Looks good....

Shorten the text

I'm editing myself because you're an undergrad, but the broad view of my issues with it are as follows:

That thing on the front is way too big. I understand that people get these little affectations, especially when they're young, but the content to size ratio is off. See how it looks shrunk down to a 3/4" icon.

Too many different typefaces, too many different treatments of those typefaces (way too much italic), with too little reason for it all.

The type is far too large. This creates ugly rags (the right edge where your type edge looks ragged), because your type size to column width ratio is off. When you get more words per line in, the length of each individual word affects the rag less. Yes it's possible to go too far in the other direction, but you seem to have the too-short-column/too-large-type issue.

The proportions of things just seem awkward to me: too tall perhaps. Granted fixing the type size may make a difference in this perception, but something feels off about the grid, possibly you've got too many modules which is what's resulting the too narrow column width and the perception of awkwardly tall forms (for a landscape format).

What size is your portfolio?
I would agree with what rationalist wrote. I'd also like to mention the layout overall should be a little more consistent, ie. page number locations (or some logic behind it), image/text placement, etc
Good luck

Here's my honest response:

What's with some of your descriptions? ie. "it's not a sustainable building, but...." (or something to that effect). I noticed this on more than one page.
First of all, not everything has to be framed in terms of sustainability. Yes, it's an important part of what we as architects and architecture students should be doing, but it's also a loaded term, with a lot of garbage connotations. Don't get too hung up on the "environmental" part of Environmental Design. Secondly, if the building you're describing is sustainable (however you happen to define that term), then describe it as such! If not, drop the sustainable bit and tell us why that particular building is worthy of your (and our) study.

Additionally, you should work on your text blocks. As has been mentioned, the proportions look awkward and I generally think your descriptions are simply too long. Pick one type-set for the entire portfolio and stick with it. Also, I'd drop the hyphenated words. They work in newspapers, but generally look out of place when it comes to typical portfolio captions.

In terms of the actual composition, imagine the blocks of text as if they were images. This might help you visualize their graphic capability. Also, consider using a grid layout to harmonize the various elements, as right now, some things are pretty haphazard. Page 13 for example, is a bit of a dog's breakfast. All the images are the same size, which isn't a bad thing, yet combined with the dis-organized layout leaves no real sense of hierarchy. My eyes aren't led to anything in particular, and I'm left wondering why the text was cut into two distinct sections (one of which is positioned very oddly between two images).

My gut reaction is also to keep your way-finding block in a consistent place. I like the simple idea of the coloured square encapsulating the page number, but I think it would read better if it was always located on the same part of the page (for example: bottom right). You'll have to play around with that to see what works best however.

So those are my thoughts. You've got a good start, but also some things that need practice. UBC is known as a tough school to get into, so hopefully you'll get a position. Good luck!

Thanks for all the feedback.

The text was definitely something I struggled with, but wasn't sure how to deal with it. It is size 11 font already, and while smaller is perfectly legible, I didn't really want to go smaller. I probably should have made the pages larger, as they are only 9"x6".

The page numbers do have logic, though I see what you mean. The position and colour match on each page (i.e. the pages are double sided and when you flip the right page, the number position and colour match on the left page of the next spread, if that makes sense). The vertical movement also follows a pattern, with 4 total position possibilities.

Regarding the sustainability: I am aware of the many other considerations in Envrionmental Design. I thought about my approach for a very long time. The biggest influence was the program description by the coordinator. I was actually surprised how big of a focus there was on environmental responsibility, and therefor tried to match my own perception of the term 'environmental design' to what appears to be the program's. I did not change mine, only chose to focus on certain aspects. The reason that set of three images and focus on their environmental impacts is because of another aspect of the submission requirements. We were asked to answer a questionnaire, which asked us to discuss, in 50 words or less (which is extremely short) three buildings that have been of compelling interest to us and how they represent (or don't represent) our current understanding of environmental design. It's very hard to convey how something is compelling in 50 words. I basically just tried to discuss the implications of environmental design, and still had to do some cutting.

Rationalist, I'm not quite sure I understand the 3/4" icon comment.

Thanks again,
Cameron

the 3/4" icon comment boils down to this: you've put some large silly thing on your front cover. There's very little content to it, and blowing it up to the size you have makes the viewer look for content, but of course there is none. So make it smaller. Like, really, really small.

11 point text is huge on a book, especially with some of the typefaces you're using. 11pt Mrs. Eaves is a nice read: 11 point Times New Roman is for kindergardeners and senior citizens. Most of the books you read are around 9pt.

ditto about the text. i would actually drop most of the descriptions as they feel a bit "creepy", or maybe mumbly is a better word. just get to the point, and leave out any bit that describes why something should be something but isn't, that just feels totally lame. on top of that, you don't need to label drawings of your hand, nor explain that they are done from various angles and which hand they are. the point is not the hand but you. what you were thinking, what you think, why you think. to be honest the execution is almost irrelevant. the motivation, beyond the fact that you have hands and they are conveniently easy to pose, is far more important.

i might have missed it but where are the skis you made with the press you built? also, if you don't have a picture of the furniture then don't put it in. actually if you grew up with the shop and you are implying that you are totally comfortable with the equipment why have you only got one incomplete example to show for that familiarity?

sorry to be harsh, but your text kind of leads down certain paths that keeps on ending up with bupkus and it is a bit frustrating. i get the impression you are a thoughtful person but i don't see any direction or indication that you are thinking about what you have put together in any deep way. as a result much of it has a reaching quality to it, like you are forcing content to be what it isn't or else just thought you needed something and this is what you could throw together.

if i were teaching undergrad i would be looking for evidence of clear thinking, not skills. a fresh perspective would be cool. but right now i don't have impression that you have any perspective at all.

lacking that perspective i would almost prefer a silent booklet where the work is presented minimally and is allowed to speak for itself. that is actually a good strategy at times. your audience, being human, will fill in the blanks you leave in all kinds of interesting ways that you never even thought of...if you leave space for that to happen.

as a final thought, since you spent the time doing warmup drawings why not show that you can do an actual drawing too? that sort of thing speaks more about you than any old 30 second exercise does. and in the end the portfolio is about communicating who you are, not the skills you have....

oh yeah, ditto on the logo on the front. unless you can come up with a reason for its size, make it small.

I wouldn't tell them you don't have photos of the skis cuz they aren't done yet... either you have the images, or you don't. I wish I knew how to make skis.

Lots of good things to consider. I definitely agree that it is quite skill focused, which I struggled with when putting it together.

Also, what sorts of things would demonstrate clear thinking? I really wanted to show evidence of this/problem solving, but was not sure how (I suppose that was a problem solving exercise in itself, and apparently I didn't succeed). But really, I am beginning to enter design competitions now, but without them, what would show effective problem solving and/or clear thinking?

I know I asked for criticism, and I'm glad there has been lots, but admittedly, I now feel that it's a terrible portfolio. Does it just have a lot of things that could be improved, or is it actually pretty bad (i.e. what is your general feeling about it, as opposed to specific concerns)? Again, if it is weak, say so; I can deal with criticism.

If there are other issues that haven't been mentioned yet, though, by all means discuss them.

Thanks.

well see that is where it gets tricky.

the content is fine really. it is how it is packaged that doesn't work.

saying things like i did this furniture piece but it isn't ready to show yet is not how to show a project. do a rendering of it, or just make the fact that it is in progress into the theme. take a picture of the wood curing in the back yard or whatever and say that it is work in progress.

you could make a whole story about that...for example, that you aren't one of those people who just see the design part of making things, and that your approach goes all the way to the beginning. how your experience as furniture builder taught you that it is necessary to go all the way back to the tree being cut down, then curing then design and building and polishing, etc. then tie that into the meta-narrative of environmental issues, which require you to think beyond the very limited window of design as a graphic enterprise...

it doesn't have to be that story, but something like that tells me you get a whole lot more than most of your competition. and it doesn't feel incomplete or forced. the incomplete bit IS the story. and that is what you sell. the furniture? who cares. i am not joking. what you are selling is a point of view. the things you see within that point of view are just props.

narrative is what i would look for. it should be possible to do that for any project. the hard part is to not come off as reaching again, and to arrange things in the simplest way possible so there is room for readers to interpret. when there is no story cuz it is just a sketch, then don't be afraid to just have a page of drawings without text, or if you need to just throw in a simple title.

again it isn't the content. you aren't expected to have accomplished much yet, but you are expected to show that once you are in the school you will be able to do some cool things.

oh, and best advice of all. keep on putting your neck out there. showing your portfolio on archinect takes a certain amount of courage cuz it opens you to all kinds of criticism, but it is the only way to learn. and you will, because there are lots of people here who know their shit and are happy to share. not putting your neck on the line is easier on the ego, but is also best way to fail to grow. you should feel good about yourself for being here at all.

i can't say i know everything about portfolios...
but i agree there were plenty of great suggestions made by other members.
don't beat yourself up about your portfolio. your content shows definitely skill. the pieces you have created really do show your interest in architecture. i just feel that you tried to make it seem professional by adding the blurbs and everything...

just remember this: your work is going to speak for yourself. i don't think whoever reviewing your stuff is going to read what you have written first, or really consider it to be really important.
unless that was some requirement... i definitely suggest making your images the main focus. make them larger and make your written stuff smaller.

you have to do a bit of graphic design work here... think about what you want someone focus on. it's your work, right? arrange your pages accordingly.

i have to say that i definitely like how you put your self portrait first and without any distracting text blurbs around it. i thought that was really strong.

good luck with everything.

I think that was a great idea for you to post your portfolio to get some feed back. Obviously I understand that you don't have that much experience to put in more extensive projects. All of the points made have been pretty helpful, especially regarding the font. Maybe its because I am a 4th year architecture student and work on my own portfolios that, the font wasn't really the biggest reaction I had, and i didn't notice if anyone else said this but what stuck out to me was the last page, architecture school is cut throat not flowery at all, you should try to be as specific and kind of cold when describing things. You should take out the "thank you for considering my application." They will not be anymore impressed that you added that, if not actually annoyed. sorry.
and if you want the pages to read be more clearly consider using a non-serif font like arial or helvetica. if you didn't notice from this website and basically all design sites clean fonts area always best. I hope this helps don't stress about peoples feed back too much Im just being honest. Good Luck!

^ don't be afraid of the serif. a little serif never hurt anyone.

Honestly, a good place to start, especially if you don't have a lot of experience doing layouts and design is to go to your local Borders (or Barnes and Nobel is you must...) and look through the books in the graphic design section. I might get slammed for suggesting this, but there is a whole series of "best of brochure" design books, and when it comes down to it, a portfolio is really just a brochure advertising you. Granted, 50% of the stuff in there will probably be crap, but it's an easy way to see a lot of different layouts and start to understand what people mean about grid systems, hierarchy, proportion and text to image ratio, etc. Most of them at the very least will tell you the dimensions and what the brochure was used for.

Then, let's say you find one and think "Dang, I wonder what typeface they used?" Well, aside from the Google search (which does work from time to time) you can also go to linotype's website where they have a lot of different tools, including a really informative 20 questions type thing describing the font based on anything from a few letters to the whole alphabet. Sure as shooting, the majority of what you will see is probably coming from linotype. I believe some of the other foundries have a similar tool.

Check it out. Grid systems, while maybe a little dated, is IMHO the best way to simplify and organize a portfolio or any mixture of image and text.

freeezerburn--I think you're talking about the vignelli and crouwel school of using grids but do you have any (online) resources for utilizing these techniques?

freeezerburn--I think you're talking about the vignelli and crouwel school of using grids but do you have any (online) resources for utilizing these techniques?

@BLACKBOOK: the jpeg of the book cover must have been screwy, but i actually posted something a little more old school than that: josef muller-brockman's grid system book. i think before getting into the later dutch mutations a la crouwel, it's probably more important to get to the basics of what a grid is used for, mainly hierarchy, balance on the page, etc, which i think the muller-brockman book explains with many examples.

freeezerburn- found it

http://www.amazon.com/Systems-Graphic-Systeme-Visuele-Gestaltung/dp/3721201450

cheers!

i think your portfolio does have the potential to get in.

my advice is to re-layout your portfolio. consider about the placement of your writings, type and size of font of your writings. i dont think the current font that you are using now is appropriate for portfolio. well, at least in my personal opinion.

do not put unecessary pages such as the content pages, and the final page where you say thank you. not exceeding 10 pages to apply undergraduate program is the best.

simple layout is the best. focus more on your work.

I don't really want to bump this thread back up, but in the chance that someone looking to apply to the program in the future stumbles upon this, I just wanted to note that I was accepted.