Folder for Media Design Study - Submitting Mobile Photos?

Next spring, I'd like to apply for a degree in Media Design or Communication Design, so I'm currently working on my portfolio. I would like to submit one or the other photo, or layout a small booklet for myself (with my own pictures), but have no good camera and currently not the budget to buy me one. This has already flowed into a decent laptop, adobe suite and drawing materials… Do you think it's okay to use cell phone photos? Is that even noticeable? Bigger than A4, I will probably not print the individual photos.

And you think a booklet is in order in the folder? The idea was to design a small A4 booklet on a topic (no more than 6-8 pages), with your own texts, layout, photos and font.

One last point - I'm attending classes to improve my Photoshop & Illustrator skills, and the project we're doing right now fits in well with the portfolio. I use so far copyright-free images of Pexels.com, but I'm not sure now, whether the regulations for the folder there maybe different than for private use? Of course it's not about "stealing pictures" it's about what I do digitally out of it.

If anyone has experience with it, I would be grateful.

It depends on the creative performance and you do not print the pictures in A0.
You can record the quiet with the phone, up to A4 you can print the synonymous without problems.

The best source for royalty free and free images is unsplash.com.

But otherwise you can take all sources for your folder, as long as you do not publish them.

To the cell phone photos: I think that should be okay, if your phone camera reasonably decent pictures and you do not want to print that too huge (so if you do not have the latest iPhone and want to have on DinA2, I could imagine that this hard will, but give it a try, then you'll see how the quality is.

Apart from that, most of the time Prof does not care about the technical part, because you should still learn it, but to see if you have an eye for it, to develop creative ideas, etc.

Copyright: legally, that would have to be okay, but I would make it somewhere in your place again, so that the Profs do not assume it was yours and then find out later. In addition, I would only take it all in, if you really like it very well and still have some in-house performance in it, especially not only technical contribution, because impressed in my experience, as I said rather less. So make sure it's not totally 0-8-15, etc.

Where what I write here, of course, based only on the experience that I've done, since each university has different views… For me then and I think synonymous with most other HS there's often so 1-2 months before submission a briefing in then everyone or a jury member from the jury says a little bit about each folder and that really helps a lot to assess what value is placed and you could just ask to bring along the things you need.

Oh yes, and to the booklet: probably all synonymous differently but with me at that time something like was seen us was also recommended, for example, sketch books etc. If I were in your place but synonymous times ask, or look for whether there are certain specifications, as regards the size etc. If there's nothing on it because of the fact that everything without exception must be raised on cardboard boxes and only one-sided or something, then I think so.

OK thanks. As far as I've seen, the only requirement at this university is that nothing should be bigger than A1. I would like to do portfolio consulting later, but I do not think that will work, because I'm currently abroad until summer (among other things, to have time to prepare the portfolio).

Right, unsplash! Exactly this page I had searched but forgot the name!

Another general tip for the folder:

Best not "something" from each area clean, then set up the folder with a red thread. I once saw a folder in which the creator has only bananas in it. But in every artistic way, drawn, painted, photographed, glued… He has dedicated the whole folder to the (actually boring) banana theme. Of course, the creative part was so good that it was taken.

So do not be technically perfect but show your creativity. The programs are only means to an end.

OK thanks. Yes, that's what I wanted. I already have a topic.

Do you happen to know the following: I have an older drawing, but I do not have the original anymore. Also a few charcoal drawings that smudge very easily. Can one also submit copies in such cases?

If you get the folder back I would take the originals. Charcoal drawings can be fixed with hairspray. Otherwise, also copies, but I would note.

It comes more to think of your creativity when designing the folder, as on the footage itself. I think if they are pictures of you, it does not matter if they are from the mobile phone. It definitely brings more points when you are asked about it in the conversation and say that they are from you (as opposed to "Nah, I downloaded from Unsplash")

If it's really about photography, of course, it's my pictures! 😅 The downloaded stuff is about the creative editing - so much material and variety I do not have that I could only use their own images.

They are fixed, but they still smudge 🤷 That's not how you get it.