Not bad. Lots of blank space, but not necessarily dead space.

beautiful.

the graphics are awfully darth-vadery, and don't necessarily align with your projects' strong sense of 20th century modernism. As an M.Arch applicant, the best thing to do is spend a month deducing your entire identity as a thinker/designer into a single paragraph. This paragraph can become your penultimate guidance, and every component of your package should reflect it's intentions. this is advice that was given to me and worked very well... you will be surprised at how many issues this resolves, right down to the excess amount of black background and conceptually sloppy headers, leaders, etc.

Admissions committees are faced with hundreds, sometimes thousands of applications. The ones that make it through at the ivies usually have crafted some sort of identity: the guy who thinks everything is a bridge, or the girl that considers everything in terms of animation, etc. I think as an art history major, you could maybe be the guy who thinks about everything in terms of abstract expressionism, or european modernism, or whatever it is that you find most architectural about your background. I think if you do this, if you write this paragraph and attend columbia's program with the intention of crafting an identity, your projects--both existing and future--will express themselves with more integrity than they currently do. As it stands, I'm disappointed because the projects are good, clean, wholesome modernism, yet the graphics choke their potential. look at cooper union's 'the education of an architect,' or their website... particularly the work of faculty members david gersten and georg windeck. as instructors, they are experts are presenting small modernist buildings. also, for graphic design inspiration, look here:

www.gridness.net, particularly the vintage and editorial sections

and here:

www.vignelli.com, go to the news section and download their "vignelli canon" as a .pdf. For me, this was the single most important document when putting together my portfolio in indesign. read the whole thing, it's worth it.

best of luck, i think you will do just fine with you apps if you keep working, and pull a couple more good projects out of your time at columbia. also, resist the temptation to imitate the rhinoscript and grasshopper projects as you navigate potential grad schools' websites... just exhibit a stellar understanding of form, space, and order... get down with your modernist self and success will follow.

the above links won't work with the commas at the end : /

eh..

I think that a portfolio can be read as either a consistent representation of identity or an evolution of identity... with the limited information that ohmzzz presented, it seems to be going into either direction.

idk, as fujimoto used to say, don't follow the rules.

right, did i forgot to mention to take everything i say with a pinch of salt? what works for me may not work for you, or chriswinterpill. my experiences were with post-grad programs, which look for candidates with certain positioned research interests, etc. an M.Arch I program is a very different thing. So it may be that my suggestions are way off...

Thanks for the replies. I am trying to understand what you're saying pzuro, but I don't think I completely understand. Can anyone shed some light on this discussion on post-grad vs. m.arch portfolio's?
Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it.

what i meant is that post-grad (i.e. M.Arch II) portfolios are coming from students that already have a professional architecture degree, thus their portfolios should exhibit a consistent representation of their identity as a professional architect... this applicant is expected to have specific research interests and a well-developed sense of their position within the field. their portfolios might read more like an oeuvre, or a catalogue of projects. the M.Arch I student often has very little, if not zero formal architectural training, and is admitted based off of their potential, not what they have already accomplished... in this scenario an applicant's portfolio may not be expected to have an established identity, but rather indicate that the applicant has the graphic and critical thinking skills to be successful. i hope this makes more sense...

Yeah, I think I understand what you're saying now. So because I am a non-major with some architectural experience, in your opinion what do you think would be the best way to approach my portfolio?
P.S., the vignelli website is very helpful, thanks!

looks like shit, omar!

just kidding

call me when u get back from nyc

love,

m.l.k. president

the man, the legend

Too much black.  Do you plan to print that?  Unless you have some friends with publication businesses, I suggest you go white.  Plus the word overlapping for your project titles isn't quite working.  There is no need for that, and it's distracting.  Always go for clean text.  Plus, I would expect more work considering the following:

Background includes two years of design at UT-Arlington, and a degree in Art/Architectural history.

Furthermore, your Ronchamp sketch has no title, no introduction.  It's just thrown in there.  I think sketches are fine for someone at your level, so throw in some more if you like, to balance out the projects.  I know you don't have much experience, but I feel the portfolio needs to have a few more items.

http://www.issuu.com/esmtll/docs/portfolio3

oops i meant this one:

http://www.issuu.com/cehearn/docs/designportfolio

very similar

wanna chill?

b4 sem sesh bra

updated this for anyone who is interested.

http://issuu.com/soali/docs/soali

Looks like this portfolio really came a long way from how a remember it looking a while ago...nice job!

thanks man

where are you applying to soali ?

Hes applying to all the same places as you batman, oh noes! !! 1 one!1