We see that some talented students have trouble presenting themselves and their work. Therefore we created this post to share our tips and preferences. We hope that this information will help you to get accepted into our studio. (or somewhere else..).
A general note: For most companies, the manager reviews the applications. These are busy people, and the first shift (interesting yes/no) will be based on your e-mail, and the first slides of your portfolio. So make them count.
Your Application Email
The way you apply is a good indicator for us how successful you will be in our studio.
Your e-mail will tell us the following:
- Do you prepare well and spend time on the details?
- Can you communicate clearly, are we left with questions?
- Are you driven and made an extra effort?
Keep your e-mail short and include:
- Introduction of yourself and the reason you’re applying
- Your education (add link), its location, and the year you are in
- Add if possible, past internships, jobs and/or other interesting things
- Timing: When you can start and for how long you like to stay (we prefer 6 months)
- Spend time to create a nice signature with all your contact information
- Use (Ctrl +*) to check/remove the hard enters (otherwise a lot of white space)
- Use standard letter-type and size 10 or 11
- Add hyperlinks where possible
Attachments
- Portfolio (we prefer a pdf, max 10MB) but a link to a website is also ok.
The downside is you can not control how your story comes across.
Behance, Issuu, etc. are possible but less preferred. - No separate images, zip, rar, download links or passwords
- CV (we prefer it to be part of your portfolio, and you can make it into an interesting info graph)
- Cover letters or letters of motivation are not necessary
Your portfolio
Approach your portfolio as a design project:
- Analyze how the product will be used (= computer screen) so make it 16:9 or wider (resolution 1920×1080)
- Do a competitor analysis for yourself at Issuu or Behance. Some might be professionals but you should strive to be close.
- Define the best practices, find out what is needed to make something better than your competition
- Create nice logical/understandable stories and show your design process, capabilities, and your sense of quality and detail
- Keep the layout simple and clean (it is about telling the story and showing the content)
- Make sure to keep the text to a minimum. They will not be read and if you need them, your visuals are not explanatory enough
- Make sure you create a high-res but low size pdf (max 10MB, it shows your skills with Adobe/InDesign)
Your portfolio could include:
- Title page
- Introduction of yourself, why us and more important why we should choose you
- A photo that gives an impression about you and how you work (so keep them professional)
- CV (infographics are nice) stick to relevant/interesting jobs and activities
- References/quotes from tutors (add linked-in/social media links to them)
- Previous internships (add company info and an indication of your role/work)
- Other skills that might be useful for the company (coding, web design, electrical, prototyping, AI tools, etc.)
- Projects: If possible work relative to where you are applying (like no architecture to an industrial design studio).
- Personal/miscellaneous stuff you created (but make sure it is quality work)
- Thank you + contact details page
Projects
Start with the best/most interesting work, and choose quality over quantity (3-4 projects is enough).
The projects should have a nice flow and ideally include your process. It can include:
- Start with the context and the problem your design aims to solve
- Competitor analysis, reference images, and infographics
- Ideas, sketches, foam models
- 3D CAD / internal parts/working methods
- Different concepts around internal component configuration
- Explanation graphics/visualizations/renderings
- Prototypes / Testing / User Interaction / App
- Final result (in context rendering) and explanation
Please note:
There are no cheats in creating a portfolio. As long as you are not using others’ work everything is allowed.
Improve, re-do, re-render make new visualizations & add steps afterward, work on it until it fits your ambition.
Things to watch out for:
- Page size (screen) and layout (keep it simple not too cramped and consistent)
- Graphics, icons, logo’s and infographics: use your projects to show you have a good feel for them
- Skill level indicator bars (a big discussion going on and a lot of people do not like them)
Sketching (hand and digital)
- Get the perspective and ellipses right (use 3D Cad underlays)
- Do not show misformed hands or people. Just make a picture and trace them
- Design ideation: create the internal component configuration first, then show form variation sketches.
- Use all tools available, redo and improve as much as you can
Renderings and Photoshop
- Work on them until they are stunning and realistic
- Watch online tutorials practice and redo them
Internship at SLIMDESIGN
We see interns as a win-win and ideally, we hope to offer you a job when you finish your degree. We want you to learn as much as possible. You will participate in the projects as a real team member. When no client work is available, the ‘in-between time,’ you get to work on internal projects, where we act as your client. This way you will always have a design job at hand.
You are
- A fun, creative, innovative, independent 3rd year+ industrial design student
- Extremely motivated and have a passion for design and engineering
- Eager to experience the whole development process from the idea up to production.
You have
- Good hand and digital sketching skills and can create stunning visualizations
- Have a good technical understanding (mechanical systems, production methods, etc.)
- Experience with 3D Cad (preferably SolidWorks) and programs like Keyshot, the Adobe Suite, and others
- A similar ‘minimalistic’ design style where the form is used to improve the functionality
- Fluent English speaking skills
We offer
- A great place to learn all facets of product development
- The studio is located in the historic center of Amsterdam
- Work on consumer electronic/home appliances projects from strategy to production
- You will be working with a team of experts where we push the interns to take responsibility
- The intern’s salary is 500,- euro per month
- A daily healthy free lunch, stroopwafels, and the weekly Frimibo (Friday afternoon borrel/drinks)
- An intern bike to tour our great city
Sounds like something you would be interested in?
Send your e-mail with a portfolio to info@slimdesign.com
We are looking forward to seeing your work.