Recently I graduated my Masters in Architecture from Iasi Technical University. Despite the "Technical" name tag, the "GM Cantacuzino" Architecture faculty is a 6 years professional course in architectural design.
For the last 3 weeks I have been gathering the school projects and made a portfolio.Now with the first version completed, I bring it to you for a critical review before I begin sending it.
I am looking to get an different perspective opinion on the projects, if anything needs to be improved, added or cut out. Any comment or advice will be greatly appreciated.
If there are any details regarding the projects presented, you can always ask me!
BulgarBlogger
Apr 24, 14 1:22 pm
Nice work. Nice layout.
If it were me, I would include more content that is related to the process of getting to the final solution. Sketches are much more interesting than renderings (in my opinion). But that comment is neither here nor there... There are many firms out there that would grab you just based on the skills you have shown in this portfolio.Good job!
Radu Axinte
Apr 25, 14 6:41 am
Thanks for the suggestion,
I agree with the fact that the pen is mightier that the mouse, when it comes to the thinking process, and I will take your advice into consideration.
There are lots of sketches and "doodles" I made before reaching the final result. Most of the papers are 20-30% covered with graphite and it is not a clear insight into the process of creation, but you have made a strong point that I will integrate in the portfolio.
Thanks for looking over the projects and for your time,
med.
Apr 25, 14 2:05 pm
This is one of the best portfolios I have seen a very long time. And I review these portfolios weekly at my office.
Great work! You have a very long and promising carreer ahead of you in architecture!
batman
Apr 25, 14 11:14 pm
my comments (take it or leave it)
1. i would loose the cover. just make it white or black and the same fonts. clean, simple, and nice. the reason is because it just doesnt go with the caliber of the work inside. you have amazing work. loose the crappy cover. sorry if thats harsh, but really, the cover doesnt do any justice of whats going inside.
2. the cover page layout for each project is nice. thats good shit right there.
but for the diagrams, i dont think its necessary to highlight them with a black box outline. you know what i mean?
try taking them out and just make them a tad smaller. the user can already understand theres an imaginary outline. that way the pages dont look overloaded with a bunch of elements. its just the diagram. thats it. not a diagram + black box outline. just a diagram.
3. i would lose the grey bar on the bottom of the page. again, just too many elements going on. I think what people should read is just your work.
drawings. diagrams. renderings. THAT's it.
no extra bars. no extra black outlines. just your work.
other than that your work is great, very professional and i wish you good luck in your job search and your architectural endeavors.
Radu Axinte
Apr 28, 14 4:22 pm
batman: I made a version with your suggestions and indeed the "clutter" feeling has cleared out. Feedback like yours is always welcome, thank you for the clear overview. I hope you will find the time to look over the new version also.
med.: Thanks for your kind words, I had the pleasure of working with great people until now.
Over the weekend I have tried to implement the suggestions made by BulgarBlogger and integrate the concept sketches in the portfolio. Unfortunately the compact layout and small page count for each project didn't allow me to insert the drawings.
I have uploaded the scanned sketches on the my website and still working around the issue of inserting the sketches in the PDF layout.
The renderings and model photos are pretty spectacular, but the layout is extremely cluttered and obnoxious to the eyes. Every page doesn't need to be an overload of information; your strongest spreads are the title pages of each project.
One clean image with explanatory text is much better than 8-10 images that all compete with each other.
square
Apr 28, 14 8:24 pm
agree with post above.
your work is really nice. how much did you dish out on those models?? solid wood, scale cars.. wow.
I would say in it's current state, your portfolio reads much more professionally than academically. Not saying that's good or bad, but this should match with your target audience/firm.
batman
Apr 29, 14 12:27 am
i didnt see the new version yet, but its a professional portfolio.
having loads of information is fine as long its spaced out and has a nice layout.
batman
Apr 29, 14 12:47 am
1. what do you think of getting the black outline? i think it looks way better. im reading your diagrams without any distractions. however, if you prefer to keep the outline, definitely change the color to a lighter color and not solid black.
2. i think you should lose the artwork on the cover. my reason - its a professional portfolio. if it was for a graduate school, id understand a little more, but whats the context with the people? why are you trying to tell people?
a. in your portfolio, theres no where else that has that same kind of artwork? so what are you trying to disclose here? whats the point? you know what you mean?
b. if you want to have some sort of artwork, i would just do small square thumbnails of your projects (like good renderings of each of your projects) and line them up in a ribbon with your name. that's it. super simple but not tacky.
anyways In my opinion, its starting to look good. thats my opinion, you can change it back or whatever.
Thecyclist
Apr 29, 14 7:29 am
The cover pages are nice, but the pages following are overwhelming.
Radu Axinte
May 2, 14 11:01 am
Well the cluttered feeling was unanimously valid, not only here on the forum but also checked with some friends and they had the same overloaded feeling.
Thanks for the prompt and straightforward feedback.
@batman for the cover artwork. I think that architecture's greatest quality is to facilitate human interaction, regardless of the location, materials or shape of the place/building. That's why I kept on the contour of a group of people. It is the main concern that I developed throughout my studies, and focused on in projects. Human interaction interests me most when it comes to architecture.
Following BulgarBlogger's initial suggestion, I have integrated the design sketches in this new version of the portfolio.
Hello,
Recently I graduated my Masters in Architecture from Iasi Technical University. Despite the "Technical" name tag, the "GM Cantacuzino" Architecture faculty is a 6 years professional course in architectural design.
For the last 3 weeks I have been gathering the school projects and made a portfolio.Now with the first version completed, I bring it to you for a critical review before I begin sending it.
I am looking to get an different perspective opinion on the projects, if anything needs to be improved, added or cut out. Any comment or advice will be greatly appreciated.
http://issuu.com/raduaxinte/docs/radu_axinte_portfolio_2013
Thanks.
The projects can be seen on my website . You can visit it by this link.
www.raduaxinte.com
If there are any details regarding the projects presented, you can always ask me!
Nice work. Nice layout.
If it were me, I would include more content that is related to the process of getting to the final solution. Sketches are much more interesting than renderings (in my opinion). But that comment is neither here nor there... There are many firms out there that would grab you just based on the skills you have shown in this portfolio.Good job!
Thanks for the suggestion,
I agree with the fact that the pen is mightier that the mouse, when it comes to the thinking process, and I will take your advice into consideration.
There are lots of sketches and "doodles" I made before reaching the final result. Most of the papers are 20-30% covered with graphite and it is not a clear insight into the process of creation, but you have made a strong point that I will integrate in the portfolio.
Thanks for looking over the projects and for your time,
This is one of the best portfolios I have seen a very long time. And I review these portfolios weekly at my office.
Great work! You have a very long and promising carreer ahead of you in architecture!
my comments (take it or leave it)
1. i would loose the cover. just make it white or black and the same fonts. clean, simple, and nice. the reason is because it just doesnt go with the caliber of the work inside. you have amazing work. loose the crappy cover. sorry if thats harsh, but really, the cover doesnt do any justice of whats going inside.
2. the cover page layout for each project is nice. thats good shit right there.
but for the diagrams, i dont think its necessary to highlight them with a black box outline. you know what i mean?
try taking them out and just make them a tad smaller. the user can already understand theres an imaginary outline. that way the pages dont look overloaded with a bunch of elements. its just the diagram. thats it. not a diagram + black box outline. just a diagram.
3. i would lose the grey bar on the bottom of the page. again, just too many elements going on. I think what people should read is just your work.
drawings. diagrams. renderings. THAT's it.
no extra bars. no extra black outlines. just your work.
other than that your work is great, very professional and i wish you good luck in your job search and your architectural endeavors.
batman: I made a version with your suggestions and indeed the "clutter" feeling has cleared out. Feedback like yours is always welcome, thank you for the clear overview. I hope you will find the time to look over the new version also.
med.: Thanks for your kind words, I had the pleasure of working with great people until now.
Over the weekend I have tried to implement the suggestions made by BulgarBlogger and integrate the concept sketches in the portfolio. Unfortunately the compact layout and small page count for each project didn't allow me to insert the drawings.
I have uploaded the scanned sketches on the my website and still working around the issue of inserting the sketches in the PDF layout.
www.raduaxinte.com
The new version of the PDF file:
http://issuu.com/raduaxinte/docs/radu_axinte_portfolio_2013
Radu
The renderings and model photos are pretty spectacular, but the layout is extremely cluttered and obnoxious to the eyes. Every page doesn't need to be an overload of information; your strongest spreads are the title pages of each project.
One clean image with explanatory text is much better than 8-10 images that all compete with each other.
agree with post above.
your work is really nice. how much did you dish out on those models?? solid wood, scale cars.. wow.
I would say in it's current state, your portfolio reads much more professionally than academically. Not saying that's good or bad, but this should match with your target audience/firm.
i didnt see the new version yet, but its a professional portfolio.
having loads of information is fine as long its spaced out and has a nice layout.
1. what do you think of getting the black outline? i think it looks way better. im reading your diagrams without any distractions. however, if you prefer to keep the outline, definitely change the color to a lighter color and not solid black.
2. i think you should lose the artwork on the cover. my reason - its a professional portfolio. if it was for a graduate school, id understand a little more, but whats the context with the people? why are you trying to tell people?
a. in your portfolio, theres no where else that has that same kind of artwork? so what are you trying to disclose here? whats the point? you know what you mean?
b. if you want to have some sort of artwork, i would just do small square thumbnails of your projects (like good renderings of each of your projects) and line them up in a ribbon with your name. that's it. super simple but not tacky.
anyways In my opinion, its starting to look good. thats my opinion, you can change it back or whatever.
The cover pages are nice, but the pages following are overwhelming.
Well the cluttered feeling was unanimously valid, not only here on the forum but also checked with some friends and they had the same overloaded feeling.
Thanks for the prompt and straightforward feedback.
@batman for the cover artwork. I think that architecture's greatest quality is to facilitate human interaction, regardless of the location, materials or shape of the place/building. That's why I kept on the contour of a group of people. It is the main concern that I developed throughout my studies, and focused on in projects. Human interaction interests me most when it comes to architecture.
Following BulgarBlogger's initial suggestion, I have integrated the design sketches in this new version of the portfolio.
Protfolio - update
Thanks again for the clear feedback.
To do justice for the illustrations I've created during my student years, I have added a visualization Portfolio.
It includes High-res images of academic projects and commissioned work.
http://issuu.com/raduaxinte/docs/radu_axinte_visualization
If you have feedback or questions about the making of these illustrations, you can always ask.
You should have no problem landing a job. Great work!