to be honest, i don't think i can get my portfolio into an upload-able file to share... it's in 20 millions parts on my computer (it's a long story). i'd love to see your portfolio, though! i've been lurking for awhile now, and i agree that the the m.arch portfolios can be daunting.

saveeach page as a jpg in multiples of 418pixels and upload that to flickr. link images from flickr to archinect using the html code below the 'post a response...' box.

there are a lot of impressive arch ports out there, but i haven't seen any mla's. i try to search every now and then but the list of march's is overwhelming!

this is an older draft that is low res...at least you will get the idea.

i would love to see some other mla's. please post!

http://lisadaye.googlepages.com/yo.final.small.pdf

takes a minute to load.

bcnDaye,

Beautiful. It is really lovely, with a perfect balance of the softer feel of landscape architecture while still being fully modern and technically astute.

What was your format and what programs did you use to do the layout? I'm working on mine now and I'm doubting myself because I am applying to MLA with no LA undergrad so my p'folio will be some pretty amatuerish drawings and some artwork. Anyway are you earning your master's now and where? Once i can get it online I will post it here.

cookkrista,

i used indesign for layout. but a lot of modifications were done in photoshop or illustrator. most of my scans and line work from undergrad were less than desirable....but i kept all original images just cleaned them up a bit.

what kind of background do you have? I'm confident that artwork and sketches can be just as valuable as landarch expeirence. i wish that i had more in my portfolio. to be honest i took a lot of stuff out of my port and tried to keep it short and to the point. on some projects it seemed extremely difficult, because i wanted to display more process. in the end i found that consistency suited the portfolio better by selecting quality images that gave the essence of the project.

we'll see if it works... i'm applying for mla's at the gsd, uva, berkeley, ut at austin. high hopes but i already hold a bla from clemson u. and the goal is to be able to teach and practice down the road.

i look forward to seeing your work.

Cook,

I to come from a non design background and am looking into applying to a MLA program. My main issue is i have no sort of creative work to put together for a portfolio. So i am thinking about limiting myself to schools that do not require one, as part of the application process. Unfortunately this means all the real fancy pants programs (which have the professors and studios am interested in working with) are out of the picture.
I suppose i could use the next year to "make" a portfolio. But i feel like that would be a waste and not really be relevant....

nam- that would be a huge mistake to limit yourself to programs w/o portfolio requirements. start painting, build bird houses, making videos, or something. If I recall, you're planning on applying next fall, so that gives you at least six months to do something. anything. its enough.

or write poetry, arrange flower bouquets, weave baskets, illustrate vivisections and anatomy, bake cakes. anything.
on top of all this document the city you live in, and places you visit with sketches, photos, collages, scrap books...

never think that you can't design or be creative. the best schools are looking for potential and latent talent.

bcnDaye,

Great, I use Photoshop frequently so I'm going to also check out InDesgn. I attended the Career Discovery program at the GSD a couple of years ago and they did mention that they highly value artistic efforts for non-arch background. Aaaaagh who knows??! Let me know how you fare at the admissions (you should be getting the letters soon?). Are you applying to the MLA post prof? Best of luck!!

bcnDaye, Photoshop question...

when I am using the font tool (for my pages to describe projects or label th epage) and then print it seems very fuzzy/imprecise. Any sugesstions?

Treekiller,
I appreciate your comment.
It falls in line with what some of my other arch and larch friends have been saying. I just don't feel like what i have would represent me well. Especially compared to others applying.

I do have some sketch/doodle books and the like but the quality of it seems low when compared to the portfolio's i have seen friends apply with.
I am hoping to try and but something together...

I guess the main idea is to simply give some sense of myself creatively?

Does it need to be visually based? Mostly images? I feel like i am much stronger in the non-visual areas of creativity. Or at least weaker in specifically graphical modes of production.

typically i don't use fonts in photoshop...i always use indesign or illustrator. photoshop tends to convert text to an image when printed and can be blury. I know that the newer versions of Photoshop (CS3) are better, but i would def start teaching yourself indesign. i never took a class in adobe, 3d, or autocad in undergrad or in the practice. (although i'm considering a 3d class)

i would def agree with treekiller, schools are looking for potential talent. they know that you don't have a background in design, but they are looking for someone that will embrace creativity in the profession. you have plenty of time to gather thoughts and sketches. process is key and those images should not be refined. let them see your progress from your previous background to what you intend to do.

its great that you attended the career discovery program. most programs want to be sure that the applicant has the desire to study arch or larch, and that is why the less than notable schools do not require portfolios.

nam- the worst thing you can do is compare yourself to others. from what you've demonstrated on archinect, your intelligence and appreciation of bigger issues (ie all those great news posts) is above average. So don't think that your doddles aren't worth sharing or using for the portfolio.

the key for both arch and 'scape folios is to show projects the represent how you think and perceive the world. then use some intelligence for the organization of the book. process is more important then the final product (you'll hear that over and over again in grad school).

oh, of the top programs, penn seems to go for a more diverse student body then the gsd et al. So Nam, your medical background will be seen as an asset as jim corner crafts the group of applicants.

ps, one of my classmates took her mla/m.arch and got into a great medical school.

Treekiller,

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I will continue to try and develop something.

Doesn't hurt to try..

nam - you have many fans around archinect, as one of them, I'd love to help.

anyone else applying for MLA for fall 08?

treekiller... i'm starting to regret not applying to penn. the more i look at their program the more i wished i applied.

bcn- the schools you selected are excellent and you did your best finding ones that appealed to you. so don't have any regrets. wait to see where you got in -there is always next year...

good luck.

nam, I agree with tk. A portfolio is not just a demonstration of talent but rather can be a peep hole into an applicant's personality, desires or though processes. It's an opportunity to collect pieces of you and organize them in some fashion that helps convey a message... not necessarily an agenda but rather an extension of oneself. In some ways not having a design background can afford you an untainted thought process to allow for new uninhibited content.

i'm applying to mla for this fall...still haven't posted my portfolio, probably due to my insecurities and dissatisfaction with it. i definitely agree with john about the portfolio showing your personality, not that i can back that up with anything. i have an architectural studies (liberal arts) background, so i've taken a few arch studios, but i focused more on my studio art (mostly printmaking). i tried to choose pieces that would show my perspective and who i am more than anything else.

i'm not sure i'll ever be satisfied with my portfolio. the day after all my deadlines i continued to change it. it never ends....and the wait agonizing.

will mid march ever come?

hungry-

did you apply this season or will you start the applications in the fall?

where did you apply & why?

good luck

Hungry,
i would love to see your portfolio......
Or anyone else's especially those from a non-arch background.

hmm..i think i'll post my portfolio after i get my decisions...then you'll know whether it's a good or a bad example, nam :) i used photoshop, although i would have used indesign if i had access to it - i really like indesign much better. i stayed pretty simple with it...

i applied for this fall/summer to univ of washington, univ of oregon, berkeley, cal poly pomona, univ of arizona, and univ of minnesota. i know it sounds like an odd mix, but i chose schools that either seemed regionally relevant (i'm from southern california) or seemed to match my interests. it seems like i'm interested in everything (!) which made it hard for me, but i wanted to apply to schools that had a strong ecological emphasis while looking at social/community issues.

btw, bcnDaye, i loved your portfolio! i wish it was mine! :D

i realize after explaining my interests that i sound completely average!

hungry,

i have the same problem... its hard for me to narrow my search. that is one of the things i love about LA, the broad spectrum. i have no doubt my focus will change many times in the course of grad school (assuming i can get in). you have a great mix of schools and i wish you the best of luck.

and thanks for the nice comments on my port. i look forward to seeing yours!

it seems as if lisa daye was the only one brave enough to show. I must say that I thought that was a good portfolio. Concise, clear and was able to tie in some different projects using a particular graphic style

working on mine. In Indesign, my images are coming out fuzzy when printing. I'm learning as I go

hmm...what kind of resolution(s) are you working with?

you can set the export resolution in indesign. but first check the rez of the original image... you want to have 200dpi or greater for printing. for web and ppt/screen you're golden at 100dpi or higher.

Here is my first draft. I still have work to do on the detail/font etc and also want to add more artwork. But so....


link

Actually this is an easier way to view...

link

Cookkrista..
Nice. I really like the clay contours, based on the figure of a horse.
Also reinforces the fact that I definetly am going to have to take a art or design class if i am going to put a portfolio together.

Hey namhenderson,

I appreciate the feedback! when looking at it for so long, I start to see everything that is wrong. Also regarding the art classes....another thing you can do (what I did) is just go but a book about how top start drawing etc. then go out and tryu some of the exercises. You might surprise yourself. I don't know on the other hand art classes are a good way to give yourself a start on a project. Are you in the Boston/Cambridge area? The Harvard/Arnold Arboretum Landscape Institute is a great way to take some design courses.

Cookkrista..

No unfortunately i am not.

However, there is a local design institute type of place, that i am thinking about tryin gto plug in to.

cook,

i think it looks great. my only suggestion would be to keep adding on to it. there is a creative side of you that is just starting to come out and i think that the schools you are applying to will appreciate it. the repetition in your sketches are the most intriguing and i love the 3d clay study. keep up the good work! best of luck.

Krista-

nice first pass. i like the flow of the digital slidshow. The sequence seems too rigidly chronological, always start with your strongest project, end with your second best, and have the other great stuff in between.

If you have time to develop more stuff, focus on recording spaces and landscapes with sketches, photos, or collages.

the slide show may not translate directly into a paper version, so pay attention to the white space and orientation of each pages. (my pet peeve is having to rotate a portfolio every few pages when the projects shift from landscape to portrait and so on).

your projects from career are good with clear illustration of process and development of an idea.

If I had a stack of applicant's folios to review, I'd put yours into the next round.

good job.

krista - ps, don't use MLA after your name unless you got one.

I've been meaning on posting my overwrought gradschool application, circa 2001 that got me into penn, but not the gsd, ysoa, or gsapp.

enjoy!!!
























remember that I had a BS Arch from the KSA circa '94 and then spent six years as a set designer. this was much more an architecture portfolio then landscape book.

Barry,
thanks for the feedback. I put the MLA there humbly as that I meant that this was portfolio for application to an mla program. I'm removing it now!

Very interested in how you mentioned recording spaces, could you tell me more about that and what you mean? I think you mean to respresent landscapes with more styles/methods?

Also I have some work that I've done over the past couple of years which is sort of blah ...mostly drafting stuff and residentail landscape design work. It is not artistic in presentation at all and was more as part of an exercise in drafting and creating construction documents. Do you think it is a good idea to include that stuff or stick to the design/and sketches?

Now I'm very humbled. I feel like my stuff is so amatuerish. Ah well.

krista- my stuff was wayyyyyy to polished for most of the schools. guess jim corner wanted to see how he could crack that veneer.


sketch, draw, photo, montage, or anything that illustrates impressions of places and shows how you see the world. its not about trying different styles, but just to practice. do 'figure' drawings of trees, clouds, cityscapes, fields, or what ever inspires you. don't be predictable, but find subjects that reveal your personality and thinking - places those in your book. (that's where I failed - most of the projects are just professional fluff - only the earlier academic ones show much.)

cook,

i think it looks great. your process and sketches are just as intriguing as polished visuals. you are showing a lot of inovation in your work. i wouldn't worry much about construction documents and landscape stuff unless you can find a creative way of displaying it. keep up the good work, and continue to do the things tha barry l. has suggested. don't shy away from what you have done... it's impressive and soon enough you'll learn more about the 'polished' graphics... but i'm sure you will find that sketches are timeless. good luck!

oh and are u from boston area.... i grew up outside of the city?

barry,

how was the mla at penn?

krista - this will probably sound repetitive, but i also liked a lot of the thinking/process images that you included in your portfolio. i agree that those are often much more interesting than the polished up stuff, although i have to say that barry's portfolio makes me want to tell the schools, "wait! don't look at mine! i take it back!" like barry said, look at the sequencing of your images so that you start and end with your best work, and so that it flows together more smoothly.

i also think that you have a nice sketching hand. even if you don't have a lot of time, something that i find helpful is carrying a sketchbook around and making quick sketches whenever i get a chance. they don't have to be anything fancy - little things, big things, whatever. different places you go to or images you see that are intriguing.

upenn was great- but I'm still figuring if it was worth 150k plus the lost income for the three years.

lisa and krista, i think it's quite serendipitous (for nam) that you have both posted great examples of 2 different sorts of portfolios. as treekiller mentions above, admissions committees are going to be thinking about the dynamic of the group they will be accepting. having a range of backgrounds represented in a design studio typically adds value to everyone's learning experience.

nam, in your case i think you should play up your specific background and education. you are highly intelligent, a critical thinker and you certainly have no difficulty generating ideas. you would make an excellent student and classmate in any one of the top design schools, in part because your unique perspective.

A big thank you to everyone for their feedback and encourgaement. It is truly valued. I'm brainstorming ideas for creative projects to work on over the coming months. My mind is so engaged right now.... I find I can't stop thinking about it and am often awake in the mddle of the night working out ideas. It is kind of tormenting me actually and distracting me from everthing else! But I feel very productive.

So 150K, that is SOME big bucks. I don't know about that.

that is the only reason that kept me from applying to penn....not that the gsd is any better.

barry, are you planning to teach with your degree or are you just practicing right now? I've been in the profession for three years and worked for two seperate firms; the first i loved and the one i have now ... i could do without.

working/practicing towards licensure now (taking my next round of LAREs in march), but showing up as a guest critic over in the MLA program at CDES this semester. Teaching is in the cards, but I'm waiting till I pass all my exams and accrue all the time required by the state and IDP.

I did a formal thesis at Penn (it's optional, less then 10% do one) to give me the teaching creds. Getting an adaptation of my thesis essay published is just another notch in the CV.



That 150K figures three years at 30-35k tuition/fees plus 15-20K living. Most of my living expenses were covered by part-time work & summer employment. so my debt was just less then 100k. But if I calculate the lost income at 40k/year, then there's 120k I didn't earn. All grad schools seem to be in this range (unless you get either instate tuition or a full ride scholarship), Penn is no more expensive (and maybe cheaper) then the GSD since philly is cheaper living.

AP et al..

Your right this discussion came at an opportune time because i am examining my plans with regards to going back to school. The portfolio's that have been shown have given me some clear direction as to what i need to get together and how i would present myself.

I certainly think i have an agenda, direction and value to add to a graduate program. Now i just need to work on selling myself.

Since i don't have the specific background i will just need to focus on what i consider my assets..

Thanks for all the encouragement and food for thought.