my experience is that clarity of idea is more important than holding to a specific layout throughtout. meaning if one project requires 50 diagrams and 1 rendering to communicate the idea while another project requires 50 renderings and 1 diagram, then go ahead vary the layouts.

the layout should be as simple as possible to communicate the idea, and no simpler.

One way to accomodate this is to use a grid system of layouts. That way even when the pages aren't actually exactly the same layout, there is a look of continuity throughout because the divisions are made in the same sorts of ways on each page.

dot -- hey - if your suggesting that a project needs 50 diagrams and 1 rendering to communicate the idea -- doesnt that just state that the idea is not very clear? talk about silencing your audience.

--give every project a name - even if it didnt have one.
--limit the project to 2 facing pages
--look at your portfolio as representing your skills, your knowledge of theory, your knowledge of design, your knowlege of who you are. make a list of your work within how each of these projects will express one or more of who you are.

being selective and having the ability to sort through it will show that you do have some critical voice and makes your work have some relavance.

Thank you all for your advice. I was wondering also if it is commonplace to include projects other than building designs in a portfolio as well. I have some public art projects, material studies and in depth case studies that I am also considering including, but I worry it will come across that I have little design experience if I do.

see TED's last bullet point.

TED, understood, but it was a strictly hypothetical example. i'm not encouraging 50 diagrams. my point was it is okay to vary the length of how much you describe each project depending on need of each project. limiting every project to 2 pages i think ignores the diversity of your projects (one may deserve 1 page, and another may deserve 3pages). it doesn't benefit either project to make them each 2 pages in order to follow an arbitrary format.


also keep in mind that the review of these portfolios is shorter than you would like (sometimes just 1 or 2 minutes). That is why i emphasize clarity.

i would say the layout and aesthetics is the hook while the actual projects themselves keeps them looking. a good portfolio will have both but i think the projects themselves are more important.

there are some portfolio design books out there, you may want to check them out. i would avoid casestudies in your portfolio unless it is intended to show off a skill, such as hand drawing/sketching. art projects would be fine, in fact, a portfolio with just a bunch of buildings would be less interesting than one that included other types of projects. check out your local grad school(s), they will often let you look at portfolios of admitted students

The case study I was considering is actually a book that I wrote on the Seattle Public Library that includes original diagrams, computer models, drawings and photography...not just a quick look at a building.