Decided my school blog post was not the appropriate place for this, so I deleted it and am posting it here.
This portfolio is composed of 3 and a half years of school at the Kansas State undergrad program. Right now, I will be using it to get a summer internship and hope to only slightly alter it for graduation (and possibly for grad school later on).
The layout is supposed to be magazine-like but I am unsure of whether the lack of white space is a problem (especially because of image size and the amount of text).
Feel free to give input on layout, images, renderings -- any feedback is greatly appreciated.
I won't judge on architectural content though-- I'm not clever enough for that.
I FUCKING LOVE the 4-5 spread. Unfortunately, I also hate it too.
When you do anything that's both to the edge and across the binder, all of your other content needs to be not so blocky. You're essentially putting a massive LOOK AT ME block here.
What I'd do is cut out the smaller graphic. Its two bold boxes too near each other. Perhaps cheese it up with a generic drop shadow.
Your text here is gross too. On vertical letter, you can get away with three columns. Two is preferable. I'd make the text box on this page two columns and bring in the left hand side about a 1 pica.
What's important is that the main graphic is so important. Everything else should be secondary. I feel like its 3 big things competing.
Make the aerial shot slightly smaller vertically. Slide up the render underneath it and add a small caption.
I need to know what I am looking at.
8-9...
Perfect.
10-11...
OMIGOD. Text boxes on paper this small should always go on the outside. Text is claustrophobic. It hates being boxed in unless it is in a text box.
12-13...
Again. Text. Move it up to the very top or very bottom. It's awkward here.
14-15
Try to cut a line out of each paragraph. Move the bottom images up about a half pica.
16-17
You should probably take down the black value on those illustrations by 10-20%. It's a pretty well done page. Very graceful... except those two drawins on the side that are so bold they're screaming racist, sexist obscenities.
18-19
Again, stop trying to suffocate the text box like it's your rich grandmother in a coma on her deathbed. She'll die and you'll get that inheritance soon enough. Let it breathe!
Overall?
Remove the hyphenation and force justification on your body text.
Fixed width fonts can be easy to read and are a wonderful nod to tradition. They look kind of swell, too.
Unfortunately, the hyphenation part is ghastly. And force justification removes that fixed width aspect of them making them all wonky and hard to read.
first off - the graphic quality of your projects are quite nice - especially for undergrad work.
I think it's good enough for summer internships, but for grad school you may need to show more process/analysis (or include other non-studio projects that show your personality). There might be some sophisticated thinking going on in the designs, but I have no idea where you started and how you developed your ideas unless I do a lot of reading - and even in the text you only vaguely allude to your process.
for example, the first project - you talk about "sustainable elements," yet I see absolutely no investigation aside from borrowing forms. Why raise the building when burying it might have been equally valid? you need to show you're thinking about these things otherwise you seem guilty of simply copying forms without actually trying to understand what these elements are doing for your own project.
anyway - great stuff, looking forward to seeing more of your progress.
Feb 20, 11 11:38 am ·
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Architecture Portfolio Critique Wanted (Undergrad)
Decided my school blog post was not the appropriate place for this, so I deleted it and am posting it here.
Open publication - Free publishing - More portfolioThis portfolio is composed of 3 and a half years of school at the Kansas State undergrad program. Right now, I will be using it to get a summer internship and hope to only slightly alter it for graduation (and possibly for grad school later on).
The layout is supposed to be magazine-like but I am unsure of whether the lack of white space is a problem (especially because of image size and the amount of text).
Feel free to give input on layout, images, renderings -- any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Direct Link:
http://issuu.com/bsteadman711/docs/2011port
Thanks!
Okay, I love aspects of this.
I won't judge on architectural content though-- I'm not clever enough for that.
I FUCKING LOVE the 4-5 spread. Unfortunately, I also hate it too.
When you do anything that's both to the edge and across the binder, all of your other content needs to be not so blocky. You're essentially putting a massive LOOK AT ME block here.
What I'd do is cut out the smaller graphic. Its two bold boxes too near each other. Perhaps cheese it up with a generic drop shadow.
Your text here is gross too. On vertical letter, you can get away with three columns. Two is preferable. I'd make the text box on this page two columns and bring in the left hand side about a 1 pica.
What's important is that the main graphic is so important. Everything else should be secondary. I feel like its 3 big things competing.
6-7...
Make the aerial shot slightly smaller vertically. Slide up the render underneath it and add a small caption.
I need to know what I am looking at.
8-9...
Perfect.
10-11...
OMIGOD. Text boxes on paper this small should always go on the outside. Text is claustrophobic. It hates being boxed in unless it is in a text box.
12-13...
Again. Text. Move it up to the very top or very bottom. It's awkward here.
14-15
Try to cut a line out of each paragraph. Move the bottom images up about a half pica.
16-17
You should probably take down the black value on those illustrations by 10-20%. It's a pretty well done page. Very graceful... except those two drawins on the side that are so bold they're screaming racist, sexist obscenities.
18-19
Again, stop trying to suffocate the text box like it's your rich grandmother in a coma on her deathbed. She'll die and you'll get that inheritance soon enough. Let it breathe!
Overall?
Remove the hyphenation and force justification on your body text.
Fixed width fonts can be easy to read and are a wonderful nod to tradition. They look kind of swell, too.
Unfortunately, the hyphenation part is ghastly. And force justification removes that fixed width aspect of them making them all wonky and hard to read.
first off - the graphic quality of your projects are quite nice - especially for undergrad work.
I think it's good enough for summer internships, but for grad school you may need to show more process/analysis (or include other non-studio projects that show your personality). There might be some sophisticated thinking going on in the designs, but I have no idea where you started and how you developed your ideas unless I do a lot of reading - and even in the text you only vaguely allude to your process.
for example, the first project - you talk about "sustainable elements," yet I see absolutely no investigation aside from borrowing forms. Why raise the building when burying it might have been equally valid? you need to show you're thinking about these things otherwise you seem guilty of simply copying forms without actually trying to understand what these elements are doing for your own project.
anyway - great stuff, looking forward to seeing more of your progress.
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