It all depends on the kind of work you are looking for, but I always want to see more than pictures/renderings. So I would definitely include technical drawings and physical models. You want to show your future employer that you have certain skills so include material that supports those skills.

Agreed with Randomized. I put portfolios with no ortho's into a pile for 'review at leisure'.

your portfolio says to me that you have some photoshop skills and a sensitive eye for detail. on the other hand, i don't see a very rigorous process or an understanding of the basics of design communication and drawing conventions. it reads as a series of pleasant images.

People need to stop using the big but sketchup chick in their projects...

sketchup shouldn't be used for presentations. period.

in helvetica. period.

was your degree in architecture?

I'd consider editing the movie or leaving it out altogether. The story might not appeal to a potential employer who's viewing your portfolio on her lunch break.

yes the degree is in architecture. this was an initial sort of beta stab to get some critique. thanks for all of the feedback.

you will add more work?

projects are a bit hard to grasp without plans and some explanation of purpose that is not text-based...

if you want to do web-based portoflio i think BIG website is the best. whatever you think of their work it is very very clear.

your stuff is pretty but i would click out almost immediately because i can't tell what the purpose is. by that i mean there is no narrative to speak of, and lacking that, just a slide show of pretty pictures. nothing wrong with that, but there is nothing to draw me in or keep me interested.

resume should also be on the front-page, not buried in contact info. resume itself is a bit difficult to understand. maybe good idea to put date on left side of table and content on the right (if that makes sense?), and do separate entries for each degree, etc. on first glance it looks like you have only one degree and when you got it is not clear. same with work experience.

out of curiosity you have no professional experience at all? based on work shown you mostly can only do rendering work and employer will need to invest a fair amount of time in you. if you have other skills you might want to show them, especially in this economy.

just looking at that portfolio, I'd never know you had a degree in architecture. The two "projects' have no architectural drawings - and the rest is just a bunch of photographs - which are really great... but it seems more like a portfolio someone would submit for an MArch I as opposed to someone who is ready to enter the profession.

If I were to pick up your portfolio as a potential employer, I'd be very concerned that I'd have to teach you how to do some really basic things - like how to draw a floor plan.

Do you have some drawings from a building systems class? Showing potential employers that you not only have design skills, but that you can actually jump into drawing production (which is what you'd mostly be doing) would be a huge plus.

jump. thanks you for the thoughtful response. i will certainly add more work, though it may be more effective to go to a flickr or pdf type format given my limited web skills. i am hearing that i need a much more complete representation of projects; boards, drawings, context, diagrams, etc.

thanks again

toasteroven. again a thoughtful reply. i ashamedly (if that is a word) assumed that a viewer would understand that a set of drawings would accompany any architecture work and I will most promptly add all necessary info. of course i have plenty of 2d representation to go along with the material.

thanks

um yeah, one of your links says 'green shitter'.

I like the web portfolio but it could use more content down the road.

What do people think of web portfolios?

Here is mine for you honest critique

www.peternormand.com

It is still a work in progress as content and software abilities become available.

jkzen - it's great that you are seeking out feedback - I'd also seek out former profs who might help you out as well.

your resume mentions rapid prototyping experience - do you have any examples? I could imagine a really great series of images documenting this process...

There's no question that you have a good eye - the big question is your ability to carry out a project, and to be able to visually communicate and document your process and design. You've still got a long way to go in your career, but the sooner you learn to be very explicit and meticulous in your presentation (when in doubt, label) - the easier time you'll have getting ahead in this profession.

PJN26.

Sweat models! I can appreciate that. I wish that there were more actually, one for every project. I think they are the highlight of your portfolio, that is a nice skill. Do you use a laser cutter?

PJN26- I agree with JordanS. The models are... wow. At least figure out how to highlight them as they seem to be your strongest work. As you are probably already aware, the site lacks organization and direction. I felt like I was blindly clicking buttons and icons and only found the models by chance. On the portfoliohome.htm page, I wanted to see labels that noted how many images were waiting behind the click, and what sort of images they were.

PJN - that site is very unpleasant to maneuver through. Looking at the images of plans/sections it seems like they are fairly single pass with the labeling crammed in at the last moment.

Overall I can see you have a range of interests, which is worth talking about, but the presentation of both the content and the website is unsophisticated to the point of being frustrating.

"unsophisticated to the point of being frustrating"

I'd guess that phrase describes me rather concisely.

I call shenanigans

Thanks for the crit, I am working on labeling the portfolio home page in the final version.

Did anyone notice the line of thumbnails on the upper right of most portfolio projects? These linked to individual images, perhaps this navigation aide is too small.

Yes the models were done with a laser, I probably should mention that somewhere.

I am torn between showing a lot of images separately or collages of images. Both have their drawbacks I certainly don’t want to make an epic journey out of some projects. I tried to stick with the three click rule.

As for wiz bang affects those will come once I have acquired (legitimately) Flash, and mastered the program.

Anyone else care to share their web portfolio? This thread could become quite a resource if we can keep this up.

pjn26-Please take all of this with a grain of salt. I have little to no experience designing websites. It's just what I thought when I looked at it.

>Did anyone notice the line of thumbnails on the upper right of most portfolio projects?

Yes, but it was not immediately blatantly obvious to me. Maybe you can put numbers next to them. I would put the title of each project on the main page next to a thumbnail/detail. I would make sure that the first image you see when you click on that detail is the image of which the detail is a detail. Some would argue with me on this, but I prefer instant gratification on the web. I'd make sure there is a brief paragraph or description on that first page and a caption on each successive page, enough that they want to interview me to learn more. Yes, easier said than done.

>I am torn between showing a lot of images separately or collages
>of images. Both have their drawbacks I certainly don’t want to
>make an epic journey out of some projects. I tried to stick with the >three click rule.

I think the collage thing could have thrown me off a little. I usually like a page that includes a brief descriptive paragraph and big thumbnails with the option to click each one for a larger version, but that's just my personal opinion. I also lose patience with overly flashy pages that make me wait for the meat. Again, my personal taste.

i would stay clear of flash personally. i am good at flash but dislike it for the internet and use it mostly for animated presentations. there are lots of reasons for that point of view but number one among them is that flash is too shallow and overkill if all you want to do is look at a bunch of pictures.

thumbnails were hard to see somehow but i did eventually notice them. it may be that the darking out of the actual image when you rollover them makes them less easy to pay attention to...

best advice is to keep it simple. remove your navigation from the edge and put it in place where easy to see and perhaps reduce the image size in order to reduce loading times (though maybe i am only one who feels slow load times). also select your pics very carefully and use them to tell a story. the most important thing you need to do is make a narrative, something that connects the images or the projects so it feels like you are not just throwing it all down.

i agree the models are very good btw. nicely done.

Thanks again for the constructive criticism I have overhauled my portfolio index page if you care to take a look.

http://www.peternormand.com/portfoliohome.htm

better. still confusing. i still recommend editing content severely. be brutal.

for you Holz.
http://www.helveticafilm.com/

Several drawings need to go and the ones you keep need to be cleaned up a little in photoshop.