules, boundaries, or limitations. Creative freedom right? Errrr! Wrong! At least for this project so I thought it best to write out a quick creative brief on what I wanted to achieve with this leave-behind piece. I designed a mock-up last night and have a few more pieces that I might want to include in the final package.

Now that I have some ideas, maybe my reading audience would like to outline some criteria for me too, just as if you were my client, and I'll incorporate them into this project. Not only would it be interesting to see what everyone has to add but it would challenge me to come up with something really creative and fun. The criteria can be related to function or form.

Here's a quick description of a leave-behind portfolio:

A leave-behind as the name suggests, is a part or sampling of a portfolio that is left with a potential employer or exhibitor after a meeting or interview. Leave-behinds can be anything from brochures, self-promotional flyers, creative packages with key portfolio elements, or printed images. Some leave-behinds are more elaborate and interactive, depending on time and budget allowances, such as an interactive and custom designed and packaged CD or DVD or a nicely printed color brochure with pockets for accompanying CDs and business card.

Leave-behinds are typically used in advertising, design, photography and fine art, and is most often a single printed piece that depicts either a single piece from the portfolio or a collage of several portfolio pieces.

The goal of a leave-behind is to help the interviewer(s) remember the candidate and his/her work in the days follow the meeting and/or spark more interest from a potential employer or client one meets briefly in an elevator or at a party, for example. It also works in the same way a business card does, providing contact information to follow-up with.

As an alternative, a leave-behind is sometimes mailed to the potential client, employer, or interviewer(s) as opposed to physically leaving work with them.


So...give me one guideline for this leave-behind project based on what you see here.
Leave your comment below.

2 comments:

Clifton Mominee said...

I know that a lot of people are looking at the cd/dvd option. It can be very flashy and interactive... something new to the client/interviewer. The two things that concern me about something like that is 1) a dvd or cd requires the person receiving it to be near the right equipment to view the leave-behind, which might not always be the case. 2) There is always a chance that your cd/dvd wont work properly and that negates the effectiveness of a leave-behind. A brochure/pamphlet (something in print) can always be easily attached to a resume as a quick way for the interviewer to see your work and your resume at the same time.

Amanda said...

Great point :)

Post a Comment