Overview Instructions Contact DAC

 

Application Instructions

The steps involved:

  1. Complete and submit your application to the University of Delaware
  2. Select your work for your portfolio application
  3. Prepare digital images of your work
  4. Write your essay
  5. Submit your portfolio for review by the Department Admissions Committee (DAC)

Select your work for your portfolio application

The application portfolio requires a minimum of 15 and maximum of 20 individual pieces.

Portfolios are evaluated for creative expressive potential including: understanding of materials, excellence of craftsmanship, composition, conceptual thinking, originality and technical expertise within a variety of media.

We recommend that you limit pieces to a maximum of 4 from any of the following categories:

drawing
painting
photography
computer graphics
2-dimensional design
sculpture
ceramics
3-dimensional design
other

In the event that a Web site is included, up to three screen grabs of the web site are to be submitted. (a screen grab is a JPEG of the web page, not the web page itself.)

Inventory

As your work is submitted to the online application, you will be asked to provide the following for each entry:

title of the piece
medium
category for the piece
size (width, then height)

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Prepare digital images of your work

You may use a digital camera, scanner or film camera to capture your images for your application portfolio.

Image Quality

All images need:

sharp focus
accurate color
tight cropping without wide borders to frame the image
the center and edges of the piece evenly lit

One of the best and easiest ways to take the photo is in bright sunlight, being careful to avoid glare. Also avoid confusing or textured backgrounds as much as possible.

Capturing images with a digital camera

Using a digital camera is the easiest way to create images of your pieces. You can shoot many images and know quickly if you are capturing high quality images. Almost all digital cameras save the images in the required JPEG file format for uploading images over the internet to your portfolio application.

Film Camera

Using a film camera to create images of your work is acceptable. Once you have completed your photography, take the film to a camera shop where they can create a CD with digital versions of your images. Be sure that the images are saved in the JPEG file format and are at least 700 pixels in width or height.

Scanner

You can use a scanner to create images of your work. This will work well for pieces that fit on your scanner. Larger pieces are more easily captured with a camera as it is difficult to scan in several sections of the piece and then collage them together in an image editing program.

You can also use the scanner to digitize prints or slides from a film camera. Be sure your scanner accurately captures color and produces sharp images. It is likely that your camera shop will digitize your prints more accurately than your scanner.

Requirements to upload your images

If you feel the need to manipulate your images in an image editing program like Adobe Photoshop, you can tightly control the cropping, focus and color of the image. These programs make it easy to crop the images to focus attention on your work. If you are comfortable doing this, you can save time uploading images. Warning: be sure to save your images as high quality JPEGs. Low quality JPEGs tend to look blurry with a loss of accurate color.

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Write your essay

Essay Topic

The department is looking for applicants who will shape the character and vision of the department. We are looking for visually creative people who are unique, passionate and talented. In your essay, please describe what qualities you feel you will bring to the department and your college-level educational experience and why. The maximum length for the essay is 500 words.

Suggestions for your essay

It is reasonable that the lack of a formal art education may negatively impact the portfolio. If this is the case, the merit of the essay as a measure of an applicant's admissibility is emphasized. If you feel your art experience is lacking you should refer to that issue in your essay.

Please note that this essay is in addition to the essay required by the Office of Admission's application. Applicants should also be aware of the importance of the University's other requirements such as academic record, letters of reference, extracurricular effort, etc. to the evaluation from the Office of Admissions.

Write your essay in any word processor. Give the essay a title. Take advantage of the spell checker. Print it out and proofread very carefully for content and grammar. Do not use any text formatting (multiple fonts and font sizes, bold and italic) as that will not be preserved when pasting the essay into the text area. Be sure the title of your essay is at the top and on its own line. We are interested in the content of your essay, not the design of your essay.

Your essay must address the issues requested by the DAC.

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Submit your portfolio for review by the
Department Admissions Committee

The University of Delaware Art Department is currently accepting Fall 2009 digital portfolio applications. Please upload your Fall 2009 UD/ART application portfolio of images and essay as instructed:http://udart.slideroom.com

Secure Registration

Upon registration, applicants are emailed an activation link for security and to ensure their information is accurate.

Open 24-7

Applicants can access their account from anywhere in the world by using their email address and password. Their private account is totally secure and accessible to them at all times. The applicant can edit and upload as much as they like until they are ready to send their portfolio.

Technical Support

Applicants can contact SlideRoom anytime for technical support by emailing support@slideroom.com.

Easy to Upload

SlideRoom provides all the tools necessary to upload, label, arrange and preview portfolio items. The uploader allows applicants to browse their computer for files they wish to upload, which may include images, videos or PDF documents. SlideRoom accepts a wide range of standard file types and sizes to make everything easy for applicants.

Preview Portfolio

Applicants see their portfolio just as reviewers will see it before they submit.
Label & Organize

Applicants can add a Title, Dimensions, Medium, Year and any other applicable information to their portfolio pieces by simply double clicking on any item. The system will remind applicants to add this information to any unlabeled portfolio items.

Add 500 word Essay

Cut and paste your essay into the form.

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