An internship portfolio is read twice: once for the work, and once for the student who made it. Design projects and technical drawings matter, but so do the composition of the portfolio itself and the daring to do more than was asked.
What we look for at studio athenos
Selection starts with previous work: college projects, personal work, anything you have made. Beyond the design projects and technical drawings, we look at how the portfolio is composed and for thinking that goes outside the box. Things may be a little wrong; you are a student, and that is expected. What has to be there is the daring to do more. We are not looking for a finished standard. We are looking for how you think through a problem, and what you choose to show us about yourself.
The portfolio is itself a design
A portfolio is read as a piece of design before any project in it is. When we look at a student’s work, it is often not only about how the projects look. The layout, the spacing and the sequence of pages show whether a student understands visual composition, and that understanding is part of what we are judging. Strong projects in a careless layout lose to ordinary projects presented with judgement.
Show the student, not only the studio work
A portfolio of college projects alone shows what your college asked of you. It does not show who you are. Sketches, photographs, writing, models, anything you have made because you wanted to: these show how you see, and that is what an office is choosing when it takes an intern.
Technical drawings: always
Add every kind of technical drawing you have made: working drawings, sections, details, services layouts. Some portfolio guides advise cutting them to make room for images. We read it the other way. A working drawing, a section through a construction detail or a services layout shows that you have tried to resolve a building beyond its presentation image. Drawing for the people who build is covered in article 8.
AI: show how well you used it
AI use matters, and it is not only about images. What we want to see is how well you have used AI and what you tried with it that others have not. Show the work before and after, name the tool, and say what you changed, rejected or took further. A good image tells us about a tool; a clear account of how you used the tool tells us about you.
How many pages and projects should an internship portfolio have?
The first look is short, often a minute or less. Three to five projects and about 10 to 15 pages is a practical range for an internship application. For first contact, a selection of about five pages of your strongest work is enough; keep the full portfolio ready for when the office asks for it. Two excellent projects beat two excellent projects plus eight mediocre ones.
What to put in
Your projects in order of strength and relevance, not by semester. A strong college project belongs ahead of weaker professional work. Where you can, choose and order the work to suit the kind of practice you are applying to.
A label, a line and a role for every project: whether it is student or professional work, the problem it set out to solve, and what you did. When your part in group work is not stated, a reviewer will assume the best parts were someone else’s.
Process, not only the result: plans, sections, hand sketches and photographed models, not pages of renders alone.
A one-page CV with your education, contact details and the software you have actually worked in, written as names, not logos.
Your name on every page, and your contact details at least on the cover and the last page.
What to leave out
Work you have doubts about, however much it mattered to you. Early work that no longer shows what you can do. Group projects where your part cannot be separated.
Office drawings, client information or photographs from a live project, unless the office has given you permission. Show only what you are allowed to share, and say exactly what you contributed.
If you are an interior design student, what a render needs behind it is covered in article 6.
Sending it
Send a PDF unless the office asks for an online portfolio or a link; if you share a link, check that it opens without a login. Keep the file under 5 MB if you can, and within any limit the office states. Keep one page orientation throughout, and name the file with your full name and the word portfolio.
This is the portfolio you apply with. Your college may have its own format for documenting the work you do during practical training; check that requirement with your department.
To send yours to studio athenos, use Send Portfolio on the internship page: https://studioathenos.in/internship.html
