Digital portfolio as a communication tool in product design

Abstract

With the development of digital technologies, there is a growing trend towards digital portfolios rather than analogue ones. A digital portfolio is a tool that demonstrates the technical and creative skills acquired by the student during his academic career. This article results from the analysis of a set of digital portfolios created by students of the degree in Product Design and Technology with no previous knowledge in communication design. The digital portfolios gathered a selection of work done during the course, organized in six pages answering to a statement proposed by the teachers of the curricular unit. The analysis criteria were in line with the contents taught in the theoretical part of the discipline and focused on some principles of communication design such as the choice of typography, typographic grid and visual hierarchy. The results show that, although there are many advantages in this change, the immateriality of the digital portfolio requires a greater abstraction and mastery in application of the principles of communication design.