iPad Archives - Umbra Sumus

I wrote last year on this blog about the iPad as a portfolio tool and specifically about an app called Foliobook. I was particularly impressed by the customisation features that it offered and that it allowed me to be flexible with changing content. I decided last month to freshen up my presentation and I contacted Paul Freeman the app’s designer. He very quickly set about rearranging the architecture and sent me customisable templates into which I could drop work. I have to say that I am not terribly technically minded when it comes to computers but Paul’s help and assistance was first class. I very rarely recommend anything on this blog but I can honestly say that Foliobook is an excellent product and that the support from Paul was brilliant.

In terms of the folio, I wanted a clear delineation between editorial and commercial work and in terms of stories and new work, the ability to change material quickly to suit different clients. I think it works very well.

Here’s a selection of screenshots of the current set-up.

After much deliberation, I bought an iPad last week to use as a portfolio. I know that there is much debate about what clients actually want to see in a folio and a beautifully printed book is hard to beat but this seemed a good compromise as an addition to print. Logistically, I’ve always found it very difficult to schlep around town with three or four folios of differing sizes with the combined weight of a small car so I’m hoping that it will be well received.

My initial problem was finding an iPad portfolio program that worked smoothly, was easily customisable and didn’t require the intellect of a particle physicist. After a bit of searching I found Foliobook. What I really liked was that it has a pretty easy interface and a whole load of instructional videos. It took several hours of working out what I wanted and uploading images with iTunes to get something I was happy with. I created a simple jpg image for the front page that imitated my website design and overlaid that above a template structure in the program. The results are below as screen grabs. Once your images are in folders its very easy to change orders and set slideshows. I particularly like the ability to email an image directly from the slideshow.

Over the last few years, I’ve had Plastic Sandwich make me several print folios so I was very pleased to see that they’ve made a rather lovely one for the iPad as well. Just like my print books, they’ve embossed my name on the front and the whole thing slips into a very sturdy slip case.

So far, it looks like a very valuable addition to a range of ways to show work.

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