If you have not received NCEA credits in arts or visual design, do not meet the entry criteria, or are applying as a mature student, you may need to submit a portfolio with annotation and visit us for an interview. You will be advised of this when you apply.
What does my portfolio need to contain?
A visual communication portfolio should include around 15 images of one of the following:
- Series of drawings
- Series of paintings and their drawings
- Series of sculptures/carvings with drawings
- Series of photographs with drawings (if applicable), proof sheets and work prints
- Graphic or product design projects with briefs and drawings
- Video or film scripts and photographs of storyboards (if bigger than A4)
- Visual narrative sequences (comic strips) and preparatory drawings (photographs only if bigger than A4)
A spatial design portfolio should include around 15 images of one of the following:
- Your own home renovations with documentation of processes and outcomes
- Community or commercial work for yourself, friends, or a client
- Mock-ups of an idea related to the interior/spatial design process (eg take a room/space in your home and explore and document a different design direction)
Your portfolio can include mood boards, colour schemes, selections of finishes and furniture you propose, and room layout exploration using sketched floor plans or room perspectives either by hand or 3D generated models.
The portfolio of work should form a cohesive series. From this, we want to understand:
- That you can develop a body of related work, and
- The way that your ideas were investigated and developed
It is better to show us one or two complete work series rather than a sample of many different things.
These portfolio requirements fit nicely with the work you will have done if you studied at NCEA Level 2 or 3 in visual arts, technology or design, or visual communication subject at high school.
What do my annotations need to communicate?
Identify and discuss the successful aspects of your work, and describe where your ideas came from, what or who inspired or influenced them and how you developed them. You should also indicate how you could develop these ideas in future work. We are particularly interested in how you engage critically with wider visual culture and your understanding of where your work “fits” in the world's wide range of art and design practices. This could include a reference to art, architecture, movies, digital technologies, culture, or craft.
Portfolio examples:
Do you need help with your portfolio?
We are happy to help, please send us an email, and we will be in touch.