Industry jargon not your thing? Our glossary will enlighten you!
The model portfolio (also known as the model book) is sometimes the most important "tool" a model has. It is part of the basic equipment and is indispensable. The portfolio contains the best photos of the model's career to date, the model's sedcard and the agency's business card.
Make sure that your model portfolio is made of robust and sturdy material without being bulky. The portfolio protects the photos from rain, wind and sun as well as from being bent over. Because the photo portfolio should never distract from the actual photos, it is important to choose a rather discreet design.
Exterior: Leather and hard plastic are among the most popular materials, as both variants offer sufficient stability and protection from the weather.
Inside: The photos are in presentation or transparent sleeves. These can be easily removed if required and easily reinserted. This system also allows pictures to be exchanged at any time.
Photos: Your photos must be in 20 x 30 cm format. Smaller pictures look unprofessional. Also take enough time to find the best order for the photos in your model portfolio.
Although a business card holder is not an absolutely necessary feature, in some situations it can be helpful to have a card and your most important contact details to hand.
The pictures in your model portfolio should ideally give potential customers a good impression of your versatility. It is therefore important:
Different poses
Different outfits
Changing make-up
Different locations
Changing hairstyles
Don't forget to include deliberately simple photos in your model book.
A good model portfolio is very important, especially for up-and-coming models. For this reason, you will find all relevant information on this central topic at Jobwork.
In addition to the classic model portfolio, more and more agencies are now also using so-called webbooks. If a client is interested in a specific model, they are given access and can click through the stored photos.
A webbook offers the following advantages:
Resolution: The quality of digital photos is clearly superior to that of developed images, the resolution is significantly higher.
Enlargement: Unlike developed photos, digital images can be easily enlarged. This gives the customer the opportunity to take a closer look at small details.
Storage space: A model folder should never be too full. The available space is correspondingly limited. In a model cloud, on the other hand, any number of images can be stored, allowing the model to present more facets of herself.
Time saving: As the customer can view the model's photos online, a personal meeting is no longer necessary in the first phase of a casting.
Model portfolios are usually kept in the classic A4 format. These dimensions allow large photos to be easily accommodated in the book. Unfortunately, A4 is not particularly handy. Especially in North America, it has therefore become customary to use a portfolio folder in A5 format.