Behance is the leading online platform where graphic designers can showcase and discover creative visual work. Billed as place where the creative world can update their work in one place to broadcast it widely and efficiently, Behance is designed to remove the barriers between talent and opportunity. In our new Bachelor of Design, Behance has been introduced as the common ePortfolio submission point for all final project assessments. The purpose of this is to encourage students to build a professional portfolio over time, using works as they are created throughout their second and third year. The portfolio of works are collated over the course of a student’s study and displayed publicly for ongoing comment and discovery. Students are able to leverage Behance’s unique position at the epicentre of the creative community to facilitate meaningful collaboration and cross-pollination between creative individuals and organisations.

1. Dr Dominique Falla
Queensland College of Art
Griffith University
@dominique_falla
Mr David Sargent
Queensland College of Art
Griffith University
@davidsargent_
Using Behance as a tool
to enhance moderation
and student’s industry
networks

2. Case study outline
— graphic designers and portfolios
— graduates and portfolios
— introducing Behance ePortfolios
— our initial observations
— future aspirations

3. Designers and portfolios
— self-promotion is a constant activity
within the graphic design industry
— design professionals have a long
association with portfolios of work
(personal and studio)

4. Student designers and portfolios
— critique is a signature pedagogical
approach in design classrooms
— class critiques allow students to
present their own work and also
observe alternative approaches

5. Student designers and portfolios
— traditionally, a design student will
assemble their portfolio of work in
the final stages of their degree
— this is usually a combination of a
physical publication and website

6. Student designers and portfolios
— however, this process only allows
for feedback from instructors and
peers during class critiques, even
though the portfolio can be a critical
employment tool after graduation

7. Our experience
— a redesigned degree structure
removed the traditional portfolio
course from the curriculum, requiring
a re-think of our approach

8. Our experience
— we were inspired by the overall focus
on ePortfolios in other areas
— decided to embed ePortfolio
submissions as a part of every major
assessment piece

9. Our experience
— we selected Adobe Behance due to
the use of this platform by students
and also professional individuals and
organisations (over ten million users
overall)

10. Our experience
— we found that Behance was already
being used by our cohort, however
typically limited to more confident
students

11. Our experience
— this lack of confidence in displaying
work for critique was an important
factor to consider

12. Our experience
— the practice was framed as a way
to gather feedback on work as
they progressed in their study, with
the option to remove or promote
projects in the future

13. Our experience
— exemplars were used in this case —
acclaimed design professionals who
still had early student projects on
their portfolio collections

14. Our experience
— it was also framed as an opportunity
to enhance their networks, and
possibly receive critique from a much
larger pool

15. INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL NETWORK
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT NETWORK
CROSS CAMPUS NETWORK
COURSE NETWORK
C
LASS NET W O
R
K
STUDENT
TRADITIONAL REACHBEHANCE BEHANCE

16. Our initial findings
— after the first projects were uploaded,
encouraging ‘appreciations’ and
comments were left by other
students (internal, external) and
professionals (national, international)

17. Our initial findings
— but we found fellow student
engagement in this regard was lower
than expected

18. Our initial findings
— one student complaint was registered
regarding the similarity of other
students submissions

19. Our initial findings
— most students did not entirely
grasp the outward facing nature
of Behance, and therefore did not
consider external audiences

20. Our initial findings
— the cross–class and cross–campus
ability of Behance was incredibly
valuable for instructors (and students)
to compare and moderate outcomes

21. Our initial findings
— as the first instance of a cross
campus degree, this was the most
valuable insight at this stage

22. Future plans
— the next round of assignments were
foreshadowed with more discussion
around originality and consideration
of external audiences

23. Future plans
— our first cohort in this degree will
graduate in Trimester 2, 2019
— by this stage, students will have at
least six major projects to consider
for their graduating portfolios

24. Dr Dominique Falla
Queensland College of Art
Griffith University
@dominique_falla
Mr David Sargent
Queensland College of Art
Griffith University
@davidsargent_
Using Behance as a tool
to enhance moderation
and student’s industry
networks