Format’s Student Program

To help the next generation of photographers, artists, designers and creatives in their journey, Format has started a student outreach program, not only to make our platform financially accessible for students, but also, to provide them with educational resources and insider professional practice tips, to help them flourish in their desired professions.

On this page, students and educators will find resources to help them build an online portfolio, as well as broader skills like: professional writing, marketing and selling your work online.

Image credit: Rozie Whillans OCADU Graduate 2020

Format is giving the gift of a 1 year trial to students.

To Help students on their journey to success in their chosen professions, Format is offering 1 year free with special discount codes. To request a 1 year student free trial click here.

Educational Resources

Video guides with tips and tricks from Format Experts and Industry Leaders

Professional Practice

Choose a Theme Based on your Desired Profession

Professional Writing for your Website

Design Do’s & Dont’s

Onboarding

Welcome to Format: Intro to Format User Interface

Intro to Design Editor

Intro to Workflow

Profession Specific

Tips and Tricks for Fine Artists

Tips and Tricks for Design Sites

For Educators & Institutions

Format works with Educators and institutional partners, not only with free access to the Format platform for students and faculty, but also to arm institutions with free professional practice content to support the curriculum of your department.
Institutions are also eligible for a free live webinar with a Format Expert.
To get more information about Format’s Educational Outreach program, webinars, and more click here.

“Format is a tremendous partner in how they contribute to the ways emerging artists and designers can share their talents. They provide OCAD University students with access to an easy-to-use, professional-grade platform which not only enhances the online profile of an individual’s creative practice, but also measurably improves employment outcomes and other important markers of career success.”


OCAD UNIVERSITY

Zev Farber, Director, RBC Center for Emerging
Artists & Designers

“Those [students] who do use Format love it and seem also to be the ones who have a successful career after graduation. Many don’t get past a curated Instagram page, which although important, doesn’t give a good foundation platform for running a business.”


Billy Blue College of Design

Peter Collie, Photo Imaging Lecturer, Billy Blue
College of Design, Torren University, AUS

Success Stories

“I’ve been using Format for almost five years to grow my creative practice, and their easy-to-use website creation platform has supported my transition from student to professional. I can easily upload projects to my site hassle free! I love the customisation options available, which enable me to communicate my brand and offering to clients and keep things consistent across print and digital. I guest lecture at universities and have recommended Format to current students looking to present their portfolios professionally.”

Nathan Ward Paper Artist/Designer

Theme: Sierra

online portfolio website example

Rita Kuhlmann Photographer

Theme: Obsidian

Jaz Graf Artist

Theme: Sierra

Frequently Asked Questions

This offer is open to full-time students age 18 or older, studying photography, art, and design (or another creative discipline requiring a portfolio),  through a high school program, community college, college or university, or a continuing educational course or program, or online course.

Educators can also apply on behalf of a class or institution to get a discount code for their students.

Promotional price for students – you will be billed $0 for a Pro Plus Annual Portfolio Plan upon sign up. Students making use of this offer can discontinue service anytime. After the first year, students can cancel, stay on the same plan, or downgrade. To see the terms and conditions on Format subscriptions, please visit https://www.format.com/terms_of_service

The offer will give students one year free on Format’s Pro Plus Annual Plan. This plan will exclude access to Format’s Site Building Service, as well as the free domain. To learn about all of the attributes of this plan, please visit https://www.format.com/pricing-portfolio.

Students can fill out the form here , using their institutional email address .  A Format representative will verify your information and send you a discount code. You can then start a free trial site through format.com (using your institutional email address for your login profile) and add the discount code at check out in order to be billed $0 for the first year.

Educators or institutional representatives can also self-identify for a discount code for their institution by filling out the form here.

You absolutely do not need to know how to code to create a professional online portfolio. Your Format site comes with intuitive tools and 24/7 help from Format Experts that make it easy to customize your site exactly the way you want. Of course, if you want to personalize your website even more, our Pro and Unlimited plans offer access to CSS and HTML editing.

Of course! If you already have a custom domain, you can connect it to your Format website. Our Customer Support team connects user domains to make the process easier. If you’re more hands-on we have support articles to get you started, and our Format Experts are available any time you need help.

All Format plans automatically include hosting so you don’t need to purchase hosting services through a third party.

Absolutely! All our themes are optimized to be viewed across all devices and platforms: from high-res desktops to laptops and smartphone

Join the Community

190

Countries

+500k

Websites Created

7+ Billion

Photos Uploaded

Terms & Conditions: Promotional price for students – you will be billed $0 for a Pro Plus Annual Portfolio Plan upon sign up, and pending verification, you will be sent a discount code to be applied at checkout. In order to redeem this offer, you must start a free trial account on Format.com using your institutional email address. You then apply the code at checkout to redeem your free year. You will be billed $0 for a Pro Plus Annual Portfolio Plan. This offer is open to full-time students aged 18 or older, studying photography, art, and design (or another creative discipline requiring a portfolio), through a high school program, community college, college or university, or a continuing educational course or program, or online course. Format reserves the right to disqualify participants who do not meet those criteria. If the account is not active in a six month period, Format reserves the right to close the account. Offer may not be assigned, exchanged, sold, transferred or combined with any other discount or offer, or redeemed for cash or other goods and services. This pricing is subject to change without notice. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law. This offer is valid until May 30, 2024 or until 4,000 free accounts are claimed. Format has the unlimited right to alter, extend, eliminate or discontinue this offer and/or program in its’ sole discretion. All of the terms and conditions https://www.format.com/terms_of_service which apply to use of the Format platform will apply to this program.

Terms and Conditions for the OCADU + Format Career Launcher Prize 2024

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