Today, organizations of many different typologies (in private, consultancy, public and third sector) seek for service designers capable of dealing with complex issues, with the ultimate scope of bringing value to their end clients/users. While this great demand is certainly positive, service designers now entering the market face multiple challenges when designing an effective portfolio: to properly select valuable elements (e.g., previous experiences and projects, personal perspective, soft and hard skills) accordingly to the job position; to develop a narrative that could encompass the complexity and richness of service design practice and make it assessable for recruiters; to avoid the “one size fits all” approach, while not putting unnecessary effort.
Given these premises, the goal of the course by Francesco Leoni is to support students in designing a successful résumé and portfolio for applying as service designers. More specifically, the class will focus on the communication design side, exploring graphical and visual solutions that can help to convey their message and to achieve their goals. The course will be run mostly as a workshop, focusing on single needs and specificities through individual or small group reviews. As a final output, the students are expected: to develop a digital format document including both résumé and portfolio with selected projects, intended to be sent as attachment in applications by email; to establish an online presence and make part of contents in portfolio accessible online.
