Submitting Your Portfolio
Source: https://design.cmu.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/submitting-your-portfolio Parent: https://design.cmu.edu/news/michele-hratko-designing-dancers-symposium
Undergraduate Program Admissions
Submitting Your Portfolio
All School of Design applicants must upload a short video of themselves and a portfolio of their creative work. Design has a digital application process only. All applicants applying to our undergraduate program must provide digital materials that can be uploaded to the University’s secure SlideRoom portal. Physical portfolios (creative work) and in-person interviews are sadly not an option.
Short Video
Create a video that shows and tells us something about who you are and what you care about, i.e., your passions, interests outside of school, a meaningful experience, or other. And, tell us what excites you about potentially studying at the School of Design.
You may use any device, from your phone to webcam, with no need for fancy editing. Video should be no more than 90 seconds or else it will NOT be reviewed. Video will be uploaded to SlideRoom as one of the slides.
Portfolio of Creative Work
Showcase your best creative work in 2-D or 3-D up to 18 “slides.” Include at least one slide that shows us how you think through ideas during your creative process. You might need to compile sketches and notes from multiple pages in your sketchbook to communicate this effectively.
You have up to 18 slides to submit samples of your work. Each slide can have one or multiple images on that slide. You can also create slides in PDF format but multiple page PDF files within a single slide will NOT be reviewed.
Digital files (videos, animations, etc.) should not exceed 2 minutes or else they will NOT be reviewed. You may submit a 2-minute clip of a longer piece and tell us that it is an edited sample.
You are encouraged to include examples of drawings but need to be creative in how you communicate content within the 18 image limit.
Your creative work may include 2-D, 3-D, spatial, and time-based mediums such as drawing, painting, mixed-media, sculpture, photography, videos, animations, graphic / product / digital design, furniture, and more.
For each piece, answer all the SlideRoom information prompts including:
- Was it a class or self-directed project?
- If a class project, what was the prompt?
- If a self-directed project, what inspired you?
- Was it a team or individual project? If a team project, what did you do?
Further Instructions
For each project slide in your portfolio, please answer the following eight questions to give us a full understanding of your work:
- Title: What is the title of this project?
- Date Created: When did you create this work?
- Format & Size: Is the project analog or digital, and what are its physical dimensions?
- Media/Software: What media, tools, and/or software did you use to complete this work?
- Class or Personal: Was this project part of a class or a personal initiative?
- Individual or Team: Did you complete this project individually or as part of a team?
- AI Tools: Did you use any AI tools in the creation of this work? If so, how?
- Additional Details: Is there anything else you'd like to share about this project?
Need some inspiration?
Here are some portfolio tips and a years worth of creative prompts, one for each week, that might help:
- All killer, no filler: Get rid of weaker work and only showcase your strongest projects
- Use a sketchbook: Drawing or taking notes from your day can provide inspiration or a basis for your next design project
- Make an online portfolio: Try using Wix, Weebly, or Webflow to make a free portfolio website or make a separate design Instagram account
- Keep track of process: Write some notes and take photos of your project's process to show colleges how you work through creative problems
- Design from life: Photograph your friends, paint your window view, or make a sculpture of an important moment in your life
- Try free software: If you don't have access to expensive software, try free alternatives like Krita and Canva or apps like Adobe Illustrator or FilmMaker Pro on your phone or tablet