That must have JUST changed because a few weeks ago when I first looked I was so excited that they accepted hard copies.  Now I am just incredibly disappointed and angry. 

I emailed them asking if I could also submit a hard copy but I expect the answer to be "no."

I just sent them an email as well. I was so eager to print a hard copy because i was very optimistic of its final production. I will comply with the online submission as long as I am able to send a hard copy as well.

I do not to want exclude or reduce any of my projects as I have feel it will loose my application as a whole. I really hope they will grant this request.

It's been changed for a while now (I remember seeing it as early as August). I noted on the commiserate 2012 thread that nobody seemed to be talking about it. qtip's reply led me to believe others knew and didn't really have much to say about it (we have a discussion on issues with the new format there too).

Anyway, a few points:

I'm assuming the 12 x 18" format is meant to be a landscape orientation. It's wide enough for most people with portrait oriented portfolios to adapt their spreads. The inches specification is probably a reference to aspect ratio since they'll be viewing the portfolios on a 15" monitor.

If you look at the 30 page limit as a 30 spread limit, it should be more than enough. Long portfolios tend to grow tedious after the first 50-60 pages or so. You don't want a reviewer flipping through quickly just to get to the end. If your portfolio is really that long, it could be taken as a sign that you aren't critically curating your work.

As far as reproducing line weights, I recommend that you rasterize your line drawings. If they view them in Acrobat (and most likely will have the enhance thin lines option on) your line weights will not display properly as vectors. Vectors only really matter when printing anyway. I actually intend to rasterize entire pages in Illustrator, making each page 1-2MB for easier uploading.

Also, if your drawings are so intricate or if you just have lots of vector line work, that they slow your computer down in any way, like if InDesign lags in high quality display performance, it will probably lag on whatever computer they'll be using. We don't know how powerful their viewing computer is so it's best to minimize the processing power required to load the portfolio. Rasterizing your drawings (at high quality settings, of course) would avert this potential problem.

UC Berkeley has an online portfolio requirement as well. 

http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/admissions/march

Only their maximum page requirement is only 12 pages.  Is this normal? 12 pages seems exceptionally small, especially in comparison to GSD's 30 page limit.  Does anyone have experience in applying to Berkeley's program? Is there a format requirement similar to GSD's 12x18? I haven't been able to find much information on their submission process aside from the link I've included.

^ thanks for including Berkeley's link. Since they say it's only 12 pages but doesn't specify the size like GSD, should we say that 12x18 is a safe size to go with online submission?

I have to say 12 is really, really, really small but I think if we put them in 24" x 34" X) boards we should be able to fit 2-3 projects for each page.

I'm still a bit confused about which layout is most preferable.  Normally, the good portfolios I've seen tended to be extra-wide when laid out: something like 8" x 20" landscape (the spread consisting of two 8" x 10" pages, approximately).

For the 12" x 18" limit, would it be smartest to maximize this computer-screen space by literally making each page that size?  Which in print format (for other schools' applications) would translate into a spread consisting of two 9" x 12" portraits side-by-side?  (A bit smaller, maybe.)

I think wide-landscape portfolios look great in print, whereas portrait orientation looks weird... but I can't decide what to do for this online format.

Thoughts?

@batman: "I have to say 12 is really, really, really small but I think if we put them in 24" x 34" X) boards we should be able to fit 2-3 projects for each page."

i'm wondering if it's a good idea to fit so many projects in per page? i guess i just don't have more than 12 projects, but i would probably want to do a project per page, or if you haven't got that many projects, 2 pages for big projects, and a page per small one? the only time i might fit two projects on a page is if you've taken sculpture or furniture design classes and want to put projects from those in. i dunno - just a suggestion. i'm still puzzling over how best to approach the 12-page portfolio myself, admittedly!

Hi,

Have a basic question on the GSD portfolio dimensions: Does 12x18 mean that portfolios must be portrait (12x9 per page) instead of landscape?  Thanks!

@monosierra

I would really like to find the answer to that question too! My first question is- do they refer to a spread (as in 2 pages side by side) when they say layout must be 12"x18'?

And if they do then whats 12 and whats 18- my first understanding was that it would be 18" horizontal and 12" vertical per page- but somehow that seems very odd.

I wonder if anyone figured this out??

Hey,

I'm assuming they mean 12 high x 18 wide spreads, since the portfolio will be viewed online. So it'll be slightly bigger than 2 portrait letter size pages per spread (11x17).

Ok, so just to get this 100% perfectly clear...

The GSD wants you (or prefers, rather) to submit a portfolio that totals in 12x18 SPREADS, meaning that you will have two pages, 9horizontal by 12vertical, side by side, per every slide.

OR

They want EACH page to be 12horizontal x 18vertical, and they will view the pages individually.

After looking at their Q&A, I found this:

Q: How are spreads viewed?

A: The Admissions Committee will view each page of the PDF separately. If you wish to maintain the spread, we suggest that you turn a two-page spread into a single page in a PDF. Otherwise, what would have been two pages in a printed portfolio will be two pages in the PDF.

So now I am inclined that they want each seperate page to be 12x18, and spreads are out the window.

Can anyone confirm this? I just need to get it straight once and for all.

Thanks!

if you got 50 pages, I dare you to send that in... I doubt they'll decline you admission if your work is exceptional :)

I did send them a 50 page portfolio as meeting with requirements of each and every university is almost impossible.

I didn't get into GSD but was accepted to GSAPP,Washington- St.Louis and Taubman with the same thing.

I can't believe there is this much discussion about a pretty straightforward task. How did anyone ever manage to submit their portfolios before there were discussion forums to add to the self-doubt?

If you think 30 pages is too small to showcase your impressive oeuvre before you even get into masters, just wait until you have to send out a single-page portfolio sampler to prospective employers once you graduate. I pity the portfolio review committee.