To decide on the projects, I would think about what you are using this portfolio for. To get into grad school? To get a job? What kind of job? Cad? Modeling? Show the projects that showcase what you want them to see.

The salmon color is a bit over kill for my taste. While it ties the thing together it is distracting and makes the projects run together. Your work is good for only 3 years of study, I would tone down the graphic gimmicks and let the work show for itself.

In the future (i say this because I realize most are rendered and difficult to edit) be careful with so many scale figures. They are quite distracting. Especially when you see the same ones from SketchUp all over the place. Pay attention to how many times yous see the same pair of guys all over the place. The lens flares on the glass are also a bit cheesy.

The legal warning at the end is quite harsh and likely to put most people off. It sounds like the shoplifting warning at wal-mart. It isn't at all necessary for a personal portfolio.

is this for work or grad school? for work/internship it's good enough, but nothing really stands out. all it shows is that you can make convincing enough drawings and you have a good understanding of scale and, rare at your level, how a building comes together.

if it is for grad school you need more process drawings. even if these are done after you've finished, you need to show that you aren't just playing around in sketchup.

if you mention anything in your writing, you need to make sure you are showing it - for example, that first project you talk about "visually connecting back to the community" - it's not enough to show windows framing particular views, but you need a diagram or drawing that shows how you carefully placed the windows in relation to something specific that is happening in the surrounding context. I know this seems like overkill, but stuff like this helps explain how you arrived at your final building - and that you are being rigorous in your process.

Archrise - Thanks for your comments. What this portfolio will be used for is to get internships (hopefully at some of the top firms like OMA, BIG, etc...). I've done an internship in an extremely corporate firm that really only cared about pushing projects out as fast as possible, and while I learned about the process, detailing, etc... that is not the type of firm I see myself working at in the future. My end goal is one foot in academia/one foot in practice, teaching and having a small firm of my own. So in the immediate future after I get my MArchI, this will be used for grad school and my MArchII.

On the color, One of the professors at my school came up and in her usual way told me that if I use it again she was going to smash my computer. She is awesome though and I can't wait to take her advanced history/theory elective in the spring.

As far as the work running together, should I alternate between two colors? The initial version of this had 5 colors, which helped with the run together issue, but I thought it was too much. Two might be a good compromise.

On the renderings, its more of a personal preference that I put a lot of scale figures in. I think ones with only one or two scale figures look too static, and I like the rendering style that both JDS and BIG use. As far as the lens flares and scale figures, I do all of those in photoshop, so they can be taken out if needed. I agree on some of the lens flares, if you notice they become a bit toned down in later projects.

On the legal warning, that was something a graphic designer friend of mine suggested to put in, but I agree that it is probably a bit too harsh for our profession.

Toasteoven) Thanks for the compliments but I am curious as to why you think that nothing stands out? I'm asking because that opinion has been a bit of a rarity during my education so far.

Totally agree on the process drawings. When I pare the number of projects in the portfolio down, they will be added.

As mentioned before it is more towards grad school/firms that everyone applies to. It isn't for this summer as I am doing a study abroad semester in Europe (leave Saturday, first time over there) but I'll be done with 4th year in December and have about 9 months to work somewhere/begin research on my thesis.

Thanks for the comments. I appreciate them both.

Ill reiterate on the comments above. A good source for comparison is www.issuu.com, just search for portfolios and see whats out there (also a great web hosting for your own as its free).

To some specifics I think some of your progression diagrams need a bit more explaining in them to really see the direction you took, you seem to really like the Dutch style diagrams and BIG so I would go back and look at what makes theirs effective. It all comes down to clarity. A good exercise might be to update them a bit and show them to someone with no architectural background, if they can understand them without any explanation then they are successful.

Also a a general note sometimes its about what you don't do, espeacially with the graphic design aspects. If you want a continuous element that runs through your portfolio make it an accent piece instead of the really bold color you're using. A great color management resource is Kuler (http://kuler.adobe.com/#themes/random?time=30).

As a closing comment good luck, but don't get your hopes up with the really big name internships, the environment is really tough right now and from my experience thus far I would recommend not to let any opportunity slip through your hands, even if it is not the ideal situation. Take a note from Joshua Prince Ramus to maybe find a smaller firm that would give you more responsibility or form your own practice to define how you want to work.

Agree with the other three posters, take out the salmon and use color sparingly. You already have some color in your renderings, why not use one color to help pop out diagrams or make aspects of drawings pop (a la BIG) instead of going with the full-page color?

Also agree with the comment about too many people in the renderings. It's nice but way overkill on some drawings, I'm thinking specifically of the courtyard performance area on page 3.

I've been working on putting together a portfolio as well and one thing that I've consistently been told is not to make each page too busy. Let your work breath more and you'll have less issues with everything looking the same. You only need to show a few of the best drawings and diagrams per project. Don't be afraid of white space.

You could probably emphasize the renderings less. Many of them, especially on the 1st two projects look similar and tell a similar story about the space. It would be great to see some of your diagrams (like the exploded assembly axon for your second project) much larger on the page.

My last post sounds overly negative. Your work is really good and I can see why you're doing well in school. I think what you do have is great, it's just a matter of, like you said, editing things down to what's essential.

I actually disagree with you intotheloop, your post didn't sound overly negative at all.

Right now I have my pages as 9x7 landscape (several printers have it as a standard size) but to make things breath more I may change it to 11x8.5 landscape. I've been told to have no more than three spreads per project as well...is that something that still holds true today?

Thanks for the advice intotheloop. Good luck with your portfolio as well.

KHouchin) Thanks for the comments, I'll play around with kuler a bit (I didn't know about it). My plan for right now is that if the economy is still in the toilet by time I graduate in 2012, I'm going to go straight into grad school and get my MArchII. If not, then I'm going to look at going to a smaller firm and getting the IDP hours I need. Also really good advice on showing people with no architectural background. I show my girlfriend my work every now and then but all she says is it looks good.

Thanks everyone, I'm getting some really good advice here.

From the looks of my survey its looking like I'm getting some clear cut answers for the first three projects to keep in the portfolio. What is a good number to have in?

Also I am working on updates and will have them available either tomorrow or sometime soon. If not tomorrow, it may be a month since I'll be traveling.

Your back cover is so much more powerful than the front cover, I would really use back cover for front, because front looks really cheesy right now, but other than that, everything all looks good!

What about something like this for the front cover?

Front Cover with color/line drawing

Back Cover Modification

Yes! That looks awesome! Now I want to flip the pages to find that project!

maybe compared to your fellow students... but in the context of your portfolio they all blend together -

three big reasons: pacing (i.e. progression of imagery to help guide the reader's understanding and reading of your project by smart use white space and clear organization of imagery), no process sketches/models/images/diagrams, and that awful salmon color. its all a bit monotonous because it's all the same computer rendering over and over.

IMHO - get rid of the salmon color - in fact - don't use any color - I challenge you to see if your portfolio stands up in B&W - only then start adding color, not as your organizational strategy, but as a way to make things pop/read at crucial moments to help communicate something important about your project.

using large blocks of color (just like extra lines or random shapes) to "enhance" your page usually means you are trying to cover up compositional issues. i think getting rid of it, at least for now, will help you see where things aren't working.

Cover looks great!

Ok, got ya now toasteroven. I misunderstood your comment. Thanks everyone. This is really helping out, especially since we only had a couple classes in first year about portfolio design.

I'm guessing the red color is going to go even though I like it, the majority seems to hate it. I have process sketches/diagrams/model images that I will be adding now that I have a good sense of what 4 of the projects I am keeping in will be.

myself i have nothing against the color but agree with toasteroven about pacing and content. it is a bit flat though it seems like there is no need for it to be.

minor points...

the lens flair works well when everything is poppy, but your renders are otherwise flat, so they don't suit the scenes and look a bit out of place, like you saw it work in a rendering somewhere but haven't worked out how to make it work in your own projects.

funnily enough it took me several times to realise the project on your cover is even in your portfolio. the folded window frame is a nice detail but gets lost in the description of the project, which is a pity. i don't see it in the renders either so am not sure if it is a throwaway or something you meant to show but haven't gotten around to yet...

as far as the projects go, i think the last 5 are not as good as the ones that precede them or at least are not presented well enough for me to get into them. the project that really stands out to me is the white one, le tchoup, but mostly because the renderings are dead clear. without commenting in the design itself i can at least understand what i am looking at, something your other renders are not always as successful at. the plans that follow the renders lose me again though, which is a pity. not certain what it is. too much going on, or maybe just lack of hierarchy so i can't focus my eyes anywhere...

overall the level is higher than average though. you should be proud of what you have done so far.

also impressed by your acceptance of critique without becoming defensive. not an easy thing to do for many, but a very useful skill (it IS a skill ! ).

luck.

Any suggestions on making the portfolio and renders less flat?

For the cover, are you meaning the original one with the render or the new one with the exploded axon? If you are talking about the one with the exploded axon, I plan to go back and do a rendering of that part of the building (it was a time constraint reduction of modeling when I was doing the project).

The last five projects were early 1st year and 2nd year projects (with professors that didn't push too far before I learned to push myself that far). I think they might benefit from going back and diagramming. The observation platform is currently 4th in my survey, and one that people tend to like but that may be due to their connection with the program (Observation/reflection at the site of one of the Levee breaks during Katrina). I still remember my critiques from that review (and oddly enough, the professor that was on that review is doing the study abroad that I am leaving for Saturday and we are visiting a church in Berlin that she mentioned about creating an even more transformative space).

Thanks for the compliment on acceptance of critique. I've learned not to take anything personally (although I still tend to sometimes). I definitely one of the "rip my project apart all you want, its stilla good review if I learn something from it" people. Luckily I've only really had one bad review so far, and its because the professor went on a diatribe about Peter Eisenmann that had nothing to do with the project (and he is very traditionalist).

cover looks good, but i still think the swaths of full bleed salmon is hurting you.


for example:

same car, but this is a much more successful use of color..(notice all the stitching is orange)



than this..

have you tried printing it out in black and white? I have nothing against use of color, but I think too many students these days have a hard time using it intelligently because it's too easy to just hit print and profs aren't as old-school about presentations anymore (no more "only two drawings per sheet - ink on mylar"). i think your work is pretty strong, but the reason your portfolio is flat is because you aren't using color and page composition to your advantage.

also - it could help to first run through each project a single image at a time - printing them out and arranging them by hand - and really think about what you are missing, what is redundant, and what is most important in communicating your project (the same way you'd edit a research paper). I think you might be too trapped on the screen and too in love with your imagery. just the act of arranging things by hand can be incredibly helpful - you can see the entire project at once, and can move things around much faster. you seem to have skipped this step.

Thats a pretty damn good idea there toasteroven. I think right now not looking at it printed out is holding me back a bit. I'll try the black and white idea.

I know I've said this every time, but I truly appreciate all the advice that has been given. Its really going to help my portfolio to stand out.

I probably won't have many updates on it during the next month, but I'll be incorporating most of the comments and critiques into the revision and post it when it is done.

I could use more of a sample for the survey though, but I also have a good idea which 5 are going to go into the final.

Thanks again!

I've made some changes (nowhere near final but taking in a few suggestions) I will keep working on this over the summer to get it where it should be.

New Revisions

Hi everyone,

Once again thank you for all of the comments and critiques. After almost three months (1.5 were in Europe, 1 was here in New Orleans in studio) I have updated my portfolio.

I've revised my portfolio, toning down the color, getting rid of the red, letting things breathe more, adding sketches, etc... I've also narrowed it down to what I (and a lot of other people) feel are my best 5 projects.

I'm keeping it all together in a Photobucket album so that you don't have to download the PDF. The link is below.

Portfolio Revision

Thanks in advance for the critiques.

Josh

I'm adding a PDF for those of you that want to see it all together as one. I'm sure photobucket isn't doing as good as job as I thought it would.

Portfolio PDF

Thanks for looking and critiquing!

I think this is getting better - although some of your sketches would be better off as a more polished diagram (folded intersection, for example). rule of thumb: if it communicates the same thing in a more finished drawing then you're better off with the more finished drawing - if it shows you using drawing/modeling as a tool to rigorously think about something (dense layered lines, a series of quick sketches of different iterations of the same idea, pictures of a series of 10-20 massing models, etc...) then it can be a very effective way to show how you developed your concept - and stronger support for your project statement.

if you didn't keep a consistent record of this stuff as you developed your project, then that's fine - just something to keep in mind as you move forward.

Thanks toasteroven. I've actually further refined it a bit by getting rid of items that say the same thing.

Update/Refinement of Portfolio