That's a tough one...the last portfolio I did was several years ago (2001) and it was for undergrad, so it kinda looked like crap, but then again most of the other ones looked even crappier so...

I'm just starting to build a portfolio for grad school. I've looked at places like www.blurb.com for printing, but I haven't decided yet. A simple softcover there runs $20 each. I would assume that getting it done at a local print shop will cost more, but I haven't priced it myself. You can try printing and binding it yourself if you have a high quality printer and have some binding experience, if not the results are iffy.

I would suggest trying to get your schools InDesign working...it seems to work well for doing layouts. Talk to whoever is in charge of your computer labs.

Are you planning on making some physical models? Basswood isn't too expensive unless you're using a ton of it. You could probably get by with a limited number of tools if needed...you can do quite a few study models for pretty cheap. Say do 3 or 4 small models for each project, making changes to each one, showing how your design evolved from start to finish. Heck, you can even buy stuff to make models out of at the hardware store, copper wire, aluminum screen, cardboard, paper, tinfoil, plaster. Get some good glue though, that stuff will hold your entire universe together, pretty much. Experiment with some stuff.

Do you have a friend that would loan you a digital camera? Or does the Art or Architecture department of your school have one? Our architecture dept has a photo studio with a nice digital camera that we use. Maybe you can ask around campus, explain why you want to use it, maybe someone will help. Even if you don't have a photo studio you can make some decent photos of models. Use natural daylight if you can't afford fancy lights. Buy a tripod and borrow a friends digital camera, since most are pretty high quality these days, just use the tripod to hold it still.

And if you're good with the computer, you can always try to design some digital stuff. Even if it's not architectural.

Good and hand drawing? Draw up some sketches. Find a scanner at school to make them digital.

Architecture can be surprisingly expensive, but if you learn some of the tricks you can still do some cool stuff pretty cheap.

"InDesign isn't working for some reason"

Is your InDesign CS3 or CS4?

The reason I ask is because CS3 and CS4 have a glitch in their licensing that periodically causes the license to lapse. And there's not an easy fix (even if you uninstall and reinstall). There are some tutorials out there for fixing this!

It's basically a very long and manual hack to remove and corrupt the license file so they stop deactivating themselves.

So search for "indesign" + "license expired" in google... and you should find a page or two.

Also, Paul... Please don't ban me! I discovered this on the Adobe forums. Adobe even makes a tool that helps you delete your license ... so you can try re-entering it in!

Thanks guys! I suspect its a licensing issue too. Will definitely check it out.

monosierra,
Just curious why are you going into architecture at this perticular time?

Hi DisplacedArchitect,

I'm a rising senior so its time to make life choices. But is it a bad time for the whole profession?

Is that a rhetorical question?

Understandably if you come from a different background you may not know the current conditions of the business, but you can't be oblivious that the greater economy is in the midst of the biggest recession since the Great Depression.

Obviously that would have a profound impact on Architecture.

Well things seem to be looking up for some of my classmates going to Wall Street and other industries - especially in emerging markets - so I assumed the construction sector might be perking up as well.

monosierra - the current economy for architects has been discussed at great length on this forum. While (crossing fingers) things seemed to have bottomed out, architects are generally the first to feel a downturn and the last to rise out of one. Unemployment is viciously high (25-50+ %) and it will take years of attrition combined with a robust economy to get us back to palatable employment levels...and that doesn't even address the battle to regain/rebuild decent fees. It's tough times indeed.

Hi aquapura,

That sounds terrible. I'm actually planning to work first - most likely in a different industry - before going to architecture school. Is this state of unemployment the same around the globe?

I applied in 2005, so some things have become cheaper and easier, but the competition has probably improved commensurately. My applications were quite successful.

I started work in September, and ended up coming so close to the deadline that I had to Fed-ex half of my portfolios (I don't recommend this). I did have a plan and followed it fairly well, but didn't include enough flexibility in the plan. So that's my first advice.

I worked on my portfolio for about 120 hours total, which included layout and editing, but didn't include making new works. I had no architectural experience to speak of, but a considerable amount of furniture design, painting, and sculpture. I had good architectural history preparation, so I made some visual allusions between my contemporary work and key ideas in the history of architecture.

I didn't know indesign at the time so I laid the whole thing out in photoshop. Same effect, a little more time.

I tried printing on a cheap Inkjet and spiral binding at Kinkos, but the screwed up and bound it backwards. It took two hours of arguing to get them to reprint it, but it was on glossy card stock, not the matte I wanted. Printing total time took almost three days and cost $32 each, so I would definitely invest in Lulu or the like.

I also worked my writing sample and essay equal amounts of time.

Thanks! My InDesign is still not working so I guess PS has to suffice for now.

if you come from a family with connections you might be ok.

good luck

ps. yes it is a bad time for all architects

Blurb is less expensive than local print shops, but if you don't know what your doing with the spreads, they won't work with you like a print shop would. Print alot of black and white tests on your home printer. If you want a really nice portfolio get the hard cover and the premium silk paper, around 25 pages will cost you around $45.