You own your own (process). Why and how to create a process portfolio.

With the plethora of tutorials out there, mastering a vast number of rendering ’styles’ is possible. This is wonderful because it  inherently enriches your skill set but it is possibly insignificant if your competition has mastered all those tutorials as well. So what sets you apart from someone else? It is your own unique process of designing. Therefore, such a thing as a process portfolio is coming into a new vogue and is a tactic that will help illustrate the exact strengths you bring to the table.

What is a process portfolio? It is a mostly visual but somewhat written description of how you solved a problem. It incorporates all those messy sketches and half-finished diagrams that lead to the final design. The key though is in how the process is illustrated, it should be organized in  a clear trajectory from start to finish, not necessarily a straight leap from A to B but a legible refining of ideas.

For some inspiration on the effect process portfolios can have on possible employers, I refer you to a personal account from UX matters by Whitney Hess, “Now, when I have a meeting with a prospective client, I don’t show my resumé and go through the whole chronology of my previous work. A lot of my projects are showcased in my online portfolio, so if they’re curious to see what I’ve done before, they can have a gander. Instead, I focus the discussion on a single project—one that involved a problem that is similar to the one they are facing—and I walk through the process I used to help discover the best solution.

I’ve gotten pretty comfortable doing this spiel. I start off by setting the stage: This is who my previous client was. When we started, these were their goals; their challenges. Then, while I go through each deliverable for the project, I recount the evolution of how I analyzed the problem space, identified the areas of opportunity, and facilitated the planning of a holistic design solution. As I describe how the techniques I used sparked insights that influenced the design, I can see their eyes light up.

Instead of prospective clients’ looking at a wireframe in a portfolio and saying, That’s what I want our site to look like, they start wondering what their process might look like. Convincing clients that they are unique snowflakes who deserve a unique approach is ultimately what will land you the gigs.”

Hess;s experience is in more of a freelance light but for landscape architects applying to jobs or internships a process portfolio centered around a project similar to the scale and content covered by the firm is definitely advantageous, therefore Hess’s approach is applicable.

How to: (being rather new to this as well, this is my own experience which turned out nicely)

1_Outline your Process_write down the order you went in to solve the design problem_did you start with site analysis, a metaphor, a goal, planning analysis? What was the next step? Next? Final representation?

2_Assign Drawings_within the outline assign drawings that illustrate each step_this is especially legible with iterations of one drawing, plan or diagram

3_Identify Points of Problem Solving_this is where you define the significance of the choices you made_it may help to look objectively at the work as a third party_try to be concise and very specific

4_Combine Words and Images_layout the drawings and descriptions in accordance to the structure of the outline

That is the main idea. A process portfolio doesn’t have to be its own body or work either, it could be tucked into your typical portfolio in the middle section as one project illustrated in the manner described above. Below are some pages from a draft of a process portfolio.

Here is the organization_the outline:

A Page from Part 1_drawings accompanied by description_drawings are hand drawn because this was how I started my process

A Page from Part 2_showing a larger scale and complexity of graphics

A Page from Part 3_tying the process to a final plan

Of course, yours will be organized in whichever fashion best demonstrates your clever problem solving, regardless it will make you a more memorable and distinct candidate, for good or for bad.