by Sara Eisenman is my current favorite. It's nice in that it covers a variety of issues for print portfolios, portfolios on disk, and web portfolios, for several design professions. So you'll see things that graphic designers do, or industrial designers do, and may go "Hey, that's pretty nice, why don't architects do that?"
check out harold linton, I can't remember the name of his book but its geared towards architecture students. type in harold linton in amazon and it should show up.
the harold linton book and the igor marjanovic book are both pretty useless, unless you have no idea what a portfolio looks like, i.e. you've never seen one before.
my suggestion is just to look at what a few other people have done - ask your friends or search the forum here for posts where people have shown their portfolios. look at like 4 or 5 max to get a general idea of what people do and then go to town on your own letting your creativity show though.
linton can't tell you how to make a good portfolio in the same way that reading peter eisenman can't tell you how to be a good architect
just make it up...that's the essential skill for an architect. and if you're good at it then you'll still be making things up 40 years from now.
of course, if you're not any good at it then its more likely that you'll be reading books forty years from now...maybe even still reading "how to make a portfolio" books. sad.
my personal advice: Look at book designs you like, regardless of the topic! Then pick and choose techniques and styles that complement your work and best communicate the information you are presenting.
If you are not a confident and capable graphic designer (whether studied or self-taught, doesn't matter) i think the best approach is to keep it simple. Like no wacky fonts, background images, etc.
I'll pick Book Design by Jost Hochuli over anything else, if pressed.
& just saw this in the bookstore and it looked quite promising.
Ellen Lupton's D.I.Y. also has many great suggestions but it is quite stylistically specific. The ideas in it aren't specific, they are really helpful, but the examples are just one way of approaching a visual language, so take it for what it is.
The portfolio design books have good advice about organizing work and tailoring it to the purpose of architectural portfolios, but I didn't see in them any examples of designs that I was even remotely tempted to plagiarize. That is, oddly enough, my standard for inspirational design. Not that I *would* plagiarize something, but if I'm looking at work that is supposed to be exemplary, the temptation should at least flicker on my radar before I quelch it in a fit of morality.
Don't make it up. As with any design project, look at some precedents, study, sketch layouts, then start putting it together.
I'd look at good graphic designers (I'd start with print) and study their work. Look on sites like www.newstoday.com (try a search) and www.computerlove.net (although I am not sure where that site is now, it was hacked and they lost tons of work).
There are some excellent companies out there, both on the conservative side and pushing the envelope. You can probably find a billion good examples online, although books are always nice.
Look on Amazon's ratings for graphic design books. There are some good ones. Or better yet, go to your local Barnes and Noble and look through a few (keep in mind these places rarely keep too many design books on hand).
I would also look at design annuals; such as Prints yearly design annual and others. These usually do a good job of organizing information, laying out detail info, and using type effectively and efficiently.
I agree with the last few posts for sure. I went to book stores and looked at design books to see how they were organized and all the little details that you usually don't notice. Also if you work at a firm or know someone that does you should look at design catalogs. I found most of the modern furniture catalogs to be super helpful and full of good ideas.
What "Portfolio-Help books" do you guys use?
hi, i am looking for some books that helps people with with their architectural portfolio, i was wondering if you guys had any suggestions.
Please provide the title and author of the book
thanks
by Sara Eisenman is my current favorite. It's nice in that it covers a variety of issues for print portfolios, portfolios on disk, and web portfolios, for several design professions. So you'll see things that graphic designers do, or industrial designers do, and may go "Hey, that's pretty nice, why don't architects do that?"
check out harold linton, I can't remember the name of his book but its geared towards architecture students. type in harold linton in amazon and it should show up.
also experimental formats
ask nambypambics for a personal consultation- don't know her fee, but her advice is priceless!
the harold linton book and the igor marjanovic book are both pretty useless, unless you have no idea what a portfolio looks like, i.e. you've never seen one before.
my suggestion is just to look at what a few other people have done - ask your friends or search the forum here for posts where people have shown their portfolios. look at like 4 or 5 max to get a general idea of what people do and then go to town on your own letting your creativity show though.
linton can't tell you how to make a good portfolio in the same way that reading peter eisenman can't tell you how to be a good architect
just make it up...that's the essential skill for an architect. and if you're good at it then you'll still be making things up 40 years from now.
of course, if you're not any good at it then its more likely that you'll be reading books forty years from now...maybe even still reading "how to make a portfolio" books. sad.
my personal advice: Look at book designs you like, regardless of the topic! Then pick and choose techniques and styles that complement your work and best communicate the information you are presenting.
If you are not a confident and capable graphic designer (whether studied or self-taught, doesn't matter) i think the best approach is to keep it simple. Like no wacky fonts, background images, etc.
I'll pick Book Design by Jost Hochuli over anything else, if pressed.
& just saw this in the bookstore and it looked quite promising.
Ellen Lupton's D.I.Y. also has many great suggestions but it is quite stylistically specific. The ideas in it aren't specific, they are really helpful, but the examples are just one way of approaching a visual language, so take it for what it is.
The portfolio design books have good advice about organizing work and tailoring it to the purpose of architectural portfolios, but I didn't see in them any examples of designs that I was even remotely tempted to plagiarize. That is, oddly enough, my standard for inspirational design. Not that I *would* plagiarize something, but if I'm looking at work that is supposed to be exemplary, the temptation should at least flicker on my radar before I quelch it in a fit of morality.
Don't make it up. As with any design project, look at some precedents, study, sketch layouts, then start putting it together.
I'd look at good graphic designers (I'd start with print) and study their work. Look on sites like www.newstoday.com (try a search) and www.computerlove.net (although I am not sure where that site is now, it was hacked and they lost tons of work).
There are some excellent companies out there, both on the conservative side and pushing the envelope. You can probably find a billion good examples online, although books are always nice.
Look on Amazon's ratings for graphic design books. There are some good ones. Or better yet, go to your local Barnes and Noble and look through a few (keep in mind these places rarely keep too many design books on hand).
I would also look at design annuals; such as Prints yearly design annual and others. These usually do a good job of organizing information, laying out detail info, and using type effectively and efficiently.
ok thx all
I agree with the last few posts for sure. I went to book stores and looked at design books to see how they were organized and all the little details that you usually don't notice. Also if you work at a firm or know someone that does you should look at design catalogs. I found most of the modern furniture catalogs to be super helpful and full of good ideas.
I picked up a decent book recently all about Le Corbusier's passion for making books:
Le Corbusier: Architect of Books
by Catherine de Smet
Lars Muller Publishers, ISBN3-03778-034-7 2005
it's also published in French, German and Italian versions and there's a larger version of the book somewhere, evidently
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