Make Your Own Modeling Comp Card
As a model, you actually have very little use for a resume or CV per se; your resume is essentially YOU.
As a model, you actually have very little use for a resume or CV per se; your resume is essentially YOU. And how do you represent that to anyone? With a modeling comp card. A comp card is a quick view of what you look like in different types of clothing, positions, colors, etc. You should design your comp card to give someone considering hiring your for a modeling job a quick at-a-glance overview of what you can do as a model.
You should have at least one representative head shot, at least one fantastic body shot, some shots that show expressiveness, and any other shots that represent your strengths as a model. Now here’s the catch, you should use exactly five photos in order to do all of this. As with a modeling resume or a resume for an acting career, you will ideally be adapting this to suit the requirements of each modeling job that you apply to. This means having a number of different comp cards put together that represent different sides of your ideal modeling career and the types of jobs that you realistically feel that you are a good fit for.
Of course, if you’re paying some modeling agency to make up these comp cards for you, then you can expect to pay dearly. Maybe it is worth it to you, maybe it’s not.
If it’s not worth it to you to save a little trouble by having an agency or photographer put the comp card together for you, or if you simply can’t afford this option, you’re going to need some basic technology: a computer, either a scanner or digital copies of your best shots, and some form of page layout or photo editing software. You won’t need much; probably whatever crap they give you for free with the scanner will be good enough, and in a pinch you could even use Word to put it together. Better still, use OpenOffice.org’s drawing program to lay out your modeling samples. It’s totally free and it works like a charm.
Next you’re going to want to have a good picture in your mind of what a modelling comp card ought to look like. If you have never had one before or if you have somehow never seen many comp cards in your short modeling career, do a google image search and look at as many examples of modelling comp cards as you can. Sample comp cards are going to be important so that you have a very good feeling for the types of layouts and proportions that are accepted and appropriate.
Once you have found a lot of example modeling comp cards and taken note of what they do and don’t do, you’ll just slap your own digitized photos into your OpenOffice drawing document. Be sure to set your margins to the smallest your printer will allow. Also, of course, you’ll want to buy nice glossy photo paper. Fortunately for you, a good photo printer is a very affordable thing these days. You can get a nice photo and scanner all-in-one for about a hundred bucks. The one I use is a Canon PIXMA 510 and you can pick one up for about $90 from Amazon. It does the job very nicely.
Now the next thing to know about putting together your model’s comp card is that the front of it should have one big picture and the back should have four smaller ones. The big one is your money shot so make sure it is the very best overall representation of yourself as a model that you can come up with. The back is show that you have range and demonstrate the different things that you can provide. You’re a model, after all, so you’re the product and this is your packaging.
Black and white photos on your comp card are perfectly okay, as long as they pop. It really doesn’t matter whether you use color or black and white photos on your models comp card, just use whatever the best pictures that you have available are for the specific type of job you’re putting this comp card together for. Print it on the best print mode using the best glossy card stock you can find. Don’t cheap out; you’d be paying a lot more if you were having someone do it for you.
I think you will be very surprised however that you can actually make your own modeling comp card and do just as good a job as if you had a professional do it. It will simply take a little bit of time, attention to detail, and willingness to take your time and be dispassionate about the whole affair. While you will not be including much text on your comp card–this is no time to exercise your skill with a calligraphy pen!–you will certainly want to remember to include your name and measurements! 
If you’re an actor/model (”actor slash model”), take a look at this article for help with putting your acting materials together: Acting Resume Format.