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Portfolio review

leriot

I am applying for MArch II in the USA and have an urgent need in critique for my portfolio (I am applying for a scholarship now). Could you please review the document and share with me your opinion?

http://issuu.com/veronikavolkova/docs/veronika_volkova_portfolio_issuu

Please, be harsh on me - I need any advice you can offer!

 
Oct 6, 15 9:21 am
x intern

Your portfolio looks like a school portfolio.  I don't see any glaring issues although its a little gray.  I like the style but it doesn't jump out at you.  

Oct 6, 15 6:32 pm  · 
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no_form

is the cover image of sand yours or is it stock photography?  also, did you verify that tokyo replay center is spelled correctly in japanese?  i would remove "my architectural sandbox" on the cover and the big "thank you" on the back cover.  page 4 & 5 process sketches of the community center are interesting to me but very small.  same for pharmaceutical institute page 01.  i think you need a little more process.  everything is really polished and your renderings are great, but in school we need to see the thought process that lead to the sexy rendering.  most process work is messy so people don't like to show it, but if you can neatly compose it on the page that's good enough.  

Oct 6, 15 7:53 pm  · 
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thompson's gazelle

the work itself seems good, but the layout lacks hierarchy in the first half of your projects in particular. Every image or text block is too similar in size. The hand-sketched site plan on page 7 (issuu based, not your actual portfolio) doesn't deserve that much space simply due to lack of detail. Also at the bottom part of page 15, the texts are the same size as the image to its left which is kinda weird. Otherwise it seems fine to me. I would get rid of the "thank you" at the end. 

Oct 6, 15 8:48 pm  · 
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leriot

x intern, I tend to make everything a little too motley, so I went for the gray-ish style now... Seems that I have overused the desaturate option after all(

rob_c, thank you so much for the detailed review! The cover photo is from a stock. I think I'll have to change it. Actually, I have tons of process sketches and model photos - I'll rearrange some pages and insert them!

thompson's gazelle, thanks a lot! I'll try improve the hierarchy... Oh, the typography!

Got rid of the "thank you")

Oct 7, 15 2:57 am  · 
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alrightalright

you've spent too much time "rendering" and not enough time thinking; making. as of now you run the risk of being pigeon-holed into the rendering person.

Oct 7, 15 4:59 pm  · 
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leriot

alrightalright, oh( Last year I was told that I had problems with style and graphics and put too much info about every project. Seems that I this year I did not find the balance either( What is a good example of "making and thinking" process presentation? Why does not an elaborated project show of the design thinking? I had designed every piece of architecture that I have included in my portfolio - does it count? Or the quality of architecture itself is not up to standards of the USA schools? I have put some of the process sketches to the newer version of the document, but probably not enought - about half a page for every project. Should I include more? A spread, perhaps? Most of the process materials are pretty, but hard to understand - you experiment, you try something and then adapt to a different form, etc. Should I redraw sketches and remake models? Wouldn't it also be considered of rendering work? I really need some advice and examples here.

Oct 7, 15 5:41 pm  · 
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SpatialSojourner

I think that this is a major improvement compared to the one you posted a while ago. Good job!  I think there's a hierarchy issue with the title pages. There's a huge title but then below it is minor details but then to the right is a tad bigger title with more text.  The work itself, in my opinion, lacks some spatial complexity and formal cohesion - but that'll be worked on in grad school. 

Oct 10, 15 6:47 am  · 
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leriot

SpatialSojourner, thank you a lot!!! I will work on the text hierarchy more (need some training in typography, maybe?..) And about architecture - you are so right! I hope that I'll improve in a school.

Oct 10, 15 1:21 pm  · 
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SpatialSojourner

Ellen Lupton has some great resources for type.  She has a book but most of the stuff can be found online: http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/. And there's a free course on skillshare: https://www.skillshare.com/classes/design/Typography-That-Works-Typographic-Composition-and-Fonts/1694217981

With a few tweaks, you should be pretty successful in getting into most grad programs.  Maybe do an exploration into the fundamentals like: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/36/44/9f/36449f5a33212bd1c7ab5eb692725ca1.jpg

Or include more "art" explorations.    

Oct 10, 15 2:50 pm  · 
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leriot

SpatialSojourner, wow, thanks a lot! The blog and the course look promising!

And thank you for the tip about exploration materials. I'll definitely add some of those.

Oct 11, 15 4:38 am  · 
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