# Portfolio Platform: Live + Placement Cadence — 5 points **Account live: Week 3 (Sep 11) · Placements checked Weeks 5, 9, and 12** **Submit: your public URL in Canvas by Week 3; placements verified at conferences** --- ## What this is Pick one recruiter-facing platform, make it live in Week 3, and put finished work on it **as you finish it** — not in a panic in December. The five points are for the cadence, not the account. Anyone can make an account. ## Deadlines | When | What has to be true | |---|---| | **Week 3 — Sep 11** | Account exists, is public, has your real name, a bio, and a contact route. URL submitted in Canvas. | | **Week 5 — Sep 25** | At least **one** finished piece placed publicly, with a breakdown and a role statement. | | **Week 9 — Oct 23** | At least **two** pieces placed. | | **Week 12 — Nov 13** | At least **four** pieces placed. | Placements are checked live at your conference. "It's uploaded but unpublished" doesn't count. ## Choosing the platform | Platform | Best for | Trade-off | |---|---|---| | **ArtStation** | Game art, VFX, 3D. The recruiter-facing default — studio recruiters look here first. | Thumbnail-grid layout; limited private sharing; skews 3D. | | **Behance** | 2D, illustration, motion design, UI, multidisciplinary. Big audience, strong discovery for stylized work. | Fewer game studios actively recruit there. | | **Personal site** | Full control of sequence, branding, video quality. Embeds Sketchfab and uncompressed video. | Setup and upkeep cost; recruiters who live on ArtStation may never find it. | | **itch.io** | Playable builds and jam projects. | Not a portfolio by itself — a companion. | | **LinkedIn** | The index recruiters actually search. | Not a portfolio. Required anyway (see Identity Kit). | **My recommendation:** choose **one** recruiter-facing platform now and make it excellent. ArtStation if you're game/3D; Behance if you're 2D/motion. Buy a custom domain — `firstnamelastname.com`, about $12/year — and point it at that profile. A hand-built personal site is a Week 15 stretch goal, not the priority. > **The trap:** every year somebody spends October building a beautiful website instead of making art, and arrives in December with an immaculate empty container. The work is the product. The site is the shelf. ## What "placed" means A piece is placed when a stranger can find it and understand it: - Finished image or video **first**, at the top - Breakdowns underneath — wireframe, texture sets, turntable, in-engine capture, progression - Two to four sentences: what the goal was, **exactly** what your role was, what constraint you worked under, what tools - Correct thumbnail crop, so the grid view doesn't misrepresent it ## Rubric | Standard | Points | | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | | Account live and public by Week 3 with bio and contact route | 1 | | Custom domain purchased and pointed, or a written reason not to | 1 | | Week 5 placement on time and complete | 1 | | Week 9 placement on time and complete | 1 | | Week 12 cadence met — four pieces up, properly presented | 1 | ## Related - Week 1 page — platform decision - **Website Concept & Design** (Week 10) — where this becomes a designed thing - Glossary: *breakdown, role statement, turntable, custom domain*