Anyone have any thoughts on the best program or method to create portfolios for grad school applications? I'm a non-arch background applying to MArch I. programs this year. I assume something like adobe inDesign would work well, but these are prohibitively expensive. Any ideas?
Any program that will give you decent quality results will work. I did mine in photoshop and it came out fine. Especially applying for grad school, more emphasis is placed on the quality of your design, not the portfolio itself. As long as it looks professional, and it is done on nice quality paper and bound neatly, you don't need to blow a ton of cash on a special program for portfolio layout. Also, someone once told me Phaedon put out a book on portfolio design, but I haven't been able to find it. If that is infact true, and someone knows the name or can post a link to it, I would appreciate it!
I like illustrator. I think its easy to use and if you already have cheapy image software it will be easy to manipulate things and move it around. get Adobe photoshop elements if you don't have it already-i think its 99 bucks.
my original application i think i used power point because i didn't have anything else and didn't know how to use photoshop or illustrator. my portfolio now is in in design which is awesome. but even with my old portfolio i was accepted to many schools.
Harold Linton has a portfolio book that I used-it aids on general layout techniques and ideas. Also, look at some graphic design books for ideas as well-I went to barnes and noble and sat for hours looking through those. my undergrad was non b arch as well.
Although the requirement at most grad schools is a hardcopy portfolio, I also included a digital portfolio along with my bound copy. Some colleges may see this as a strong desire to succeed in design and a high level of creativity, but a few may just throw it on the pile. Either way, you'll always have it. It's a great thing to be continually updating for future presentation to prospective employers or clients.
i used the hard-cover book feature that links to apples iphoto. $30 base price (10 pages) & 99 cents per additional page. they also do calenders which i'm sure would be a burst of creativity that'd impress an admissions committee
I am kinda in the same situation as 'TheRob12', applying for Architecture Grad School with a non Architecture background. This might be straying off the topic a bit, but i read from from this link:
advising that the applicant should try to limit 'life drawings' unless exceptional. Most of my work comprise of portrait sketches of people. If it helps, here is some of the art i have compiled during my pass time:
If you're going to be attending grad school, you'll have to invest in Photoshop, Illustrator, etc eventually. If you can get a student discount, the Adobe CS2 package (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive, Acrobat) is pretty reasonable, at about $380. You'll use all those programs in grad school so if you can afford it you might as well invest in them now. http://www.journeyed.com/itemDetail.asp?T1=21121033
InDesign is pretty easy to learn to use and is nice because it packages all your pages into one file so you can just print a single document. You don't have as much design flexibility if you use a program like Publisher or PowerPoint.
InDesign is great to make multipage PDFs and keep it organized. if you don't have the $$ to buy it there are cheaper plugins for Illustrator that allow exporting multipage PDFs from layers.
As a student, you should be able to get CS4 for about $400. Buy ALL of the software, don't cheap out thinking you won't need it.
if you feel bad about illegal downloads (and you should! i never steal software!) you can use the 30 day free trial from adobe. it's fully functional.
also if you are a student or have friends who are students, check if the school's IT department sells discounted adobe stuff. i got the latest version of Adobe Design Standard (Photoshop +Illustrator + InDesign) totally legal from my school for something like $230 total.
Mar 30, 09 10:42 am ·
·
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.
programs for portfolio design
Anyone have any thoughts on the best program or method to create portfolios for grad school applications? I'm a non-arch background applying to MArch I. programs this year. I assume something like adobe inDesign would work well, but these are prohibitively expensive. Any ideas?
Any program that will give you decent quality results will work. I did mine in photoshop and it came out fine. Especially applying for grad school, more emphasis is placed on the quality of your design, not the portfolio itself. As long as it looks professional, and it is done on nice quality paper and bound neatly, you don't need to blow a ton of cash on a special program for portfolio layout. Also, someone once told me Phaedon put out a book on portfolio design, but I haven't been able to find it. If that is infact true, and someone knows the name or can post a link to it, I would appreciate it!
InDesign.
photoshop illustrator and in design
You can get a 30 day trial of either from Adobe, as they are quite pricey.
I like illustrator. I think its easy to use and if you already have cheapy image software it will be easy to manipulate things and move it around. get Adobe photoshop elements if you don't have it already-i think its 99 bucks.
my original application i think i used power point because i didn't have anything else and didn't know how to use photoshop or illustrator. my portfolio now is in in design which is awesome. but even with my old portfolio i was accepted to many schools.
Harold Linton has a portfolio book that I used-it aids on general layout techniques and ideas. Also, look at some graphic design books for ideas as well-I went to barnes and noble and sat for hours looking through those. my undergrad was non b arch as well.
maya
Although the requirement at most grad schools is a hardcopy portfolio, I also included a digital portfolio along with my bound copy. Some colleges may see this as a strong desire to succeed in design and a high level of creativity, but a few may just throw it on the pile. Either way, you'll always have it. It's a great thing to be continually updating for future presentation to prospective employers or clients.
i used the hard-cover book feature that links to apples iphoto. $30 base price (10 pages) & 99 cents per additional page. they also do calenders which i'm sure would be a burst of creativity that'd impress an admissions committee
I am kinda in the same situation as 'TheRob12', applying for Architecture Grad School with a non Architecture background. This might be straying off the topic a bit, but i read from from this link:
(Page 2, under 'compiling the portfolio')
http://architecture.mit.edu/news/portfolio2004.pdf
advising that the applicant should try to limit 'life drawings' unless exceptional. Most of my work comprise of portrait sketches of people. If it helps, here is some of the art i have compiled during my pass time:
http://hellbydante.deviantart.com/
Hope to receive some valuable advice from this community and clear some of the anxiety i am having.
If you're going to be attending grad school, you'll have to invest in Photoshop, Illustrator, etc eventually. If you can get a student discount, the Adobe CS2 package (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive, Acrobat) is pretty reasonable, at about $380. You'll use all those programs in grad school so if you can afford it you might as well invest in them now.
http://www.journeyed.com/itemDetail.asp?T1=21121033
InDesign is pretty easy to learn to use and is nice because it packages all your pages into one file so you can just print a single document. You don't have as much design flexibility if you use a program like Publisher or PowerPoint.
I got Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for $150 or so. I might give this InDesign thing a shot.
hellbydante, so they prefer abstract work or design?
PS, Illustrator and InDesign
InDesign is great to make multipage PDFs and keep it organized. if you don't have the $$ to buy it there are cheaper plugins for Illustrator that allow exporting multipage PDFs from layers.
As a student, you should be able to get CS4 for about $400. Buy ALL of the software, don't cheap out thinking you won't need it.
lrn 2 torrent, guys =/
indesign the best way to layout your 'folio.
if you feel bad about illegal downloads (and you should! i never steal software!) you can use the 30 day free trial from adobe. it's fully functional.
also if you are a student or have friends who are students, check if the school's IT department sells discounted adobe stuff. i got the latest version of Adobe Design Standard (Photoshop +Illustrator + InDesign) totally legal from my school for something like $230 total.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.