Portfolio guidelines

Please choose one of the following options: 

• Provide a link to samples of your film practice uploaded onto a video platform such as Vimeo or YouTube*. 
• Submit a single PDF document with still images, such as photographs, drawings, or documentation of other creative projects (we recommend no more than 15 pages). 

*If you’re submitting a video, make sure it is no longer than 10 minutes. We recommend that you choose several complete scenes or continuous excerpts from films, rather than submitting a showreel of lots of different material. Where films have been created collaboratively, please clearly state your own, individual contribution. 

What should you include? 

Start with your name and contact details, then show us a variety of projects. If you can do so, incorporate notes and examples of your working process with explanations. 

Use your portfolio to illustrate different aspects of your project work and showcase your ability. It should be presented as a professional, considered portfolio, clearly demonstrating who you are and what you do. 

What are we looking for?  

We'd like to see evidence of practical film experience in a creative context, but if you haven’t got film experience, your portfolio should show how your related work (such as animation, photography, fine art, or media) can be developed in the field of filmmaking at postgraduate degree level. 

Regardless of the type of film; be it fiction, documentary, experimental and/or cross-disciplinary, we’re looking for evidence of inventive approaches and a personal vision. 

If you don’t come from a film background, we want to see your commitment to a critical practice, engagement with research, and visual thinking. Be sure to let us know in your personal statement how film practice is important to the progression of your career or artistic pursuits. 

Please upload the following: 

• A designed, interactive PDF (we recommend no more than 15 pages). 
• A single link to your website or other online gallery (e.g., Flickr, Tumblr, or Instagram). 

What should you include? 

Start with your name and contact details, then if you can, show us a variety of projects. Incorporate examples of your working process and sketchbook photos with explanations. If you’re including 3D work, it should be professionally documented, and digital and film work can be embedded if necessary. 

Use your portfolio to illustrate different aspects of your project work and showcase your ability. It should be presented as a professional, considered, designed portfolio, clearly demonstrating who you are and what you do. 

What are we looking for? 

We want to see your creative ability, so your portfolio should ideally show us a variety of projects related to your areas of interest. Make sure you include evidence of your ideas process, research and making skills – it’s all valuable. 

Please upload the following: 

• A designed, interactive PDF (we recommend no more than 15 pages). 
• A single link to your website or other online gallery (e.g., Flickr, Tumblr, or Instagram). 

What should you include? 

Start with your name and contact details, then show us a variety of projects. Incorporate examples of your working process and sketchbook photos with explanations. 

We’re looking for portfolios that demonstrate a range of creative and representational media – drawing, collage, photography, digital media, sculpture, and three-dimensional making. 3D work should be professionally documented, and digital or film work can be embedded if necessary. 

We like to see expressive, creative making. Extracts from your sketchbook and observational drawings illustrate your thought process and your curiosity, and whist CAD or technical drawing isn’t a requirement, if you’ve got some, include it in your portfolio. 

What are we looking for?  

We want to see your creative ability, your self-motivation and your commitment, so ideally your portfolio should showcase a variety of projects related to your areas of interest. Make sure you include evidence of your ideas process, research and making skills – it’s all valuable. 

Ultimately, we want to see who you are and what you do. Present yourself and your work in the best light with a professional, carefully considered and designed portfolio. 

Please submit one or both of the following: 

• A Word document and/or PDF with samples of your work (we recommend not exceeding 15 pages). 
• A link to recordings of your work. Recordings (e.g., clips from open mics or other performances) should not exceed 10 minutes. 

What should you include? 

Start with your name and contact details, then show us a variety of projects. If you can, incorporate examples of your working process with explanations. 

Use your portfolio to illustrate different aspects of your project work and showcase your ability. It should be presented as a professional, considered portfolio, clearly demonstrating who you are and what you do. 

What are we looking for? 

Your portfolio should contain more recent work that you’ve produced, and it should reflect your creative range. This can include short stories, flash fiction, novel extracts, poems, script for stage, screen, or radio, creative nonfiction (memoir, autobiography, biography, travel-writing, nature-writing, food-writing, sports-writing, literary essay), or other experimental and hybrid forms. 

We’re looking for originality, a strong emerging voice, and potential. Throughout your studies, we’ll challenge you to build on and develop your practice, so it’s vital not to come with a project ‘set in stone’. Be prepared to write new material and experiment with groundbreaking approaches. The portfolio is just a cross-section of your practice to date. 

Don't worry if you don’t come from an arts degree background. If this is the case for you, we want to see your commitment to critical practice, engagement with research, and the craft of writing. Your personal statement is your space for explaining how the MA Creative Writing is important to the progression of your career or development as a creative. 

Please submit one of the following options: 

• A link to samples of your graphic design practice.  
• A single PDF document with still images, (e.g., photographs, drawings, or documentation of other creative projects (we recommend no more than 15 pages). 

What should you include? 

Start with your name and contact details, then show us a variety of projects. Incorporate sketchbook pages, iterations, notes, and examples of your working process with explanations. 

Use your portfolio to illustrate different aspects of your project work and showcase your ability. It should be presented as a professional, considered portfolio, clearly demonstrating who you are and what you do. 

What are we looking for? 

We're looking for evidence of practical graphic design experience in a creative context. Your portfolio should reflect your range as a creative practitioner. Ideally, it should contain a selection of your most recent work. 

The following things are examples of what we often see in portfolios, but this is by no means a fixed list or what we expect to see. We want to see your best work in whatever format it exists. 

• Finished work – e.g., websites, magazines, books, posters, typefaces, logos, apps, digital video, also including photographs of installations and 3D designs. 
• Pitch boards – three or four boards that show the thinking behind a project as well as its resolution (as often used in pitches to clients). 
• Sketchbooks. 
• Evidence of engagement with users of design, with industry and organisations concerned with social issues. 
• Writing about design or about subjects related to it. This can include documenting your research and creative process. 

 If you don’t have any direct graphic design experience, your portfolio should demonstrate how your related work (e.g., illustration, animation, photography, art, or media) can be developed and built on in a postgraduate-level graphic design context. 

Please upload the following: 

• Examples of your illustrative practice as a PDF document (we would recommend not exceeding 15 pages). 
• If you have one, a single link to your website, social media profile or any other online gallery (e.g., Flickr, Tumblr, Instagram). 

What should you include? 

Start with your name and contact details, then show us a variety of projects. Incorporate sketchbook pages, iterations, notes, and examples of your working process with explanations. 

Use your portfolio to illustrate different aspects of your project work and showcase your ability. It should be presented as a professional, considered portfolio, clearly demonstrating who you are and what you do. 

What are we looking for? 

We're looking for a professional, considered portfolio that showcases the true range of your creative work, thought process, and your current skill level as a practitioner. It should clearly convey your unique identity and style. We love to see a mixture of both works in progress and refined final pieces, along with documentation of the creative processes you’ve followed along the way. 

We appreciate portfolios featuring a range of illustration styles and media, including traditional methods like drawing, collage, and digital media, as well as non-traditional forms such as photography, sculpture, and three-dimensional works. 

Please submit examples of your photographic practice as either: 

• A PDF document (we recommend not exceeding 15 pages). 
• A link to a personal website. 

This can also include moving image and video submissions. These should be a maximum of 10 minutes long.  

Your portfolio can also include documentation of other creative projects such as photographs, drawings or writing. 

What should you include? 

Start with your name and contact details, then show us a variety of projects. Incorporate sketchbook pages, iterations, notes, and examples of your working process with explanations. 

Use your portfolio to illustrate different aspects of your project work and showcase your ability. It should be presented as a professional, considered portfolio, clearly demonstrating who you are and what you do. 

What are we looking for? 

We’re seeking evidence of practical photographic experience in a creative context. If you don’t have any direct photography experience, your portfolio should demonstrate how your related work (e.g., animation, moving images, fine art) can be developed in the context of photography at a postgraduate level.

For moving image/video submissions, we recommend selecting several complete scenes or continuous excerpts, rather than a showreel. If you’re submitting collaborative projects as part of your portfolio, please clearly define your individual contribution. 

No matter which genre of photography you produce, we’re looking for evidence of inventive approaches and a unique personal vision.  

If you don’t come from a photography background, we want to see your commitment to a critical practice, engagement with research, and visual thinking. Your personal statement is your chance to illustrate to us how photographic practice is important to the progression of your career or artistic pursuits. 

Portfolios are usually only requested as supporting evidence on non-standard route applications. This is if you do not have the standard academic qualifications for entry onto the course, but can fulfil the objectives of the course of study and achieve the standard of the final award.

If we require a link to your online portfolio we'll contact you by email and through the AUB applicant portal to request the URL. So you only need to provide us with your portfolio when we request it.

To submit your portfolio, you have the option of using platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, Behance, Wix, Flickr, Drop Box, Google Drive, or any other suitable platform for showcasing your work. It's crucial to collate everything in one place and provide a single link that you can share with us. Please ensure that the link doesn't require a password or login to access.

To properly record your portfolio on your application, you need to submit your portfolio link via the AUB applicant portal. Follow the instructions below to do this:

1. Log in to the AUB applicant portal. If you're having trouble logging in, click the “Problems logging in?” link.
2. You'll see two messages: one providing details about the portfolio you need to submit, and another where you can submit the portfolio link.
3. Click on the “Applicant Portfolio Request” message on the right-hand side. Here, you'll be prompted to provide your portfolio URL.
4. Paste the URL in the box provided, select "no" on the drop-down menu, and click “Save”.
5. Once you've completed these steps, the link will be automatically added to your application, and we'll receive a notification to send your full application to the course team for further review.

After submitting your portfolio link, the admissions team will test it to ensure that it's working correctly and accessible without requiring a login. If everything checks out, we'll forward your application and portfolio to the course team for review. However, if any issues arise, we will notify you via email and through the applicant portal to explain the problem and offer the option to submit a new link on the portal.