Your paintings are very nice.

Your East Oak renderings are your weakest work. I'd eliminate them completely from the portfolio. Or maybe convert them to black & white. It is a bit out-of-place in terms of graphic representation.

Otherwise, I think the overall simplicity works well.

What is this for? School or a Job?

i agree, the paintings are great

i have indesign but ended up using photoshop for mine. so much more ease and freedom. indesign sucks.

for masters program in architecture (and one school for land arch)

i cant imagine using anything BUT indesign. once you get indesign/photoshop/illustrator working together, its like butter. thats when the real freedom comes :)

passerby1ce , i agree with FP about the east oak. in fact, i dont know if you even need the entire project in their. it feels a little more like a resume entry and it is a little unclear (to me) what you actually did design wise. also, it destracts from the rest of the portfolio, which portrays you as a great visual artist. just thoughts...

agree the renderings are not up to same quality as the rest of portfolio and are a jarring surprise. best to take them out or else work out way to give them character. otherwise looks good to me.

cool that you did bfa in winnipeg. that is where i started too, ages and ages ago.

The quick brown fox JUMPS over the lazy dog

@hankd,

give in-design a chance. if it seems like it isn't good there is an even chance it is you, not the software.

photoshop is horrible for architecture portfolios that need to include vector data, while ID is great at both vectors and images. it also sucks at text and continuity from page to page, while ID makes such things a snap. if you need help, make a thread or do a search. lots of people here are expert with the software.

i'm sure indesign is better and faster at layout once you learn it, but i wouldn't say photoshop "sucks" at text and continuity from page to page. solutions: (i) duplicate layers, incl. text bodies from doc to doc to keep the layout the same, (ii) create PSDs that are page sets, not individual pages, so you can view both left and right pages at once.

of course, having experimented with indesign, im sure that it is more suited to layout design. eventually i may learn indesign, but i didnt have enough time this time.

yeah i had no design role in east oak. i was in the implementing role. the design was done by the contractor. he designed it, i was in charge of building it (ie. site supervisor)

just thought i should include some ability in interpreting 2D to 3D (since most of my stuff is in 2D). I'll see what i can do about integrating it better. since they're a fairly small company, those were the renderings i had to work with as plans. it was an improvement from the beginning of the year though, where i had to work off of sketches done on paper. But yeah, they have no autoCAD or anything like that to render. anyways thanks guys.

passerby1ce, the thing is there is little "interpretation" in those renders. they look like they work at communicating the facts of the project but in context of your other work show mostly that you don't know how to use the software to express an idea.

in that sense it is a minus not a positive. you don't need to know how to do 3d for architecture school. so very strongly advise not putting in work that is less accomplished than your other projects merely to make that point. in any case you have the real project to show, and that is infinitely more interesting.

btw, you should name the designer in the heading, or his/her company.




@hankd, of course you can do those things in photoshop but am sure if you ask anyone here with some experience using the adobe suite they will agree it is not the best tool for those jobs. when yo have time very much recommend learning to use the software. it is drop dead easy compared to photoshop so you can probably learn it in a jiff once you sit down.

yea, i had never used it before my portfolio and at this point feel super comfortable with it and have really grown to love it. in general, i feel like my design skills and formatting skills have skyrocketed, especially when it comes to needing to get things printed and therefore dealing with the inevitable misfortune that the stupid color BLACK will cause you and all the other issues.

but i digress..

Hey, since you critiqued mine, I'll do yours. First I guess I'll reiterate what ppl said about the "East Oaks" project, mostly because it has no coherence with the rest of your portfolio. I'm thinking there might be too many pages/projects. Maybe pairing it down to the absolute strongest pieces would be a good thing to try. I absolutely love your paintings, they blow my mind, but I'm not sure if the drawings and photos are up to the same standard, just my opinion though. I'm actually thinking you could put all the paintings as the first section, the photos in the middle, and a few select drawings at the end.

In Design is an excellent program for layout design. It's MADE for book design, magazines, etc. Using photoshop is not a very professional way to go, and is more cumbersome in the long run. ID AI and PS should be used in conjunction with each other for best results I find.

For page numbers:go to layout>numbering and selection options>type in style and what page you want the numbers to start on.

Best of Luck! I know we're basically applying to the same programs, so you're both an ally and competition, lol.

p.s. what about statements of interest, can we share those too?

ID is wonderful, particularly for exporting options. Illustrator is the second best, easy layouts, vectors and linked files, but exporting multipage PDFs is just ridiculously painful. PS is waaaaay too slow for any kind of production efficiency. 30 mins learning ID is worth it.



Back to the point....nice art work, love the paintings (other stuff is nice, too), simplicity seems to work - the art has enough richness that you don't want to compete with it.

Renderings/construction - not so good. Your art work suggests an edgy approach, looking at things differently, keeping an open mind to how things should fit together, a progressive thought process.

The construction (and worse, the renderings) looks very, very average to me. It looks like something anyone could make and really feels out of place next to the art.

I didn't look too closely at the furniture, but the desk on the left felt that way too - like "why am I here?".

I understand wanting to show 'real' things, but it does distract from an otherwise great port. If I were you, I'd take all thsoe photos and try making things look more abstract, different camera angles, maybe even a single page collage - anything to make it feel less ordinary.
Turn it all bw...


Given a choice, I'd axe the entire piece. Maybe do some fun creative work with it, to mimic your other art work and leave it slightly ambiguous as to what it is your showing, title it "Real" or something and make a crazy collage with the photos. But make it "you", make it fit and it could work, but as it is now my vote is to kill it.

cool, so glad i ran it by you guys before printing, cause i was ready to go.

so is the coffee table the only one worth saving off of the construction section?
i don't think i have time to manipulate images of the real life photographs of the construction process/building. i'm not that proficient with the programs and have other things on the go (trip at the end of dec, exam, statement of purpose etc...) to have time to fiddle. should i just axe the whole thing but leave the coffee table? or axe the whole construction section?

given time am sure all of it could work.

i am with trace. you can make the projects work better if you present them to show your own personality more. right now the furniture is simply photographed and plopped on the page. Which would be cool if you were Ron Arad, but these seem to be first steps towards something 3d for you. so is probably better idea to show the process of taking those steps.

ie, the material of your coffee table is plastic of some sort isn't it? if so maybe you could show he various ways you explored the material before coming up with the design. It looks like an interesting enough prototype so why not play that up. sketches construction photos whatever, could make it more interesting and show more of that process of testing things that trace pointed out in your paintings.

If you have time to put together it might work. If not, I don't know. my recommendation is that portfolio should tell a story. if the pieces fit into a story that you can tell then keep them. if they don't then pull them out as they will only confuse.

clarity is very important in architecture as much as in fine arts. a story is always central to the good stuff.

passby1ce:

I will try to be constructive as possible:

I dont know how much time you have but heres my 2 cents

graphically, it is a little disorganized.

YOU want a strong projects (paintings, sketches, etc.) in the beginning, middle and end.

Something to draw the person in, keep them interested and then have a lasting impression on them.

Your paints are your strongest attribute. The theory behind the painting can carry thru to grad school well. emphasis that.

Your construction is the weakest part in the portfolio, and can look like filler. I can see how you want to show that you know some construction knowledge. BUT showing finish pieces without any process, shows that you know how to take a picture.

Your portfolio for grad school should show the process that it took you to arrive at your answer.

It is not about the outcome, but the journey it took you to arrive to the outcome.

I think if you would like to include any of that. I would just do the images step by step of east oaks and get rid of the rest.

As for the lay out. SIMPLE is GOOD. white space is your friend. BUT! having funny margins make it seem like you did not care about fit and finish. (example. pg. 10) You wouldn't want to hang a van gogh on the wall slanted.

figure out a methodology for your margins, and stick to it.
On the issue of margins, cross images across a seam is DANGEROUS. Only do this for a specific intent like trying to connect the two pages together, DO NOT do this just because, it can weak your image and make it harder to understand as a whole. (ex. pg. 10)

This goes the same for your photos. Photography, captures your point of view. elebrate why these series of photographs mean something to you, don't just say that this is a series of photographys, we can see that. Also you need white space in the photography... It all kind of glazes over, because there isn't a place to rest your eyes. 20, 21 are good examples of using full bleed as an option. BUT white space is KEY! it can also emphasis your work. (lots of white space, small work)

Thing you might want to include. brief describe on each section... and how that process shows your logic in the work.

Architecture school isn't to me isn't about making pretty buildings, Anyone can make a pretty building, but the logic and the critical analysis of the issues is where great architecture shines.

good luck i hope this will help make your portfolio stronger.

Where are you applying for school?

sweet, many thanks guys.

discordantsystem haven't started the statement of purpose yet. hopefully i'll get a rough draft this weekend. should get it done fast though since u of t requires it to be in the portfolio. how are you doing with yours?

you guys bring a lot of good/valid points i wouldn't have even considered before so i'm eternally grateful.

i guess i should axe the desk and show the process of coming up with the coffee table, get rid of the renderings in construction and just show the process of the real life construction project.

i'm applying to UBC, U of T, and Dalhousie (as my safety school). thought about applying to Harvard. Yale, and the like....not too sure about the tuition though. blows my mind tuition alone is 40,000 or so. that's 2 years of arch school in canada with living expenses. boggles the mind. do you guys even think i have a shot at harvard/yale?

i'll have time to make those layout/content changes. i just don't think i'll have time to manipulate the images i already do have in photoshop as trace suggested to fix the construction section, due to my limited knowledge of the program at the moment. i knew i should've taken more graphic design. poop.

UT requires the statement to be in the portfolio???? I thought it just had to be separately printed out and mailed with it...

I didn't know U of T required the statement of interest in the portfolio!?? are you 100% sure, cuz I was just about to go to print. Thanks for the heads up on that one.

And yeah, I finished my statement of interest a few weeks ago and got come grad students in my house to look it over, but I still feel like there's something funny about it, and I can't put my finger on it.

Definitely take out pages 32 through 35, those pages won't win you any positive points in an academic circle. All of your artwork should play well in an application for a first professional degree.

^ paintings, yes. the drawings and photography look mediocre at best

yeah I'm pretty sure u of T wants it with the portfolio, along with other things. let me see if I can find an exact quote here......this is from the pdf they have for m.arch applications.

"5. Applicants to the John H. Daniels Faculty of
Architecture, Landscape, and Design must submit a
portfolio containing:
 A curriculum vitae (resume)
 A statement of interest in your proposed field
of study, educational objectives and career
orientation
 At least three (3) samples of writing from
previous university courses or published/
professional writings
 At least five (5) samples of your design work,
drawing or work in related fields (including
the visual arts, graphic arts, digital media and
engineering) which demonstrate your creative
ability.
The dimensions of the portfolio pages are not to
exceed 8 1⁄2 inches by 11 inches (or standard metric
A4, 210 mm x 297 mm). There is no restriction as
to the number of pages submitted. Applicants are
advised that assessments will focus on quality and
leadership potential.
Applicants are encouraged to treat the presentation
of their portfolio as a straightforward graphic design
exercise. Applicants should not submit work on CD or
in other electronic forms.
Please note that while the John H. Daniels Faculty
of Architecture, Landscape, and Design does not
undertake to return material, applicants may pick up
their portfolios between September 20 and October
8, 2010. Material not picked up by October 8, 2010
may be discarded. "

You misspelled your country of birth.