I am applying for an Architecture degree for entrance in September 2016. A couple of the universities I applied to gave me an interview, and I need a portfolio for these interviews.
Please may you have a look over this and give me some advice to make it better. I have completed this in word, I know probably one of the first steps I could have taken to make it batter is use indesign but that consists of a full re-work in not a huge amount of time.
Everything in the portfolio I either photographed myself or made myself.
Have you ever seen an architecture entrance portfolio before?
Dude, take the time and look at examples. This is not what schools look for.
DeTwan
Jan 14, 16 11:50 am
Daniel,
There is no money in architecture, espically a young whippersnapper like you. It is a long battle (much like what you read about in Lord of the Rings) up greedy corporate ladders and giving hand jobs to old creep men (much like the wizards in LotR) in back allies.
Im not even kidding... you being happy in architecture in the long run is about as realistic as middle earth. Do what you love and realize that being a magnanimous architect is more of a fantasy than a reality.
I know, I hate to be that Debbie downer.
Non Sequitur
Jan 14, 16 12:06 pm
^ your millage will vary.
I'm happy, licensed, compensated well above the salary curves, and working on plenty of projects. No creepy hand-jobs from wizards so far.
DeTwan
Jan 14, 16 12:19 pm
He's not going to listen anyway...those Tolkien fans are so independent and successful... I mean just look at Frodo
StevenZhang
Jan 14, 16 9:38 pm
Have you taken a foundation course? If you are looking for a RIBA part 1 degree, a foundation course will help you a lot.
The problem is not about the Indesign. They do not care about if you have beautiful pictures or drawings in the portfolio, because you can study in the school. However, they want to see and hear why do you do these and the logics behind these projects.
Observing life and analyzing your experience, then transforming them to the drawings, words or installations. If you have time, showing that process in your portfolio. If you have to interview tomorrow, you can practice " why did I do that" from first picture. Trying to give everything a meaning and good luck!
prasidha
Jan 15, 16 1:30 am
@Dbdan1, a few suggestions. You are going to apply for a bachelor degree correct? Usually the school will expect you to not have any architectural experiences before. However, what they want to understand from your portfolio is your artistic sense and aptitude. Photography and model making will fit that purpose. My suggestions: put some information about your photography (year taken, location), group each model project as one part of your portfolio (I noticed that the helm's deep model and drawing were apart some pages away); I think that restaurant project was not representative enough of your aptitude and will not impress admission committee at all except if it was a real project that you were involved in (you will have an opportunity to explain it in the interview); WW I trenches was good enough, you just need to present it with a better layout (maybe order it in the way it was made and from different angle and distance); figure painting by itself will not do you any purpose in this portfolio, but if you put it into some context, it will give the impression to the admission committee that you have a good understanding in proportion (e.g page 9, topmost picture); take a better photograph of your model (page 7).
As a summary: emphasize your strengths (photography, diorama/model making).
Your photographs are good enough. It shows your aptitude for composition and color.
Dbdan1
Jan 15, 16 7:15 am
Thank you all for the time and effort you have put into helping me with my portfolio. I will take all of this into consideration when editing my portfolio.
I will post an update with the latest version asap.
Again, many thanks,
Daniel
Dbdan1
Jan 20, 16 4:44 am
Hi Everyone,
This is my revised version of my portfolio. Please feel free to have a look and suggest anything that you'd change about.
@Dbdan1 (Daniel), good improvement in your portfolio. Some suggestions:
remove equipment and process for the photography image (some people will not be impressed by photo editing using smartphone apps)
remove software description (google sketchup)
remove time if it is under 1 week (I will consider they are not a project/competition, so you don't need to mention how long you work on them)
It's better to mention the reason of doing the restaurant design (mention it as a personal interest if you didn't do it for a project/schoolwork/client/competition). And, what is GCSE? (maybe you need to give a clue about this so the reader will not wonder about it?)
Also, maintain a constant writing format (font selection, positioning). For this, you do a good job up until the photo of rock in New Zealand. After that, the format varies too much.
Try to minimize blank paper too (After the cover and the content), use it for something (another photograph maybe).
Also, try to improve the layout presentation of the content. In my opinion it's a little bit messy, but I think it will not bother the admission committee (depends on the competition for the application). You will also learn in school about presentation techniques anyway. But still, try to present your portfolio as neatly as possible.
I have no idea about what school you are applying for. So, I don't have any idea about the competition for application or the standard of portfolio required. Some school in US will accept this kind of portfolio, others will ask for specific kind of portfolio and what kind of art to be included. In general, this portfolio tells that you are good at visual perception (from your photograph), at physical form making (from your model hobbies), and that you travel at least in two countries. I do not know whether that will be enough for the school or not. If they ask for essays, try to elaborate your experience outside of your home country or outside of your home town (I assume you are from Britain traveling to New Zealand). They can see that you are good at taking pictures and can take a good composition. But the essay can tell more about what you experience/feel when you are on that place and maybe inspire you to choose architecture. After all, architecture is about overall sense of mankind, not just about visual beauty.
Regards,
P
Non Sequitur
Jan 20, 16 9:04 am
Remove the sketch-up and solar-panel-thing sketches. Painted warhammer figs don't add much either unless you sculpted/cast them from scratch. I'd abort the Helms Deep thing too. These all look like high-school projects.
How about you try your hand at a half-dozen urban pen & ink sketches?
Dbdan1
Feb 7, 16 6:32 am
Hi all, thank you both again for your input. I went to my interview and got an offer from one of the top architect schools in the UK (to my knowledge).
prasidha
Feb 7, 16 11:44 pm
Congratulation Dbdan1, welcome to the world of architecture. Good luck in your study.
Leandro Llorente
Feb 21, 16 8:50 pm
what you should display is a rigorous thinking process and not end products alone.
Hi All,
I am applying for an Architecture degree for entrance in September 2016. A couple of the universities I applied to gave me an interview, and I need a portfolio for these interviews.
Please may you have a look over this and give me some advice to make it better. I have completed this in word, I know probably one of the first steps I could have taken to make it batter is use indesign but that consists of a full re-work in not a huge amount of time.
Everything in the portfolio I either photographed myself or made myself.
Many thanks,
Daniel
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2vsix60fnx0feyc/Portfolio%20-%20Daniel%20Bennett%283%29PDF.compressed.pdf?dl=0
Have you ever seen an architecture entrance portfolio before?
Dude, take the time and look at examples. This is not what schools look for.
Daniel,
There is no money in architecture, espically a young whippersnapper like you. It is a long battle (much like what you read about in Lord of the Rings) up greedy corporate ladders and giving hand jobs to old creep men (much like the wizards in LotR) in back allies.
Im not even kidding... you being happy in architecture in the long run is about as realistic as middle earth. Do what you love and realize that being a magnanimous architect is more of a fantasy than a reality.
I know, I hate to be that Debbie downer.
^ your millage will vary.
I'm happy, licensed, compensated well above the salary curves, and working on plenty of projects. No creepy hand-jobs from wizards so far.
He's not going to listen anyway...those Tolkien fans are so independent and successful... I mean just look at Frodo
Have you taken a foundation course? If you are looking for a RIBA part 1 degree, a foundation course will help you a lot.
The problem is not about the Indesign. They do not care about if you have beautiful pictures or drawings in the portfolio, because you can study in the school. However, they want to see and hear why do you do these and the logics behind these projects.
Observing life and analyzing your experience, then transforming them to the drawings, words or installations. If you have time, showing that process in your portfolio. If you have to interview tomorrow, you can practice " why did I do that" from first picture. Trying to give everything a meaning and good luck!
@Dbdan1, a few suggestions. You are going to apply for a bachelor degree correct? Usually the school will expect you to not have any architectural experiences before. However, what they want to understand from your portfolio is your artistic sense and aptitude. Photography and model making will fit that purpose. My suggestions: put some information about your photography (year taken, location), group each model project as one part of your portfolio (I noticed that the helm's deep model and drawing were apart some pages away); I think that restaurant project was not representative enough of your aptitude and will not impress admission committee at all except if it was a real project that you were involved in (you will have an opportunity to explain it in the interview); WW I trenches was good enough, you just need to present it with a better layout (maybe order it in the way it was made and from different angle and distance); figure painting by itself will not do you any purpose in this portfolio, but if you put it into some context, it will give the impression to the admission committee that you have a good understanding in proportion (e.g page 9, topmost picture); take a better photograph of your model (page 7).
As a summary: emphasize your strengths (photography, diorama/model making).
Your photographs are good enough. It shows your aptitude for composition and color.
Thank you all for the time and effort you have put into helping me with my portfolio. I will take all of this into consideration when editing my portfolio.
I will post an update with the latest version asap.
Again, many thanks,
Daniel
Hi Everyone,
This is my revised version of my portfolio. Please feel free to have a look and suggest anything that you'd change about.
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/c898u1w3uwxlcik/Daniel%20Portfolio%20v3.compressed.pdf?dl=0
Kind regards,
Daniel
@Dbdan1 (Daniel), good improvement in your portfolio. Some suggestions:
I have no idea about what school you are applying for. So, I don't have any idea about the competition for application or the standard of portfolio required. Some school in US will accept this kind of portfolio, others will ask for specific kind of portfolio and what kind of art to be included. In general, this portfolio tells that you are good at visual perception (from your photograph), at physical form making (from your model hobbies), and that you travel at least in two countries. I do not know whether that will be enough for the school or not. If they ask for essays, try to elaborate your experience outside of your home country or outside of your home town (I assume you are from Britain traveling to New Zealand). They can see that you are good at taking pictures and can take a good composition. But the essay can tell more about what you experience/feel when you are on that place and maybe inspire you to choose architecture. After all, architecture is about overall sense of mankind, not just about visual beauty.
Regards,
P
Remove the sketch-up and solar-panel-thing sketches. Painted warhammer figs don't add much either unless you sculpted/cast them from scratch. I'd abort the Helms Deep thing too. These all look like high-school projects.
How about you try your hand at a half-dozen urban pen & ink sketches?
Hi all, thank you both again for your input. I went to my interview and got an offer from one of the top architect schools in the UK (to my knowledge).
Congratulation Dbdan1, welcome to the world of architecture. Good luck in your study.
what you should display is a rigorous thinking process and not end products alone.