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Monday, May 20, 2013

Behance Portfolio Reviews

Hey all! I've been away for some time. Busy making a final decision Uni-wise and doing all kinds of arrangements! I decided to go study in London feeling scared and excited at the same time.
If you know someone who is looking for house mates in London let me know, we're looking for one at the moment. For any details message me on facebook or contact me on any platform listed on the right sidebar.

Today's topic
So today I am going to write about an event that turned out awesome and somewhat makes a part of my life now.
Basically Behance is an online platform for designers to showcase and discover creative works. Since I am member of this site, I received a mail about the event called Behance Portfolio Reviews organized by Super Channel. It is all about gathering creative people and showing our portfolios to each other and receiving critique from a mentor.

So I went
I already knew someone who had been there before and he told me there were some harsh mentors as well, so I kind of tried to keep my attendance as much of a secret as possible. In case my mentor would ask me what the hell I'm doing here, no one would need to know.
The one I attended was on the 14th of May in Budapest, Hungary. It was all mysterious, nobody knew what was going to happen. There were four tables set for us; 3 for graphic design and 1 for photography.


We had a great table, everyone was nice and friendly. And on top of all that, we got a mentor who works at Carnation Group, the one I had hoped for, Károly Királyfalvi (Drez).
He was really relaxed and friendly to my surprise and not strict at all. Mostly giving out compliments instead of critiques, sometimes asking tricky questions.


The guys were already experienced, working as graphic designers and the girl next to me is a second year college student with amazing illustrative skills. I was so nervous that I  planned to literally run away or just announce that I came to watch only. In the end I chose to fight the coward inside me. While showing my portfolio I received an unexpected response. They liked what I made and showed interest and respect. I really appreciate that.
To round it all off, each of us had to pick which portfolio we liked best. Almost everyone, including me, chose the illustrative girl. She picked me though, which really made me happy. But to be honest, I really liked everyone's portfolio, and picked her subjectively, because I love illustration.
Of course the last word goes to the mentor and he picked the last person I would have expected, me. I was shocked and surprised and confused, but somehow I earned it and it still feels unbelievable. His pick came with a coin which I find really beautiful and need to look at every now and then to make sure it's real.


Translation:
RECOGNITION
Thank you, for taking part at Behance Portfolio Reviews on the 14th of May at Design Terminal.
Our professional mentors found your presented works outstanding, congratulations.
Best of luck, we wish you many more recognitions!


Open presentations
After the portfolio reviews, several acknowledged creatives held presentations about one or some of their projects. These "talks" are open for all to visit for free. I recommend it to anyone interested in art and design. The presentations are really interesting and engaging and sometimes funny.

The mini butterfly effect
Next Tuesday Portfolio Night will be held, which is kind of like speed dating with fresh designers and experienced professionals. Since I am not looking for a job at an agency yet, I asked them if they needed a volunteer to help, because I was quite curious about all this. Turns out they heard of my achievement at the Behance Portfolio Reviews and want me to show off at their event too, thus offered me an honorary ticket. Can you imagine how honoured and happy and lucky I felt at that moment? All this is like a dream to me. And let's just end the post with this thought! :-)

Photos from the event were taken from this facebook photo album.