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A portfolio critique

spencerfried331

Archinect Community,

 

Looking for some feedback on my M.Arch 1 application portfolio. It consists of the work I did at UCLA's A.UD Summer Jumpstart and then some fine art work I completed independently. Would love to hear what you guys have to say. Thanks a ton.

 

http://issuu.com/spencerfried331/docs/spencer_fried_final_portfolio_reduc/1

 
Sep 5, 14 1:07 pm
SeriousQuestion

Some on-the-fly comments:

I don't like that drawing for the cover-- could you do something a bit more neutral?

On page 23, work on the line weights of that diagram.  It's a cool diagram but looks a little flat right now.

I wouldn't indent paragraphs and might keep the body in the same font as the other text.

I do like the font-- it lends for a clean layout.

I think you might want to keep drawings and photos further away from the edges of the page.

Will add more later.

Sep 5, 14 1:48 pm  · 
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spencerfried331

For some background: I'm a senior in great academic standing at a liberal arts college majoring in Environmental Analysis. No serious design background besides the experience at UCLA. Looking at schools like UCLA, SCI-Arc, Pratt, UMich, GSD, GSAPP, Penn, MIT, and then possibly CCA and UIC.

Sep 5, 14 1:50 pm  · 
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SeriousQuestion

I think that if you aggressively polish this you'd be a really strong contender for all of the programs you've listed.  AVOID DEBT.

Sep 5, 14 1:51 pm  · 
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l3wis

Great portfolio man. I disagree with the first poster—I like your cover graphic a lot, it has a fun, cool, abstract quality to it that I personally think works well. The typeface you have chosen is nice but not perfectly consonant with edgy graphic on the front cover. What you have is really nice, though, so don't use a different font that looks cheesy.

You MUST ABSOLUTELY lose the 'a portfolio of creative work' part on your title. Remove that and just leave your name and the program you're applying to. It is just a too obvious and flowery designation, it makes your cover seem pretentious. Great work though!

Sep 5, 14 2:27 pm  · 
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l3wis

nevermind about the typeface i like it a lot actually :)

Sep 5, 14 2:27 pm  · 
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spencerfried331

@SeriousQuestion

I think issuu, though a very good platform for digital publishing overall, screws a little with the file as it gets uploaded. As a .PDF, my lines look pretty solid I think. Perhaps, to make that p.23 stand out a little more I could just add a light rendering behind it to give it contrast to the white background. You mentioned some "aggressive polishing." Could you elaborate. Otherwise, thank you for the input!

 

@l3wis

Thanks a lot, for the support. I'll make sure to take that title on the front page off. 

 

 

I was also considering adding more pages, perhaps photographs. Do you think that would bolster my portfolio at all? Or diminish the value of my work by having too many works included?

I'm also applying to a school where they have a 20 page limit. If you were to take out a project or projects from this portfolio, which ones would they be in order to cut down the # of pages?

Sep 5, 14 4:16 pm  · 
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bugsmetoo

I'd take out the digital rendering thing. Seems pointless compared to the rest.

Pages 7-8? Eh, one on page 6 is enough.

Three pages for the church diagram--take one out at least. Page 13 has flow problems especially at the cylinder shrinking part. Don't know what the ABCD circles mean but once I figured it out, the whole page was made redundant by the following page. Although you say "new church", the form lacks any resemblance to a space of worship. Be sure to explain how an asteroid-cast-in-plaster works as a sacred space. Or change the title to avoid confusion.

Squeeze 24-25 into one. If I had to cut more out, I'd remove the investigative drawings. 

I read your words and it's great diction but long-winded. To borrow a term already tossed out here, aggressively polish everything. Font seems a bit small--squinting is not good communication design. Check trim size and margins: if you print on paper, they'll crop out some stuff or text will end up in the gutter.

Good luck. 

Sep 5, 14 9:37 pm  · 
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