My Accepted Portfolio For The Best Undergrad Design School

If you're applying to art or design school, you won't want to miss this :) In this video, I cover all the tips and advice that I used to help get me into Central Saint Martins! (the number 1 undergrad art & design school according to QS World Uni Rankings)
My portfolio: bit.ly/VCSummer2020Portfolio
Side note: I tried creating this video using an outline but no script so that's why the video is both so long and so disorganised 😹 I've tried making things a little clearer, hence why there are so many video sections below.
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Video sections:
0:00 Intro
0:41 Montage
0:55 Pt.1 How I planned the portfolio
2:55 2D vs 3D Works
3:56 Pt. 2 How I designed the portfolio
4:07 Inspirations
4:26 Software I Used
4:42 Page Layout
5:12 Project Structure
5:32 Example of project structure
5:54 Guiding the admissions officer
6:04 Another example
6:22 Bolded font to help with structure
7:18 A note about text paragraphs
7:40 Example of page structure
9:02 Timeframe and working consistently
9:30 Tip on how to keep momentum
10:06 Portfolio design
10:26 Example of a page design
10:36 Essential/non-essential info
11:15 Example of using keywords
11:50 Q1 Does it serve a purpose?
12:12 Easter eggs ^-^
12:44 Q2 Is it relevant?
13:16 Example of relevance
13:48 Q3 What type of element is it?
14:15 Example of element categories
14:51 Pt. 3 Feedback and development
15:12 My development
17:22 Structure before & after
17:47 More development
19:38 Who to ask for feedback
20:49 It takes time; don't rush
21:06 Go easy on yourself
21:28 Final closing points
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A video you might want to watch next:
How I Got Into CSM: • How I Got Into The Wor...
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If you're new to the channel, I'm Vicente Cruz. I make videos about design, business and university/student life and tips, so if that's what you're interested in, go ahead and hit that subscribe button, it won't hurt :)
I'm a self-taught graphic designer and I run Vicente Cruz Designs, my own branding design agency (vcruzdesigns.com). I'm also currently studying for a BA in Product and Industrial Design from Central Saint Martins.
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Music (in order):
Jumbo - Alex Skrindo [ • Alex Skrindo - Jumbo |... ]
Infectious - Tobu [ • Video ]
Invincible - DEAF KEV [ • DEAF KEV - Invincible ... ]
A World Away - Inukshuk [ • Inukshuk - A World Awa... ]
Feel Good - Syn Cole [kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2K4fX1vZ8afmqc]
Lune - Y&V [ • Y&V - Lune | Electroni... ]
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Art in the background by @signalnoise (Instagram)
My computer wallpaper: www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/...
Follow me on Instagram: v1c3ntecruz
Follow me on Behance: behance.net/v1c3ntecruz
Follow my 'Designing' playlist: link.tospotify.com/YRQ1GOdLpbb

[@Caylon.]

not a product design student (game design one) but this framework helped me win a scholarship i never thought i would win so thanku !

[@jin-pp6ld]

ur portfolio is SO GOOD

[@miaspiby9820]

Your videos are so useful and informative! I plan on applying to csm next year and you’ve really helped me out. Thank you so much😊

[@angelaxuswl5994]

Keep going!! Honestly this is one of the best KZbin channels out there for me to get into CSM

[@JosephLosper]

I’m really impressed you made your portfolio in keynote haha great job 👼🏻 I go to Chelsea and I’ve made a couple videos about my portfolio/interview but I definitely never thought of using keynote!

[@zkhnart]

This is so useful, thank you for this specific video!

[@claire8620]

I found you from reddit! these videos are so helpful, and its a relief to get such a clear idea of what goes into a portfolio like this. Thanks!

[@VicenteCruz]

Ayy glad to hear that!! Yeah I made this video because other people's portfolio vids didn't give me enough insight into how they actually made them (i.e. decision-making, process, etc etc) so I'm rlly glad it helped!

[@jazzi4349]

Thank you so much for this great and informative video! It was so hard to find a video for a Product Design Portfolio and it really helped me with my application and to get accepted into CSM. Perhaps I’ll see u around on campus this fall :)

[@VicenteCruz]

That's so great to hear, congrats on getting in and see you around!

[@jazzi4349]

Thanks !

[@user-qr6vo8zm3z]

Hi! Firstly, I wanna say this video is very informative and helpful:). Your portfolio looks amazing. Did you upload every single page as a singular image and uploaded to pebblepad or how did you do that if you don’t mind asking?:)

[@marcomargittai7386]

thanks so much! really helpful

[@ArnauRos]

Well done!

[@ysabellaperez3377]

Thank you for this comprehensive video! This concretized my idea for an ID portfolio. I’m still hesitant about the program I should take for college but ID is definitely one of my choices.

[@VicenteCruz]

No problem, glad you found it helpful! :)

[@ysabellaperez3377]

@@VicenteCruz I’m in the 2nd sem of my ID Bachelor’s degree noww~ Just saw your reply and wanted to say tysm! Rewatched ur vid and it’s still vv helpful

[@VicenteCruz]

@@ysabellaperez3377 Awesome, that's defo made my day :) I'm curious, can I see ur portfolio?

[@cultnt8123]

Great portfolio!

[@theeverythingshow6463]

Thanks for helping me make my portfolio

[@VicenteCruz]

No problem! Glad to help :)

[@harshithiyer1240]

Hey! I am a high school student and want to know what all skills I should develop for industrial and product design as I have to work on my portfolio. We only have to product designs in university portfolio or can we put anything? Also I don't know CAD. So should I learn this things now or what should I do?

[@AminYouth.]

HI! Was the product design programme difficult/hard?

[@gustasbutkus6937]

Thank You!

[@cirkitbeats]

Can i use royalty free images from websites such as unsplash for my portfolio

[@hananaguib4035]

So so helpful thank you so much

[@VicenteCruz]

No problem, glad to have helped! :)

[@hananaguib4035]

@@VicenteCruz if its okay with you is there anyway to contact you maybe for feedback questions etc?

[@VicenteCruz]

@@hananaguib4035 yep sure thing, you can DM me on insta (@v1c3ntecruz, link is also on my channel page)

[@hanxie2196]

Thank you for shearing! I was wondering about the page limits for portfolios, the website stated that it should be no more than 15 pages but yours have 26. Is this something that is compulsory or is this something I can neglect?

[@VicenteCruz]

Heya, so they may have changed the page count since I went thru the application process so I'm not totally sure. In my case, I made a mistake in my application and didn't realize we had to submit a shorter mini portfolio at the beginning before showing our full one, so I just made a full portfolio and submitted that one explaining my mistake.

[@hanxie2196]

@@VicenteCruz I see, thank you so much for your reply. I can tell you’ve spend a lot of effort in constructing your portfolio!

[@nikamocnik2577]

Hey, quick question..Did you have to submit a mini portfolio before they asked you for the actual one? Also thank you for the videos they are awesome!

[@VicenteCruz]

In my case, I did not submit one because I made a mistake and did a full portfolio first. I was able to email them about it though and luckily, they accepted my full portfolio. However, I wouldn't bank on them understanding it, so don't make my mistake and read all the submission requirements/deadlines before working on it lol

[@nikamocnik2577]

@@VicenteCruz Okay great, thank you so much for your answer!

[@jessbreeze4520]

Hey, this is so helpful Could u plz tell me what format you made your portfolio on??

[@VicenteCruz]

Glad it's helped! I made my portfolio in Keynote but you can use any program that can put images and text on a PDF slide really. Ideally, you should use InDesign because you can really pack a lot in while keeping file sizes low, but I wasn't too comfortable with ID to do it that way.

[@jessbreeze4520]

@@VicenteCruz thank you so much!

[@angelaxuswl5994]

So you could also have an portfolio to show how to improve an design that’s been made?

[@VicenteCruz]

Yep; as long as the portfolio displays thinking and development in design (CSM does prefer evidence of some sort of 3D design), then you're set :)

[@joaoii1082]

Is product design worth it?

[@nsgrsk3437]

What slide size did you use for your portfolio?

[@VicenteCruz]

Heya, I used an A3 size document so that it could still retain a good level of detail when zoomed in

[@nsgrsk3437]

@@VicenteCruz is the format for your document 1191x842 since there isn’t an option on keynote for an A3 slide size..

[@Yaks-04]

What was your file size when exported?

[@VicenteCruz]

21 mb

[@kendralee2225]

The link to your portfolio doesn't work :((

[@VicenteCruz]

Oh shoot, thanks for telling me! Let me fix that real quick

[@VicenteCruz]

Alright, I've fixed the link! Thanks again for lmk :)

[@preciousbees5721]

All of this was great I would only ask an irrelevant question such as your names confusing me but then it was answered at the end, we see it in full... so see? Nothing relevant to ask, just time wasting

[@user-qr6vo8zm3z]

Hi! Firstly, I wanna say this video is very informative and helpful:). Your portfolio looks amazing. Did you upload every single page as a singular image and uploaded to pebblepad or how did you do that if you don’t mind asking?:)