This is my first time posting here, I've been looking at grad school apps for the 2012-2013 cycles as well as a number of portfolios and plan on working on mine for the summer.
Below is the link to a portfolio I prepared for my internship applications... I know that its not nearly good enough for grad school applications, but i was hoping to get feedback on it before beginning the upgrade process, mainly so that i can take specific comments into account immediately. I finish my B.Arch in a year and would ideally like to get into an M.Arch II program for the next academic year (2013-2014).
The work is part of my second and third year coursework, noting that the entire first year is dedicated to basic design in my school. There are two decent projects (4th year, just finished) as well as the progress on my thesis (starting October) that will be added for the grad school applications, as well as some professional work.
Regardless of the quality of design or work, there are a few things which stick out to me:
your cover and table of contents or rather simplistic. I'm not sure if you're trying to go for a simple elegance or what, but use some more font flexibility at least (size/ more bold/ color maybe). Personally I've always found these two parts of the portfolio the most difficult to make visually appealing without putting a piece of work as a background or adding possibly irrelevant textures. look at graphic design works.
your overall formatting is a little lacking. Don't be afraid to have a simple graphic motif related to the page number or your name or title. (yet again something you will see in graphic design)
you have an issue with white space and too many pages. Use of large areas of white space really only balance well with a very powerful image (personal opinion) and you should aim for about half as many pages.
I find it a little strange that you list your Canadian/Lebanese ethnicity
on your resume under experience, that should be split into two categories for you, one being Professional Experience that you have spent interning or working real jobs, while the rest goes under Activities for those non professional experiences.
My final suggestion is this, although this is more for other people still in their earlier phases of school, just because you have completed a project for a specific semester does not mean you cannot redo/rework it later and learn from your mistakes. Not only will your design skills increase, your technical and representation capabilities will increase as well and you will far exceed your colleagues.
I agree with the comment above. I think that your content is good and the projects seem interesting, but you could really make them stronger visually so that they communicate at first glance. I think reworking some of your drawings can be VERY helpful. You can render some plans, sections, and elevations. I redid some of my drawings and improved some renderings, and it's making a huge difference. I think most of your drawings look very technical, and you can bring them to life with something as simple as photoshop. You can also photoshop your physical models so that they also come to life. I came across this amazing website by an Architect who gives you all the tips you need for portfolio creation and shows you that you can do so much in photoshop:
Thank you, first of all, for taking the time to take a look and give me your comments.
@Rand
To be honest the emptiness of the title page and table of contents was an attempt to save time on going deep into graphics by using a 'minimalist' approach. Apparently it wasn't so successful, but at the time I made this portfolio I didn't have a choice. I certainly don't disagree with you on this.
The ethnicity was a requirement for some offices when I applied for internships, hence my including it in the resume. I have taken that out in my updated resume as well as separated the 'experience' section into 'professional experience' and 'workshops and competitions' all of which have increased enough to deserve their own title now.
Of the projects you saw, I only plan on keeping 'Street Life' and 'Intervention in Section,' do you think that is a wise decision? Considering, of course, I will re-work them.
@Sanuma12
Thanks a lot for the link, I am sure its going to be very helpful! I am going to prioritize reworking the graphics of my projects and perhaps condensing them into less but more elaborate pages.
That is all up to you, the timeline needs some huge graphical intervention, and like I said before a, a lot of condensing so that each page can begin to logically inform or relate to the other pages. Right now, due to its length and scarcity of connectivity between each page I at one point was unsure if I was still on the same project or not. Also, if you plan on printing and binding, beware of your interior margin.
I'm a fresh graduate, but took a different approach that yours with mine (it shows my bias for less white space...). I'm not sure if mine could help at all, it is a slightly out of date version than my current portfolio.
I think a single graphical theme can bring life to the entire portfolio. Concerning the margin, I used spiral binding, which I find to be less disrupting than white space or the curving of papers at the center, especially that the pages are not so many, but I am worried some schools may not accept the spiral spine in the mail package.
Thanks for posting your portfolio, its quite interesting, I can see your thought more clearly. There is definitely bias against white space, a little too much for me. :)
I hope the school would value the spiral binding, because it allows the portfolio to be opened flatly on table when being viewed. I would find it absurd it that was a disqualifying aspect and it would probably be best that you didn't go somewhere with that mentality.
I always had too much information relevant to the design to be luxurious with white space even though I ended up cutting the amount of content in half.
I just graduated with a B.Arch back in may and decided to go the working route since I already have a professional degree and graduate school would be further down the line when I may be more financially stable or have a midlife crisis.
That is exactly the point, being able to open it flat! But I was as shocked when two different schools in germany and spain warned that spirally binded portfolios would be tossed. I really can't think of why.
Congratulations then... I have a year left on my B.Arch, I'm hoping to go straight for an M.Arch though. I'm not very excited about work at the moment, but of course I'm counting on financial aid and work-study.
I do not feel I have a strong enough grasp on the non-academic aspects yet to formulate a really proper thesis worth exploring that is really relevant to something besides a thesis for thesis sake.
Those schools you mentioned may very well be looking for some artistic expression, but who knows.
Jul 20, 12 3:05 pm ·
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Portfolio Crit
Hello,
This is my first time posting here, I've been looking at grad school apps for the 2012-2013 cycles as well as a number of portfolios and plan on working on mine for the summer.
Below is the link to a portfolio I prepared for my internship applications... I know that its not nearly good enough for grad school applications, but i was hoping to get feedback on it before beginning the upgrade process, mainly so that i can take specific comments into account immediately. I finish my B.Arch in a year and would ideally like to get into an M.Arch II program for the next academic year (2013-2014).
http://issuu.com/ramzih.naja/docs/portfadj
The work is part of my second and third year coursework, noting that the entire first year is dedicated to basic design in my school. There are two decent projects (4th year, just finished) as well as the progress on my thesis (starting October) that will be added for the grad school applications, as well as some professional work.
Thanks!
Regardless of the quality of design or work, there are a few things which stick out to me:
My final suggestion is this, although this is more for other people still in their earlier phases of school, just because you have completed a project for a specific semester does not mean you cannot redo/rework it later and learn from your mistakes. Not only will your design skills increase, your technical and representation capabilities will increase as well and you will far exceed your colleagues.
Good luck!
I agree with the comment above. I think that your content is good and the projects seem interesting, but you could really make them stronger visually so that they communicate at first glance. I think reworking some of your drawings can be VERY helpful. You can render some plans, sections, and elevations. I redid some of my drawings and improved some renderings, and it's making a huge difference. I think most of your drawings look very technical, and you can bring them to life with something as simple as photoshop. You can also photoshop your physical models so that they also come to life. I came across this amazing website by an Architect who gives you all the tips you need for portfolio creation and shows you that you can do so much in photoshop:
http://www.alexhogrefe.com/portfolio-creation/
I hope this helps!
Thank you, first of all, for taking the time to take a look and give me your comments.
@Rand
To be honest the emptiness of the title page and table of contents was an attempt to save time on going deep into graphics by using a 'minimalist' approach. Apparently it wasn't so successful, but at the time I made this portfolio I didn't have a choice. I certainly don't disagree with you on this.
The ethnicity was a requirement for some offices when I applied for internships, hence my including it in the resume. I have taken that out in my updated resume as well as separated the 'experience' section into 'professional experience' and 'workshops and competitions' all of which have increased enough to deserve their own title now.
Of the projects you saw, I only plan on keeping 'Street Life' and 'Intervention in Section,' do you think that is a wise decision? Considering, of course, I will re-work them.
@Sanuma12
Thanks a lot for the link, I am sure its going to be very helpful! I am going to prioritize reworking the graphics of my projects and perhaps condensing them into less but more elaborate pages.
Thank you both for your time :)
That is all up to you, the timeline needs some huge graphical intervention, and like I said before a, a lot of condensing so that each page can begin to logically inform or relate to the other pages. Right now, due to its length and scarcity of connectivity between each page I at one point was unsure if I was still on the same project or not. Also, if you plan on printing and binding, beware of your interior margin.
I'm a fresh graduate, but took a different approach that yours with mine (it shows my bias for less white space...). I'm not sure if mine could help at all, it is a slightly out of date version than my current portfolio.
http://issuu.com/rmh0002/docs/portfolio_5-30-2012
@Rand
I think a single graphical theme can bring life to the entire portfolio. Concerning the margin, I used spiral binding, which I find to be less disrupting than white space or the curving of papers at the center, especially that the pages are not so many, but I am worried some schools may not accept the spiral spine in the mail package.
Thanks for posting your portfolio, its quite interesting, I can see your thought more clearly. There is definitely bias against white space, a little too much for me. :)
Are you currently a grad student?
I hope the school would value the spiral binding, because it allows the portfolio to be opened flatly on table when being viewed. I would find it absurd it that was a disqualifying aspect and it would probably be best that you didn't go somewhere with that mentality.
I always had too much information relevant to the design to be luxurious with white space even though I ended up cutting the amount of content in half.
I just graduated with a B.Arch back in may and decided to go the working route since I already have a professional degree and graduate school would be further down the line when I may be more financially stable or have a midlife crisis.
That is exactly the point, being able to open it flat! But I was as shocked when two different schools in germany and spain warned that spirally binded portfolios would be tossed. I really can't think of why.
Congratulations then... I have a year left on my B.Arch, I'm hoping to go straight for an M.Arch though. I'm not very excited about work at the moment, but of course I'm counting on financial aid and work-study.
I do not feel I have a strong enough grasp on the non-academic aspects yet to formulate a really proper thesis worth exploring that is really relevant to something besides a thesis for thesis sake.
Those schools you mentioned may very well be looking for some artistic expression, but who knows.
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