• Looked at the school's site to figure whether it was digital or physical requirement. Physical, which means a lot of your spreads will get cut off right in the middle. The general rule is around 0.25 inches of empty space on all sides. I don't know how you'll bind this but keep that space around to avoid cutoffs.
• Don't CAPS-LOCK ALL THE WORDS. IT'S HARD TO READ. Keep it normal. Bold title, regular body, perfectly fine. 
• I wouldn't overlay text directly on images. In your case, I'd shrink it and let the page breathe a little (instead of shouting at me). 
• Do you want a landscape view? The images seem to be stretched out for no reason and physical pages do suck to hold in landscape.

I can't answer the last question for you. Adjust some spacing and I don't know, stand by your work. 

Pretty good content for no design background.

I think the font is tough to read, try something less bold and maybe not all-caps. Don't overlay text on images; it doesn't suit the format of your portfolio and looks sloppy. And maybe don't use block justification as it seems to leave your text with lots of odd line breaks and uneven spacing.

I'm not sure there's a coherent message coming across. You show a clear interest in architecture, which is good. Maybe write out a quick statement of what you value in design to help you find a way of organizing these projects and finding some unifying themes.

Clean up the scanned sketches though so that the background is flat white. Don't use frames around images unless you want to use them consistently.

Anyway, seems like a good start. But find some way to make this stand out by organizing this around some personal values or general observation about the world. Right now I don't see much connection between your various works other than that you made them.

@bugsmetoo @midlander Thank you very much for your advice. It's all really helpful as I continue my editing. I'll definitely adjust the text and see how the whole thing looks in portrait format. I'm obviously having some trouble articulating and demonstrating a unifying theme. I'm really drawn to the harmony, clean lines and geometry of Japanese architecture and 20th century modern architecture like Frank Lloyd Wright's. I value the integration of architecture and the surrounding landscape, with spaces like interior courtyards or when a building blends into its landscape. Are these ideas that I should continue to home in on? Or is it way too unoriginal? 

I don't think you have the content that shows any of that, at least clearly and without reader extrapolation. But granted those things aren't expected to appear out of nowhere for an unrelated backgrounds applicant. 

I'd expand on those city ink drawings. Consider vectorizing them and adding another dimension to it. Shouldn't take too long to do if you plan out the look first. Hmm, maybe elaborate on that Asian garden section--not sure what it is supposed to say about you. You have the background to tie buildings and environment together so demonstrate that. Architecture isn't just about design and you can be a valuable voice in the right program.

"Way too unoriginal" is pretty spot on.

Hey guys!

i have got bachelor's degree in architecture in June 2014 and now I have sent 3 M.Arch applications to MIT, Cornell and RiceU. I am not quite confident how good my GRE scores are. However, I have a good GPA and I believe my statement and recommendations are good as well. I would like to get your opinions about strength of my application and I would also be so thankful if you evaluate my portfolio.

Here's a brief info about me and my application:

• Lasha Gogichaishvili, Male, 22 y.o.,
• 2.5 years of working experience in Civil engineering and some small projects in interior design (not included in portfolio)
• overall GPA: 3.79 (max - 4.0)
• GRE: V - 152; Q - 163; W - 3.5 
• TOEFL ibt: 98 (20 points in speaking almost ruined my score; R - 24; L - 27; W - 27)
• Reasonable extracurricular experience (including volunteering, AIESEC and sports)

 and here is the link of my portfolio http://issuu.com/lashago/docs/mit_gogichaishvili

I would really appreciate any of your comments as they will be crucial for me during this waiting process.

thanks!

^ Looks very unpolished. And the way you laid it out feels like one continuous page of misery. It doesn't matter what program you used to make the drawings and layout but the color coordination and visual hierarchy just does not look appealing. Honestly, it doesn't look like the quality of work for those top-ranked programs.

But there's nothing you can change now so take it as a sign that your graphical representations are lackluster so hit those books as you wait it out. 

@lasha_go

I would anticipate three quick rejections. This portfolio looks like it was made by someone with absolutely zero design sensibility. In the year between now and your next applications, I strongly recommend that you enroll in some basic graphic design courses (or go through lots and lots of youtube/lynda tutorials).

Also, you might reconsider where you're applying (MIT? Do you really think this will get you into MIT?). This was so bad, if I was reviewing it for admission I don't think I would have gotten past the second or third spread. A second or third-tier program might be more suitable for you.

Saved him and everyone else doing bad asymmetric layouts a lot of time. Why people deviate from this I can never understand. Get acquainted with those red lines.

Somehow I missed that this person actually has a bachelor's degree in architecture. This is an M.Arch II application, for fuck's sake.

Thanks...

At least I know what I have to do following year. It is better than waiting in illusions.

In fact I didn't expect that they are going to evaluate the portfolio only by my graphic design skills. Usually I was just placing all the materials on the layout in Autocad.

I would have another question: The limit of slides is 30. Is it better to show several projects with all the details or shall I count on quantity of projects?

I will not apply for 2-nd or 3-rd tier university as I'm coming from such (or even lower) and that's why I'm missing some essential skills. I would rather create portfolio and apply later.

And one more question - should I retake GRE? I am not quite happy with these scores but if they are not too low I wouldn't spend additional $200 and time for preparation.

P.S. can you please give me a link of portfolio that would be accepted by top tier universities?

It's not that it's evaluated exclusively on the graphic design; it's that the layout/typography/color choices are so poor that a reader has to struggle through them to see the actual work. 

Quality of projects is always more important than quantity. 

I understand where you're coming from, but from looking at this work I just don't think you're ever going to be accepted to any of those three schools. It would be a real shame to spend a year working toward something that is unattainable when you could get into a less selective program. Obviously it's up to you, but I think you're setting yourself up for a lot of disappointment if you don't also apply to some other schools.

The GRE doesn't matter very much at all. It's mostly a formality since it's not very representative of anyone's potential to succeed in architecture school.

You should be able to find plenty of examples of strong portfolios without anyone else's help. But when you find them, remember that the portfolio is meant to be representative of you, so don't use other portfolios for anything more than general inspiration.

All right. I'll apply for two or three more universities then at least to understand where I am right now. Another problem is that I'm counting on some financial support from my government and the lower university is in rankings, the more I need to struggle for support.

I was accepted by Roger Williams University for undergraduate program 4 years ago with biggest available scholarship (I still had to pay about $ 30 000 per year and there were no supporting programs in my country that time). I think it will be my choice again. I would appreciate your advice as well, can you list some universities that you consider 2-nd and 3-rd tier?

Of course I need a good portfolio to understand how "layout/typography/color choices" look. I am not going to insult myself with plagiarism.

Thanks for your time and attention. Your opinions were really informative for me!

@Lasha_go

First remove the grey background, it makes things depressing.  A white background is usually a solid choice.  Think minimally, you don't need the black bars running through your spreads with huge words or a black stroke around the images towards the end.  You want your work to be the focus with all the other stuff playing a supporting role.  Your typography is quite heavy and inconsistent. In InDesign, I would pick a typeface that has a range of weights and use 3 of them - One that is for the title (12pt-14pt?), one for labels (10pt?), and one for the body text (10pt).

Your work itself needs help as well.  Take this year off and learn to use VRay and post processing in photoshop for your renderings.  Currently, they are too saturated and awkward.  You never show interior spaces and so the projects come off as being a show more about formalism than anything about space and function.  The plans and sections read as though you were trying to stuff these odd shapes with program.          

Go to Issuu.com and search for the top tier schools like, "GSD", "GSAPP", "YSOA", ect. Here is a quick list of examples of portfolios that I find to be great:

James Leng

Christina Kull

Lin Wei

Here is a UMichigan portfolio presentation:  https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/pdfs/architecture/march/grad_portfolio_workshop.pdf

^these are great examples graphically, but I think they are all from grad school not for it. Just wanted to point that out, because you probably shouldn't apply to grad school with a 100pg portfolio. I actually went to grad school with Christina, small world.

There are plenty of good programs out there that have more reasonable acceptance rates than the three you listed. 

There is no reason to worry about anything other than the portfolio, letters of recommendation, and personal statement at this point. Your GRE is fine.

Your advice were really helpful. Many thanks again! As I understood, some essential skills are not paid enough attention at my past university. I'm starting lynda courses right now and I'll apply for some middle tier universities if I manage to significantly improve my portfolio materials this year.

Actually this forum is some kind of find for me. I'll ask you some more critique several weeks later.

Thanks again for the great advice (on the original portfolio post). Here's an updated version of my portfolio after feedback. I would appreciate any additional critique from the Archinect community before I make my final tweaks and submit my application next week. Thank you!

http://issuu.com/michbc/docs/michelle_arch_portfolio_2014_v8

@justsuppose

There's a lot of improvement here, and a long way yet to go.

The cover is much better, as is the project text, though that condensed font (with double justified paragraphs, ugh) is still annoying and difficult to read. The sketches should be at or near the end (and even then I'd consider removing the Sokol Blosser one), not the first spread.

The tried and true approach is to put your best/most interesting work first, the second best last, and ordering the rest of the work so that it keeps the reader's attention as much as possible. Since you don't have a background in architecture I'd recommend putting photography and sketches at the end (like an appendix). Here's the order I'd use:

• jellydome
• tic tac toe
• Caroline dress
• the first spread of photographs
• your Fallingwater sketch and hopefully some other sketches that are better than the Sokol one

I'd probably leave out the city drawings (they're super boring and there's not really any design content there), the Lan Su photographs (again, just not compelling at all), and the Clean Water Analysis. Absolutely no one is going to take the time to read that when there are hundreds of other portfolios to sift through.

@placebeyondthesplines

The school I'm applying to specifically instructs applicants to include an academic writing sample in the portfolio, which is the only reason I included the report. It's my strongest and most relevant writing sample. I think I'll add a site plan for the project to at least give some visual interest. I'll definitely be doing some font editing and rearranging too. Thank you for your helpful critique. Hopefully I'll be joining you all in the architecture profession someday. 

What, exactly, is so wrong with double justified paragraphs?

^ nothing wrong with justified paragraphs. I wouldnt use them either, but I know professional graphic designers who do, and when they do it, it looks nice.

@justsuppose, that is a nice leap in presentation quality. Its much easier to read. Well done. I agree about the order, place a strong project at the front and a fairly string project at the end too. Not sure about the text project, it could be taken either way. For me its a nice counterpoint, but for others maybe not. The city project I would include absolutely because it indicates an analytical approach/ambition. Your other projects are intuitive and romantic so showing the opposite is a good thing. It suggests some depth to your intuitions.

The main thing with a portfolio is to show an intention and a point of view, as much as possible. Its hard to do if you are not coming from architecture. Perhaps in your case the text is important in that way. Right now you are attracted to certain ideas intuitively. The flowing fabric, pinned together. Something generic about old-style Asian design, something about turning metal pieces into an organic sculpture, something about FLW, something about city plans. My question would be what ties them together, apart from the fact that they are the points that attract you as an individual. Are they each separate threads, or part of a larger picture? Both are perfectly fine. You dont need to force them into a single package if they dont go there, but maybe there is more to say still. 

ie, that you notice cities are different  is a cool thing. What would be interesting is to see if the buildings set in those different urban landcapes are the same or different. Globalization turns everything to mush. Beijing looks like manhattan looks like tokyo looks like london, even if the urban patterns are entirely different. Or maybe there is something else you are looking for. I'm kind of curious. So far you are not saying what actually draws your attention to these forms. If its just surface its cool, just say that. If its deeper would be interesting to know what its all about.

It doesnt really matter what, but the self-questioning aspect is important to architecture. The school will teach you to architect, what they wonder is if you are open to the possibility of design as a self-questioning process. If you can show that you are self-aware that would be cool. If its all about intuition for you that is of course totally OK, but then try to back it up by knowing/showing that is where you are at. How to express that is another issue, and is perhaps the real task of a portfolio. The content is just the surface.

That is a lot to ask for in a portfolio especially if you are not used to that approach. If you can arrange the order of projects and maybe modify the text or add some extra images to give a context it could make things deeper. If that is too daunting it's cool, but I would keep it in mind as you finalize things.

@will galloway

I agree, double-justified paragraphs can be done well, but it's a pretty advanced technique to get right when the basic graphic design fundamentals are so otherwise lacking. And I agree about the city drawings; there could be something there but as it is currently there's no analysis, just a set of very, very rudimentary drawings.

@archhopeful

Justified paragraphs generally require substantial tweaking to word/character spacing, as well as hyphenation, to avoid "rivers" (distracting alignments of white space that occur within blocks of text). This is also the reason why a single space after a period is correct while a double space is incorrect. 

When done without a great deal of thoughtfulness, justified text looks lazily presented and unprofessional. Left-aligned text, on the other hand, is practically impossible to get wrong, and leaves all that text adjustment time for more important parts of the portfolio.

@OP, since you include the writing sample I think you should give a bit of context for add - add an intro page explaining what the purpose of the writing was, what the course was, and how it was received if it was presented at all outside of the course. Also include the diagrams it refers to so that a reader would actually be able to follow along.

Alright, here's the somewhat final version I sent out this morning. It's already in the mail so I'm including this link only in case anyone who gave advice is interested! I tried to incorporate as much feedback as I could in the limited time frame. It was interesting reading everyone's thoughts and I hope the final product serves its purpose. Thanks again!

http://issuu.com/michbc/docs/michelle_arch_portfolio_2014_v11

There are still some things in here that seem very willful and not very well thought out, but this is an absolutely massive improvement over your first one. There is no doubt in my mind that you have greatly improved your admission chances.

It bodes well for you that you sought out critique in a forum like this and actually took the advice to heart without taking anything personally. Being able to listen and learn from criticism is very difficult for some, but it is arguably the most important skill to have in design school. 

Are you applying anywhere else?

much improved, nice. good luck.

@placebeyondthesplines No, I only applied to Portland State. It was really my only option as my husband and I own a house in Portland (why I didn't apply to University of Oregon), this is where his job is, and I can't afford out of state tuition anyway. If I don't get in this year I suppose I'll start looking at other options like moving. I know PSU is newly accredited but I got a great impression visiting the department. Do you think it's a poor decision to limit my options in this way?

Thanks for the responses! I never considered that.

No, you have to be realistic, architecture is a calling more than a career, meaning for most, your success will come from what you do with your education, not so much the school you come from.  The only limitation, and it's not a hard limit in the least, is it's difficult to start a career in a different region than that in which you got your degree.  That being said, if you stay in the PNW you'll find quicker success in landing an internship.  But thinking logically, and making pragmatic decisions regarding your education is probably the best thing you could do.