In lieu of the approaching deadlines for 2007 MArch programs, I thought I'd seek some advice from all you fine fellow Archinecters. I'm currently using InDesign to layout the portfolio, but have run into some bumps along the way. Most of my images are being linked from Illustrator files. Sometimes, the images don't show up, or part of the images will be cropped. I've already gone through the "fitting" function to try and correct it, but to no avail. Is there any specific requirements the Illustrator file must follow in order to have the images displayed correctly?
The second question iconcerns the number of pages dedicated to a project. I'm currently using the standard 8.5xll page size format, with some of the content being spread onto both sheets. I feel as though if some of the images are too small then they won't be conveyed as clearly, so as a result I have about 4-5 spreads (1 spread = 28.5x11 pages, side by side) for one project (my main project, though). The second strongest one has three spreads. Do you think it's best to try to keep a project onto one or two spreads?
I know the best answer is "whatever conveys the project the clearest," but still, is there a guideline I should follow. I'm trying to think of this from the point of view of the person viewing the portfolio and am wondering if they'd be irritated by having to flip pages back and forth to see one project in full. A lot of my images are best viewed when scaled up and also I'm trying to maintain breathing space on the pages - I hate crowded pages.
i think you're right that you should take as many or as few spreads as it takes to convey your project clearly. white space is good, don't pack your pages...but don't make the whole thing too long. penn has a strict limit of 20 sides (10 spreads) and i imagine we probably shouldn't go much over that limit with other schools. so i guess pick and choose wisely what makes the cut.
i dunno about getting your illustrator files to fit. maybe you could export them from illustrator as JPEGs and then place those into indesign? although i'm having trouble with jpegs printing all pixely through indesign even though they are high resolution, i dunno what the problem with that is.
As for length I would recommend keeping it between 15-25 pages (7-12) spreads. Those are about the length of competition portfolios and isn't that basically what your grad application is anyway.
As for your illustrator issues...hmm... make sure that your document size is correct (this matters in cs2 but not cs1... in other words make sure it is not hanging over the illustrator page sie you have set up). Also is it just that you cant see it or it really doesn't show up (have you printed it to check, if not try turning on overprint preview to see if it shows up. by the fitting function i also you mean the one that rescales it to fit your frame...hmmm you can try fit and center just to make sure (alt-ctrl-shift-v) otherwise you can just pdf the illustrator and link that, it'd be smaller and still have the vector-quality of an .ai file.
I'd be concerned at how many projects you'll be able to show at this rate.... maybe four? That's a hard sell, to get people to love you in only four projects. What if that project that you're trusting half your portfolio to turns out to be one they don't like?
I agree with rationalist. I know someone that actually had 10 (!!!) projects in a portfolio. They were all of different stages of development, so some spreads were relatively short. But that portfolio swept across all the schools you think of. Measure the length with the amount of strong work you have.
Really? I always thought it was better to go for a few good projects instead of a bunch of alright ones, but then again, I guess that's determined from my own opinion of what the "good" is, huh?
I guess I figured that yes, you only want to put in good stuff, but hopefully you have more than 4 good projects, right? You don't want their reaction at the end to be, "what, that's it?"
i had been told they also only want to see recent work, mainly from the last two years. I am using five projects from school, and then professional graphic design work I have done.
could you also include work you've done in offices in your portfolio?
and also studies you've done for your own?
and also stuff which are not instantly architecture?
i mean i haven't heard anyone talking about including non-architecture work in they're portfolios, so i supposed it wasn't what people normally do.
Also about the office work, because i thought it was not ALL done by me.
so could i include anything? architecture/rendering/fine art/music/...?
Many, many applicants include work that is not strictly architecture. Some have entire portfolios of painting or graphic design or whatever (though if you have an architecture background you're sort of expected to include at least a couple studio projects.)
I included quite a lot of non-architecture projects in my portfolio - including painting, drawing, sketchbook pages, furniture design, ceramics, textiles, 3D graphics, and exhibition design. Even though I had an undergrad architecture background with 3.5 years of studio I included only 2 of my studio projects, and 2 projects done for other support courses. The non-architecture work spreads far outnumbered the architecture ones.
There is no problem with including work in your portfolio that was not done solely by you. In fact, some evidence of team projects can work to your advantage. But whether it is work that you did while employed at a firm, or a group project that you did in college, you MUST identify the project as a collaboration, clearly state your role in it, and preferably also list the other team members.
Including work done in architecture firms can be a tricky situation. Many people do include professional work. But your decision to do so should really hinge on whether the work shows something about your design vision and your own process. Architecture admissions committees don't care about your CAD skills, ability to do standard office tasks like detail elevators and make door schedules, and they're not too likely to be impressed with plans of office layouts, systems furniture, etc. It's unlikely that if you've been doing foundation plans of Costco stores for the past year that this is going to make compelling portfolio material (nothing against the firm that does Costco stores!) On the other hand, if you had a strong design role in a project that is sensitively done and has resulted in striking photographs, or even if you did an amazing sketch or rendering for some project at work, then those probably have more potential.
I didn't include any of my architecture firm work in my portfolio for grad school, but it was of course very important to put back in after graduation when I was looking for a new job in a firm...
thanks rationalist. i have a lot of studies on some spacial concepts
while i was working for Bahram Shirdel (i've done the studies at home and for myself in order to achieve a better understanding of the concept, but the concept is not mine.). i think it's more a question of ethics for me. whether to state them as my own work or team work (since the link is quite subjective).
and i think i didn't understand what you said about art and my background.
I've got quite good freehand drawing and painting skills,
and have been drawing seriously since my childhood. so i think
it could represent a great part of me(/my background). same thing about music. is that what you're talking about?
should I include them as a small portion of my portfolio, to show
my background, or should i give them more emphasis if the quality
is good? (i know it's shouldn't over shadow the architecture work)
The office work is actually experimentations done solely by me
on Shirdel's concepts, and then the preliminary design of the building
as part of a team, and finally renderings which are either done ,
or supervised by me.
Also designed a competition entry in an internal competition in another office (not as part of a team).
... and now a new qusetion: is it ok if i don't show ANY CAD (or drafting) skills in my portfolio?
I mean, if you've got an undergrad arch degree, then they'll expect more architecture and less other stuff, but if you've got an art degree and are applying for the 3-year M.Arch, then they'll expect more art stuff. And quality is quality- only put it in if you feel that it's outstanding. That's all I meant by it.
If you don't want to show any CAD then don't. That's fine (provided of course that you can adequately show your projects without it.)
Having been through this as both an applicant and a committee member I can say that when you're putting together a portfolio you can really over-analalyze things. In the end you have only a brief moment to make an impact - sometimes literally a moment as someone flips through your pages as your book goes around the table at a meeting, other times a little longer as one of the committee members takes your book home (in a stack of maybe 10 to 20 of them) and spends a little more time. It becomes more about what will catch the eye, what will impress very briefly, and what your best work is.
The committees really don't discuss things like "this person took 4 semesters of studio but only put 2 studio projects in here" or "there's nothing in here that shows he knows anything about construction drawing conventions." They don't really spend time counting projects, quantifying information, or looking for the skills and standards that would be more appropriate for an architecture firm intern interview. They're looking for a creative process, striking images, a sense of experiment, the ability to work out multiple solutions for one set of parameters, a sense that the person puts energy and enjoyment into what they do, etc.
About your experimentations based on your employer's work: If these are graphically beautiful and they show your course of investigation of an idea then I think they could potentially be a good thing to include. You would of course want to explain briefly what you did here - that they are an analysis of a concept for Project X, based on a concept by Architect Y...
Competition entries are often approached in a way similar to academic studio projects - and often result in nicely done presentation images. So they can make good portfolio material too. That would be more of a judgement call on your part on whether you think that the final product is in line with what you want to say about yourself/your work in your portfolio, and whether you had enough of a role in that project that you feel it's appropriate to include.
It shouldn't be too hard to work your name into the layout, as a small, unobtrusive repeating element.
And your projects in any portfolio should always be titled, telling what it is and where/why/when you did it (i.e. "Junior Housing Studio, University of Nowhere, Spring 1973"), so this should satisfy the academic, personal, office issue.
Other information you might want to include (some people do and some people don't): the professor for the studio or course for which you did the project, the size and medium of the work shown (especially if it's something like a 10' tall painting that is 4" tall in your portfolio), and a brief description the project - preferably no more than 3 or 4 sentences. Titles for each image are also ok, though not always necessary.
I'm getting into this discussion a little late, I suppose...
II have wittled down (or rather, built up, hehehe) my portfolio to projects. I may cut one or two, not sure yet.
My question is this... I was on a small team of designers who somehow happened to win the biennial design competition at my former school. The weird part is, that our design wasn't so much product design, as it was... well.... economics design. The point is, it's not something I can really explain in one or two pages if I assume that the portfolio reviewers won't take the time to read what it's all about. I could simplify it greatly (it is rather simple, that's why we won), but it's not PRODUCT design, which is my educational background.
I know I'll be including mention of the award in my required CV, but is that something that I should be including in a portfolio? I think it's something that could help me, but only if all my info is present in front of the reviewers, and not scattered about different people when my portfolio is being reviewed.
Grad School Portfolios . . . Again
Hello All,
In lieu of the approaching deadlines for 2007 MArch programs, I thought I'd seek some advice from all you fine fellow Archinecters. I'm currently using InDesign to layout the portfolio, but have run into some bumps along the way. Most of my images are being linked from Illustrator files. Sometimes, the images don't show up, or part of the images will be cropped. I've already gone through the "fitting" function to try and correct it, but to no avail. Is there any specific requirements the Illustrator file must follow in order to have the images displayed correctly?
The second question iconcerns the number of pages dedicated to a project. I'm currently using the standard 8.5xll page size format, with some of the content being spread onto both sheets. I feel as though if some of the images are too small then they won't be conveyed as clearly, so as a result I have about 4-5 spreads (1 spread = 28.5x11 pages, side by side) for one project (my main project, though). The second strongest one has three spreads. Do you think it's best to try to keep a project onto one or two spreads?
I know the best answer is "whatever conveys the project the clearest," but still, is there a guideline I should follow. I'm trying to think of this from the point of view of the person viewing the portfolio and am wondering if they'd be irritated by having to flip pages back and forth to see one project in full. A lot of my images are best viewed when scaled up and also I'm trying to maintain breathing space on the pages - I hate crowded pages.
So . . . what say you?
oops, I meant 1 spread = 2 8.5x11 pages
i think you're right that you should take as many or as few spreads as it takes to convey your project clearly. white space is good, don't pack your pages...but don't make the whole thing too long. penn has a strict limit of 20 sides (10 spreads) and i imagine we probably shouldn't go much over that limit with other schools. so i guess pick and choose wisely what makes the cut.
i dunno about getting your illustrator files to fit. maybe you could export them from illustrator as JPEGs and then place those into indesign? although i'm having trouble with jpegs printing all pixely through indesign even though they are high resolution, i dunno what the problem with that is.
As for length I would recommend keeping it between 15-25 pages (7-12) spreads. Those are about the length of competition portfolios and isn't that basically what your grad application is anyway.
As for your illustrator issues...hmm... make sure that your document size is correct (this matters in cs2 but not cs1... in other words make sure it is not hanging over the illustrator page sie you have set up). Also is it just that you cant see it or it really doesn't show up (have you printed it to check, if not try turning on overprint preview to see if it shows up. by the fitting function i also you mean the one that rescales it to fit your frame...hmmm you can try fit and center just to make sure (alt-ctrl-shift-v) otherwise you can just pdf the illustrator and link that, it'd be smaller and still have the vector-quality of an .ai file.
I'd be concerned at how many projects you'll be able to show at this rate.... maybe four? That's a hard sell, to get people to love you in only four projects. What if that project that you're trusting half your portfolio to turns out to be one they don't like?
I agree with rationalist. I know someone that actually had 10 (!!!) projects in a portfolio. They were all of different stages of development, so some spreads were relatively short. But that portfolio swept across all the schools you think of. Measure the length with the amount of strong work you have.
Really? I always thought it was better to go for a few good projects instead of a bunch of alright ones, but then again, I guess that's determined from my own opinion of what the "good" is, huh?
is 10 projects a lot for a portfolio? right now i have about 15....maybe i should edit
yes, 15 is a bit much I would assume.
I guess I figured that yes, you only want to put in good stuff, but hopefully you have more than 4 good projects, right? You don't want their reaction at the end to be, "what, that's it?"
i had been told they also only want to see recent work, mainly from the last two years. I am using five projects from school, and then professional graphic design work I have done.
could you also include work you've done in offices in your portfolio?
and also studies you've done for your own?
and also stuff which are not instantly architecture?
:D
I don't see why you couldn't.
i mean i haven't heard anyone talking about including non-architecture work in they're portfolios, so i supposed it wasn't what people normally do.
Also about the office work, because i thought it was not ALL done by me.
so could i include anything? architecture/rendering/fine art/music/...?
I know i there's no reason why i COULDN'T. but does doing so help?
with any sort of team work, whether it be office work or group projects from school, make sure to clearly state what your role in the project was.
I think whether or not to include art would depend on your background and the quality of the art.
Many, many applicants include work that is not strictly architecture. Some have entire portfolios of painting or graphic design or whatever (though if you have an architecture background you're sort of expected to include at least a couple studio projects.)
I included quite a lot of non-architecture projects in my portfolio - including painting, drawing, sketchbook pages, furniture design, ceramics, textiles, 3D graphics, and exhibition design. Even though I had an undergrad architecture background with 3.5 years of studio I included only 2 of my studio projects, and 2 projects done for other support courses. The non-architecture work spreads far outnumbered the architecture ones.
There is no problem with including work in your portfolio that was not done solely by you. In fact, some evidence of team projects can work to your advantage. But whether it is work that you did while employed at a firm, or a group project that you did in college, you MUST identify the project as a collaboration, clearly state your role in it, and preferably also list the other team members.
Including work done in architecture firms can be a tricky situation. Many people do include professional work. But your decision to do so should really hinge on whether the work shows something about your design vision and your own process. Architecture admissions committees don't care about your CAD skills, ability to do standard office tasks like detail elevators and make door schedules, and they're not too likely to be impressed with plans of office layouts, systems furniture, etc. It's unlikely that if you've been doing foundation plans of Costco stores for the past year that this is going to make compelling portfolio material (nothing against the firm that does Costco stores!) On the other hand, if you had a strong design role in a project that is sensitively done and has resulted in striking photographs, or even if you did an amazing sketch or rendering for some project at work, then those probably have more potential.
I didn't include any of my architecture firm work in my portfolio for grad school, but it was of course very important to put back in after graduation when I was looking for a new job in a firm...
thanks rationalist. i have a lot of studies on some spacial concepts
while i was working for Bahram Shirdel (i've done the studies at home and for myself in order to achieve a better understanding of the concept, but the concept is not mine.). i think it's more a question of ethics for me. whether to state them as my own work or team work (since the link is quite subjective).
and i think i didn't understand what you said about art and my background.
I've got quite good freehand drawing and painting skills,
and have been drawing seriously since my childhood. so i think
it could represent a great part of me(/my background). same thing about music. is that what you're talking about?
should I include them as a small portion of my portfolio, to show
my background, or should i give them more emphasis if the quality
is good? (i know it's shouldn't over shadow the architecture work)
thanks for the greatly helpful response Bloopox.
The office work is actually experimentations done solely by me
on Shirdel's concepts, and then the preliminary design of the building
as part of a team, and finally renderings which are either done ,
or supervised by me.
Also designed a competition entry in an internal competition in another office (not as part of a team).
... and now a new qusetion: is it ok if i don't show ANY CAD (or drafting) skills in my portfolio?
I mean, if you've got an undergrad arch degree, then they'll expect more architecture and less other stuff, but if you've got an art degree and are applying for the 3-year M.Arch, then they'll expect more art stuff. And quality is quality- only put it in if you feel that it's outstanding. That's all I meant by it.
got it. thanks and it was so helpful.
If you don't want to show any CAD then don't. That's fine (provided of course that you can adequately show your projects without it.)
Having been through this as both an applicant and a committee member I can say that when you're putting together a portfolio you can really over-analalyze things. In the end you have only a brief moment to make an impact - sometimes literally a moment as someone flips through your pages as your book goes around the table at a meeting, other times a little longer as one of the committee members takes your book home (in a stack of maybe 10 to 20 of them) and spends a little more time. It becomes more about what will catch the eye, what will impress very briefly, and what your best work is.
The committees really don't discuss things like "this person took 4 semesters of studio but only put 2 studio projects in here" or "there's nothing in here that shows he knows anything about construction drawing conventions." They don't really spend time counting projects, quantifying information, or looking for the skills and standards that would be more appropriate for an architecture firm intern interview. They're looking for a creative process, striking images, a sense of experiment, the ability to work out multiple solutions for one set of parameters, a sense that the person puts energy and enjoyment into what they do, etc.
About your experimentations based on your employer's work: If these are graphically beautiful and they show your course of investigation of an idea then I think they could potentially be a good thing to include. You would of course want to explain briefly what you did here - that they are an analysis of a concept for Project X, based on a concept by Architect Y...
Competition entries are often approached in a way similar to academic studio projects - and often result in nicely done presentation images. So they can make good portfolio material too. That would be more of a judgement call on your part on whether you think that the final product is in line with what you want to say about yourself/your work in your portfolio, and whether you had enough of a role in that project that you feel it's appropriate to include.
thank you very much bloopox for the extremely useful info.
Uh, so the GSD catalog says they want every page in the portfolio clearly labelled with my name, whether it was academic, personal, or office,
wtf. name on every page? a bullet point saying 'academic'? that's gonna mess up my layout.
It shouldn't be too hard to work your name into the layout, as a small, unobtrusive repeating element.
And your projects in any portfolio should always be titled, telling what it is and where/why/when you did it (i.e. "Junior Housing Studio, University of Nowhere, Spring 1973"), so this should satisfy the academic, personal, office issue.
Other information you might want to include (some people do and some people don't): the professor for the studio or course for which you did the project, the size and medium of the work shown (especially if it's something like a 10' tall painting that is 4" tall in your portfolio), and a brief description the project - preferably no more than 3 or 4 sentences. Titles for each image are also ok, though not always necessary.
I'm getting into this discussion a little late, I suppose...
II have wittled down (or rather, built up, hehehe) my portfolio to projects. I may cut one or two, not sure yet.
My question is this... I was on a small team of designers who somehow happened to win the biennial design competition at my former school. The weird part is, that our design wasn't so much product design, as it was... well.... economics design. The point is, it's not something I can really explain in one or two pages if I assume that the portfolio reviewers won't take the time to read what it's all about. I could simplify it greatly (it is rather simple, that's why we won), but it's not PRODUCT design, which is my educational background.
I know I'll be including mention of the award in my required CV, but is that something that I should be including in a portfolio? I think it's something that could help me, but only if all my info is present in front of the reviewers, and not scattered about different people when my portfolio is being reviewed.
Damn, I'm wordy. Throw me a bone, will ya?!?
Shoot. That should say "I have wittled down my portfolio to 8 projects..."
mine has 15 spreads... about 6 projects and some writting...
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