Graduate Admissions

Graphic Design Portfolio Requirements

Review process

At the start of the review process, each application is assigned to a faculty member on the admissions committee to conduct a comprehensive review of all submitted material (portfolio, résumé, statement, recommendations, academic credentials, and TOEFL scores). A second review is then conducted by the entire admissions committee, as well as current graduate students, who view each portfolio projected onto a screen. Thereafter, a selection of applicants are invited for an interview.

As you focus on the pursuit of this opportunity, we wish to emphasize that the Yale School of Art does not operate in a vacuum and is responsive to the strong social, cultural and political currents of this time. The graphic design faculty feel a heightened imperative to embrace inclusivity, diverse ways of making and knowing, and is committed to expanding its pedagogical consciousness and programming to include an array of race, class and gender intersections.

Portfolio contents

Your portfolio should be a collection of visual work, professional, experimental, commissioned, and self-initiated, that demonstrates your experience, skills, and passions in the field of design and related disciplines. Of particular interest is work that is personally-driven and challenges norms of conventional professional practice. Our community is built on values of diversity and dexterity in visual communication and scholarship, and we are seeking individuals with great curiosity, creativity, ambition, and depth of commitment. Your portfolio should represent a well-rounded portrait of who you are, where your interests lie, and communicate a strong sense of how you might develop your practice in this program.

Upload up to 20 still images and/or videos (but not only videos) that represent your strongest work, with an emphasis on recent work from the last few years. Please note that the Slate viewer, which the admissions committee uses to assess your work, automatically sequences your work from most recent to oldest. There is not the ability to override this function.

Portfolio formatting

The portfolio submission interface will prompt you to label each image with a title, date, medium, and a brief description of the work (please do not include your name in the work title or description). Work titles should be limited to 30 characters and descriptions to one concise sentence.

As it’s necessary to review portfolios quickly and at a relatively small scale, we strongly encourage you to present work large within the frame and in a simple and clear manner, so as to maximize our understanding. Generally-speaking, single images with one view of a project work best to achieve this. Split or composite images can make details or complex works difficult to appreciate and may risk being overlooked or misunderstood, so use these only sparingly.

When presenting books or pamphlets, prepare a few representative images that best capture its primary features, or alternatively, make a short video showing a range of spreads. For interactive media, stills are helpful, but we encourage making a short video that captures the user experience. For complex systems-related or identity projects, highlight just the strongest components in a few images, and for three-dimensional works, show the surrounding context so material and scale relationships are clear.

File Sizes and Types

All digital files must adhere strictly to the specifications outlined below. It’s critical that you do not format images in a presentation program (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote, PDF). PDFs and presentation program formats are not viewable in our system; only the first page/slide will display. Do not include the title or caption in the image file, as it will decrease the viewable image area.

Media files as large as 5GB are supported, but please be advised that larger files will take longer to upload from your Internet connection and may stall if you are on a wireless connection or one that cannot sustain a connection for the necessary period of time. Uploaded documents (such as transcripts) may contain no more than 75 pages.

The works in your portfolio will display in chronological order by year entered in the image data. This is an embedded feature in the system structure. For example, art #1 made in 2021, art #2 made in 2022, and art #3 made in 2024 will appear in that order. However, if you have multiple pieces created within a single year, you will be able to arrange the artwork in any order within that group of files.

Video files should be no longer than two minutes in length. If you upload a video that is longer than two minutes, it will automatically time out at two minutes. Please note that videos are considered as part of your selection of twenty file uploads and should not be used as a method of showing examples of additional still images. Do not include captions, titles, or credits within the video files.

If you wish to submit longer videos, you may post full video files to your own website and provide the link at the end of your statement. Note, however, that the admissions committee will not be in a position to review works of extensive length.

• Video: .3g2, .3gp, .avi, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .mxf, .webm, .wmv
• Audio: .aac, .m4a, .mka, .mp3, .oga, .ogg, .wav
• Slide: .bmp, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff

Please note that while the Slate application portal lists .gif as an accepted file type, we have found that it does not work well in the system. Please avoid using .gif files.

Résumé

Both the content and design of your résumé are assessed. It should not be longer than 2 pages.

File format

Portfolios are submitted online as part of the online application. The portfolio submission interface will allow you to label each image with a title, a date of completion, the materials used, and a brief description of the work. Please do not embed your name in the titles of your work and limit titles to thirty (30) characters. Digital files must adhere strictly to the specifications outlined below.

Portfolio contents

Upload a total of sixteen (16) still images and/or moving image files. Only work completed within the last three years should be included, and at least half (8) should be work made in the last twelve months. In the review process, the admissions committee is concerned with scale and the tactility of the work. For this reason, paintings and drawings must be photographed showing the edge of the work. Paintings and drawings must not be digitally masked in black to the edges of the work. Three-dimensional works should also show the surrounding space and context. Do not include detail photos of work in your portfolio unless you consider them absolutely necessary. Under no circumstances should more than two detail shots be included.

Portfolio Formating

It’s critical that you do not format images in a presentation program (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote, PDF). PDFs and presentation program formats are not viewable in our system; only the first page/slide will display. Do not include the title or caption in the image file, as it will decrease the viewable image area.

Media files as large as 5GB are supported, but please be advised that larger files will take longer to upload from your Internet connection and may stall if you are on a wireless connection or one that cannot sustain a connection for the necessary period of time. Uploaded documents (such as transcripts) may contain no more than 75 pages.

The works in your portfolio will display in chronological order by year entered in the image data. This is an embedded feature in the system structure. For example, art #1 made in 2021, art #2 made in 2022, and art #3 made in 2024 will appear in that order. However, if you have multiple pieces created within a single year, you will be able to arrange the artwork in any order within that group of files.

Video files should be no longer than one minute in length. If you upload a video that is longer than one minute, it will automatically time out at one minute. Please note that videos are considered as part of your selection of sixteen files and should not be used as a method of showing examples of additional still images. Do not include titles or credits within the video files.

If you are primarily a video artist and wish to submit a longer video, you may post the video to your own Website and provide the link at the end of your statement. Note, however, that the admissions committee will not be in the position to review works of extensive length.

• Video: .3g2, .3gp, .avi, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .mxf, .webm, .wmv
• Audio: .aac, .m4a, .mka, .mp3, .oga, .ogg, .wav
• Slide: .bmp, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff

Please note that while the Slate application portal lists .gif as an accepted file type, we have found that it does not work well in the system. Please avoid using .gif files.

Portfolio contents

Portfolios are submitted online as part of the online application. The portfolio submission interface will allow you to label each image with a title, a date of completion, the materials used, and a brief description of the work. Please do not embed your name in the titles of your work and limit titles to thirty (30) characters. Digital files must adhere strictly to the specifications outlined below.

Upload a total of twenty (20) still images and/or moving image files. A significant number of the images should represent work done within the last twelve months. If you are presenting both still and moving images, please present them in two groups with all still images followed by all moving images. Within these groups, place all still and/or moving image files in chronological order, starting with the oldest and ending with the most recent work. Chronological order of year is embedded in our system, and you will not be able to override it.

Portfolio format

It’s critical that you do not format images in a presentation program (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote, PDF). PDFs and presentation program formats are not viewable in our system; only the first page/slide will display. Do not include the title or caption in the image file, as it will decrease the viewable image area.

Media files as large as 5GB are supported, but please be advised that larger files will take longer to upload from your Internet connection and may stall if you are on a wireless connection or one that cannot sustain a connection for the necessary period of time. Uploaded documents (such as transcripts) may be PDF format and may contain no more than 75 pages.

The works in your portfolio will display in chronological order by year entered in the image data. This is an embedded feature in the system structure. For example, art #1 made in 2021, art #2 made in 2022, and art #3 made in 2024 will appear in that order. However, if you have multiple pieces created within a single year, you will be able to arrange the artwork in any order within that group of files.

Video files should be no longer than two minutes in length. If you upload a video that is longer than two minutes, it will automatically time out at two minutes. Please note that videos are considered as part of your selection of twenty files and should not be used as a method of showing examples of additional still images. Do not include titles or credits within the video files.

If you are primarily a video artist and wish to submit a longer video, you may post the video to your own Website and provide the link at the end of your statement. Note, however, that the admissions committee will not be in the position to review works of extensive length.

• Video: .3g2, .3gp, .avi, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .mxf, .webm, .wmv
• Audio: .aac, .m4a, .mka, .mp3, .oga, .ogg, .wav
• Slide: .bmp, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff

Please note that while the Slate application portal lists .gif as an accepted file type, we have found that it does not work well in the system. Please avoid using .gif files.

Portfolio contents

Portfolios are submitted online as part of the online application. The portfolio submission interface will allow you to label each image with a title, a date of completion, the materials used, and a brief description of the work. Please do not embed your name in the titles of your work and limit titles to thirty (30) characters. Digital files must adhere strictly to the specifications outlined below.

Upload a total of twenty (20) still images and/or time-based files. A significant number of the images should represent work done within the last twelve months. Three-dimensional works should show the surrounding space and context.

Portfolio Format

To conform to our viewing format, each still image file may be no larger than 16 MB. Do not format images in any presentation program (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote) or include composite images (more than one work per file).

The works in your portfolio will display in chronological order by year entered in the image data. This is an embedded feature in the system structure. For example, art #1 made in 2021, art #2 made in 2022, and art #3 made in 2024 will appear in that order. However, if you have multiple pieces created within a single year, you will be able to arrange the artwork in any order within that group of files.

Media files as large as 5GB are supported, but please be advised that larger files will take longer to upload from your Internet connection and may stall if you are on a wireless connection or one that cannot sustain a connection for the necessary period of time. Uploaded documents (such as transcripts) may be PDF format and may contain no more than 75 pages.

Video files should be no longer than two minutes in length. If you upload a video that is longer than two minutes, it will automatically time out at two minutes. Please note that videos are considered as part of your selection of twenty files and should not be used as a method of showing examples of additional still images. Do not include titles or credits within the video files.

If you are primarily a video, performance, or sound artist and wish to submit a longer video or sound file, you may post the video to your own website and provide the link at the end of your statement. Note, however, that the admissions committee will not be in a position to review works of extensive length.

• Video: .3g2, .3gp, .avi, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .mxf, .webm, .wmv
• Audio: .aac, .m4a, .mka, .mp3, .oga, .ogg, .wav
• Slide: .bmp, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff

Please note that while the Slate application portal lists .gif as an accepted file type, we have found that it does not work well in the system. Please avoid using .gif files.