Works with Books
"
Ancora imparo
I am still learning. "
—Michelangelo, at 87
I am still learning. "
—Michelangelo, at 87
Portfolio Review Night by Toronto Design Directory
Jun 25, 2025
During the session, the team from the design agency Made by Emblem responded to questions asked by the host, Margot. She guided the conversation toward topics like what makes a strong portfolio. Each staff member shared their perspective, but I didn’t find much of it helpful. They weren’t recruiters or experts in hiring junior designers; they were designers themselves. Most of what they said boiled down to having good skills and fitting into the company culture. That advice is valid, but not particularly actionable.
I wasn’t disappointed, though. I hadn’t expected much. I was just glad to get a sense of what a design studio is like, which is hard for me to experience otherwise. Still, I felt somewhat out of place among the other designers.
That feeling stayed with me during the portfolio reviews that followed. I noticed that many of the designers seemed quite different from me. They didn’t strike me as especially artistic or expressive, but rather practical and focused on usability. Most of them appeared confident and outgoing, quite different from what I might relate to.
In the review session, I met with three reviewers for about 20 minutes each. One was a UI/UX designer, another a product designer at Netflix, and the third seemed to focus on branding. As I shared my portfolio and spoke with them, it became clear that book design is a niche. None of them had met a designer who specializes in it. One reviewer, who graduated from OCAD, told me she didn’t know anyone from her class who went into book design.
Since deciding to pursue a job in graphic design, I’ve met seven designers so far, and none of them are book designers. Now I’m curious to learn how book designers differ from the ones I’ve met up to now.
Jun 25, 2025
During the session, the team from the design agency Made by Emblem responded to questions asked by the host, Margot. She guided the conversation toward topics like what makes a strong portfolio. Each staff member shared their perspective, but I didn’t find much of it helpful. They weren’t recruiters or experts in hiring junior designers; they were designers themselves. Most of what they said boiled down to having good skills and fitting into the company culture. That advice is valid, but not particularly actionable.
I wasn’t disappointed, though. I hadn’t expected much. I was just glad to get a sense of what a design studio is like, which is hard for me to experience otherwise. Still, I felt somewhat out of place among the other designers.
That feeling stayed with me during the portfolio reviews that followed. I noticed that many of the designers seemed quite different from me. They didn’t strike me as especially artistic or expressive, but rather practical and focused on usability. Most of them appeared confident and outgoing, quite different from what I might relate to.
In the review session, I met with three reviewers for about 20 minutes each. One was a UI/UX designer, another a product designer at Netflix, and the third seemed to focus on branding. As I shared my portfolio and spoke with them, it became clear that book design is a niche. None of them had met a designer who specializes in it. One reviewer, who graduated from OCAD, told me she didn’t know anyone from her class who went into book design.
Since deciding to pursue a job in graphic design, I’ve met seven designers so far, and none of them are book designers. Now I’m curious to learn how book designers differ from the ones I’ve met up to now.