By the time Sofiia started working on her portfolio for Dutch design schools, she already had experience from applying to Aalto University once before. That experience changed how she approached everything that followed. It was no longer only about making work, but about understanding how that work is interpreted.
While Aalto evaluates applicants through entrance exam assignments and interviews, Dutch schools such as KABK rely much more heavily on the portfolio, a collection of applicants earlier creative work. This meant that Sofiia had to learn how to present not just what she made, but how she thinks.
“From the very beginning I had this idea for the design of the portfolio that I really wanted to realise, so I was mainly fuelled by this motivation of it looking like I wanted to.”
She already had some projects from previous studies, and also work from her earlier Aalto application. But during the Scandinavian Design School course, her focus started to shift. It was no longer only about collecting strong projects, but about deciding what each project was actually saying.
Two of the course assignments ended up becoming part of her final portfolio: a poster design about transportation, and a business gift project for a non profit organisation.
“The two works that got directly included in the portfolio are the projects we had in the very beginning of the course and almost at the end of it. One was a poster about a specific theme, and the other was about ideating, planning and producing a set of business gifts for a non profit organisation.”
“While all of the assignments were interesting, it were these two that I liked my outcome of the most. I would probably include more of the course projects, had I not had a size and page count limitation.”
Sofiia's SDS course work: that she chose to the portfolio: A project to design business gifts to a local social organization. She cjhose an association working for children and the gifts consider the different ways association serves the community.
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A major part of the SDS course was feedback. Not only on the projects themselves, but on how clearly her thinking came through.
“The most important part of the development for both portfolio or the assignment is definitely feedback and constructive criticism I got form my projects”
Through tutoring sessions with the teacher, she started to notice gaps between what she intended and what others actually understood. In group sessions, this became even more visible. Different students interpreted the same work in completely different ways.
“Many of us have a vastly different background which is why their viewpoint may differ to yours.”
That difference changed how she evaluated her own work. Clarity was no longer something she could assume. It had to be tested through other people’s understanding. She also started to feel more comfortable with uncertainty in assignments because of repeated practice during the course.
“Those earlier exercises played a significant role in understanding the kind of assignments the school gives, but it was also a great practice under pressure.”
Sofiia's High School Art Thesis played a major role in how her portfolio layout was designed. The crocheted playcards and her interest towards traditional crafts inspired her to make the crocheted visual identity she then modified across the layout to fit different projects and proportions of pages. Some floats fitted the screen while some needed scrolling to be seen completely.
Sofiia included selected sketchbook spreads in her portfolio alongside her strongest artworks and Aalto University preliminary assignment projects from both application years. Together, these works demonstrate her range across different mediums, her persistence in pursuing a career in design, and her ability to develop ideas over time while also experimenting and engaging with early stage ideation.
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Over time, Sofiia began to notice differences between schools more clearly.
“I noticed that both Aalto and KABK valued process and unique ideas. KABK seemed more interested in the context of the project, while Aalto seemed to value interdisciplinary thinking and sustainability.”
This helped her stop trying to design for one universal standard. Instead, she focused on making her thinking visible through each project in a different way. Looking back, she describes the shift very simply:
“I started to understand what made my work stronger in the context of applications.”
“What gradually became more important than producing finished answers was learning how to make decisions visible and structured under uncertainty.”
Ultimately, Sofiia’s portfolio worked not because it showed perfect outcomes, but because it showed how those outcomes were formed. And that, more than anything else, is what made her thinking understandable to others.
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A strong portfolio does not only present final works and finished outcomes. It communicates how you think while working, what decisions you make and why, and how your process develops over time. In design, much of the important work happens before the final result is fully realised. It may be scary to show something that is not yet a finished thought, but that reveals a lot more to the evaluators than perfect and polished finishes.
Sofiia's application journey had a perfect ending in her acceptance to KABK. If you find yourself in a similar situation, here is her advice to you:
"The most important thing in all of these applications is consistency! Do not give up, even if you don’t get the wished result the first time, or the second. Go through with the applications and do your best, even when it seems that your chances are small, if nothing else, you will surely gain experience and learn something from the process."
