Plan, Organize & Design your own Creative Project Files

Plan, Organize & Design your own Creative Project Files


I create a project portfolio to hold all of my thoughts, product specifications, and other details in one place. I use it for home and garden design; party planning; art projects; and workshop designs. In fact, I encourage my clients to create their own project portfolio to capture information about the projects we work on together. My early portfolios included only loose sheets of paper which easily grew disorganized. But with better planning and a few hours prep time, my project files have become much more organized. If you're interested in making your own portfolio to document your projects, these basic materials will get you started:

• Push pins
• Graph paper
• 11 x 17 paper
• index cards
• page protectors
• page tabs/dividers
• Cork design board
• Business card pockets
• Vinyl/Plastic zippered pouches
• Drawing/Illustration Pens & Markers (Prismacolor is my favorite brand )
• Two small journals - one lined, one unlined (I like to have a journal that lays flat as well, that way I can use the scanner to save designs in electronic format.)
• A zipped binder, an artist portfolio, or large binder with rings

When you shop for the contents of your project files, try to personalize them in a way that inspires you. I shop in office supply stores, scrapbooking and paper speciality stores, art & craft retailers, home & garden, hardware and housewares stores to mix things up. Of course you're free to assemble your materials in a way that works for you. But this particular selection of materials will allow you to sketch, collect, store, transport and file. I like to use a cork design board that stays on the wall to see multiple things together, like swatches, photos or other inspirational items. If I need to take them on the road, I just pop them into the zippered pouch in my binder and I'm off.

Take some time to document your next creative project. Combine your sketches with idea journaling; take digital photos; save magazine photos clippings; gather paint chips and other materials. Make models, explore and above all...

Be creative!

Lise

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