Thread: PDF Crit

Hi guys,

I'm new here and this looks like quite an active Graphic Design forum so it looked like the ideal place to register.

I've been struggling to get placements lately so I redesigned my PDF.

My last one was an interactive one with buttons and links in like a mini offline website, but a lot of people didn't seem to notice this and would just scroll through using the mouse wheel like a regular PDF, so I made this one.


Please visit my websites holding page New Website Soon!!! to download it.


I should also have my website up within the next week or so, it's nearly finished now.

If anyone has any other tips with regards to getting work, like socialising at events or going into design studios and meet for a face-to-face instead of spamming them with emails, I'm open to all suggestions.

Please let me know what you think of my PDF and if you think I could improve any of the pieces to make them a bit sharper or to stand out more.

Many Thanks

Oli :3

Does saving it as a Zip file make it that much smaller? I'm being super paranoid here but I won't download Zip files from t'internet unless I'm 100% sure of who I'm getting them from.

Yea tbh it only made it a meg smaller, I can upload the PDF somewhere else for you if you want?

Do you think that would be unappealing to people I am sending it to in my emails aswell?

Well I am quite paranoid about downloading things... I don't know about anyone else but I'd be more comfortable downloading a PDF so I'd just lose the Zip file if it only saves a meg.

Download OliRushworthPortfolio.pdf

that's just the PDF, I'll change the one on my website tomorrow

Ok, i'm not like an experienced designer or anything, i'm still doing my A levels xD but I really like your portfolio, especially your final carrot box design. Sometimes when you look at other people's online portfolios they tend to talk a lot about the work and it gets long to go through but yours was clear and straight to the point =) Same for your personal statement

thanks for the compliments :)

I've put the PDF up now on its own, but its opening in the browser. I'd prefer if the person could download it because PDF pages in browsers just seems to freeze until the whole things downloaded, at least when you are using like a browser downloader you can see the progress and always have the file on your HD once its completed.

I'm unsure as to how to make a PDF downloadable without making it a zip or a rar file, maybe there is some HTML I need to change or something?

You just need to have some instructions next to the link, something along the lines of "Right-click and choose Save Link As..."

Hi there mate,

In whole your portfolio looks really good, some really nice bits in there. However I would condense it by half so it is only 10 pages, the reason for this is two fold...

1) It will reduce the file size, but I wouldn't worry about this too much as most design agencies are used to handling large files.

2) I used to be a Head of Design within a large design agency and I used to get loads of CV/portfolios sent through to me, and time was important, if I could scan through a document quickly and catch a glimpse of the really good work, that worked for me. Plus remember when you go to see them you don't want to just be repeating what was on your PDF.

In terms of putting it online, I would build a simple html shell, create a button and then link to the PDF to download it (mentioned in text on the html page the file size just to make them aware if it is still quite large)

Hope that helps, and good luck :)