I am applying for a MArch degree and could use some help reviewing my portfolio. Any suggestions or comments you have will be much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Is your undergrad degree in engineering? To which schools are you applying and what are your areas of interest?
Non Sequitur
Aug 1, 16 8:53 pm
Did you use powerpoint to design the portfolio?
awaiting_deletion
Aug 2, 16 12:03 am
I recommend you avoid Graphic Design, or keep it simple, don't add patterns and backgrounds if you can't make it all meld together.
lacalr
Aug 2, 16 12:23 pm
The page layout and designs were kind of distracting. I would maybe try to look at examples online or via this site of well designed portfolio and try to mimic that as best as possible (only where you can, don't force it). As far as the current layout, I think the photography section works best, the simple bar helps establish a system for the pages. The colors are very saturated which take attention, at least mine, away from your own work.
I would also like to know where you are applying and for what program?
Renzo's Piano
Aug 2, 16 1:26 pm
Wow, ok here we go. Just being straight up honest, this is bad. Like Non said, it looks like you took some images and put them into a power point slide and just said "eh, good enough." First, we'll talk about the content, then get to the layout. For reference, what schools are you applying to and why?
Content:
When focusing on the content portion, a few things jump out. First, there aren't any drawings. Yes, you have 3D plans, but nothing that shows the viewer/admissions that you know what these spaces look like in basic plan, section, elevation, and detail drawings. While your sketchup screenshots are decent, they don't really say anything about the design of the building. Give us actual drawings.
Another thing you need is context, i.e. where is the location of the project, what is the surrounding area like, are there certain things you needed to take in to account when you designed the building (snow, trees, neighbors that can see straight in, did the client want privacy, etc). These are things that you don't just type in a paragraph and slap next to a render, but instead these need to be shown through diagrams, research, and possibly more drawings.
We as the viewer also don't get a great understanding of how you envision certain aspects of each building coming together. For example, the living room windows in "Herreid Retreat," how do you think the glass would interact with the roof? Would the windows be punched out? Recessed? Flush with the face of the building? Some drawings to show that would be nice, along with other areas of the design so the viewer starts to really understand the building. They don't have to be perfect (or maybe not even correct) but just showing that you thought about these things makes a huge difference. Instead of making it look like you just threw random stuff together in SketchUp, you need to show the admissions committee that you at least had purpose and meaning behind the form and function of these designs.
The 3D art is interesting, show more of that (and take much better pictures!). The flat art the same, it shows you have a creative side. Show more of these. The photography is honestly nothing special, doesn't really help you at all, sorry. Seriously, the cover photo isn't even straight, the horizon is sloping to the left.
Layout:
Here's where things need a complete overhaul. You're not a graphic designer, not even close. So don't try to force things you can't do. The best course of action for this would be a few steps. First, get InDesign (torrent, buy it, doesn't matter) and use that for layouts. Not a big learning curve at all, just takes a day or so to learn how to make basic layouts. Second, browse issuu and study, and I mean really understand, how others have used white space, text, proportions, photo placement, etc. Then try to reproduce something similar. You're not going to get as great of layout designs, but it will be a hell of a lot better than what you just presented to us. And for god's sake, stop overlapping images because it looks horrible. Here are a few of what I think have great layout design (not necessarily good content either):
Revise, revise, revise. Keep doing so until you get it right. Give it to professionals to see what they think. Give it to professors. Do not give it to friends/family, as you need people who are going to be unbiased in their assessment of the portfolio.
You have several months, but it'll be a long several months. Work hard, it'll most likely pay out in the end. Come back here with more revisions if you want to.
Jsilveira
Aug 2, 16 6:53 pm
Renzo's Piano, thank you for your help. I will look into InDesign, flesh out the architecture section, get some better pictures, and do some reformatting.
My undergrad is Civil Engineering and I am currently looking into University of Colorado Denver, Arizona State University, Boston Architectural College, and Virginia Tech.
Community of Archinect,
I am applying for a MArch degree and could use some help reviewing my portfolio. Any suggestions or comments you have will be much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ugSPDETzRyPr-1kcOn8PYlycSk2WHDj0h81vf2IA68w/edit?usp=sharing
Is your undergrad degree in engineering? To which schools are you applying and what are your areas of interest?
Did you use powerpoint to design the portfolio?
I recommend you avoid Graphic Design, or keep it simple, don't add patterns and backgrounds if you can't make it all meld together.
The page layout and designs were kind of distracting. I would maybe try to look at examples online or via this site of well designed portfolio and try to mimic that as best as possible (only where you can, don't force it). As far as the current layout, I think the photography section works best, the simple bar helps establish a system for the pages. The colors are very saturated which take attention, at least mine, away from your own work.
I would also like to know where you are applying and for what program?
Wow, ok here we go. Just being straight up honest, this is bad. Like Non said, it looks like you took some images and put them into a power point slide and just said "eh, good enough." First, we'll talk about the content, then get to the layout. For reference, what schools are you applying to and why?
Content:
When focusing on the content portion, a few things jump out. First, there aren't any drawings. Yes, you have 3D plans, but nothing that shows the viewer/admissions that you know what these spaces look like in basic plan, section, elevation, and detail drawings. While your sketchup screenshots are decent, they don't really say anything about the design of the building. Give us actual drawings.
Another thing you need is context, i.e. where is the location of the project, what is the surrounding area like, are there certain things you needed to take in to account when you designed the building (snow, trees, neighbors that can see straight in, did the client want privacy, etc). These are things that you don't just type in a paragraph and slap next to a render, but instead these need to be shown through diagrams, research, and possibly more drawings.
We as the viewer also don't get a great understanding of how you envision certain aspects of each building coming together. For example, the living room windows in "Herreid Retreat," how do you think the glass would interact with the roof? Would the windows be punched out? Recessed? Flush with the face of the building? Some drawings to show that would be nice, along with other areas of the design so the viewer starts to really understand the building. They don't have to be perfect (or maybe not even correct) but just showing that you thought about these things makes a huge difference. Instead of making it look like you just threw random stuff together in SketchUp, you need to show the admissions committee that you at least had purpose and meaning behind the form and function of these designs.
The 3D art is interesting, show more of that (and take much better pictures!). The flat art the same, it shows you have a creative side. Show more of these. The photography is honestly nothing special, doesn't really help you at all, sorry. Seriously, the cover photo isn't even straight, the horizon is sloping to the left.
Layout:
Here's where things need a complete overhaul. You're not a graphic designer, not even close. So don't try to force things you can't do. The best course of action for this would be a few steps. First, get InDesign (torrent, buy it, doesn't matter) and use that for layouts. Not a big learning curve at all, just takes a day or so to learn how to make basic layouts. Second, browse issuu and study, and I mean really understand, how others have used white space, text, proportions, photo placement, etc. Then try to reproduce something similar. You're not going to get as great of layout designs, but it will be a hell of a lot better than what you just presented to us. And for god's sake, stop overlapping images because it looks horrible. Here are a few of what I think have great layout design (not necessarily good content either):
https://issuu.com/sogkarimi/docs/ali_karimi_portfolio2
https://issuu.com/matskafte/docs/mathias_skafte_andersen_portfolio_f
https://issuu.com/arturzakrzewski/docs/artur_zakrzewski_portfolio
https://issuu.com/kenwoodsign/docs/kenneth_woods_-_architecture_portfo
Revise, revise, revise. Keep doing so until you get it right. Give it to professionals to see what they think. Give it to professors. Do not give it to friends/family, as you need people who are going to be unbiased in their assessment of the portfolio.
You have several months, but it'll be a long several months. Work hard, it'll most likely pay out in the end. Come back here with more revisions if you want to.
Renzo's Piano, thank you for your help. I will look into InDesign, flesh out the architecture section, get some better pictures, and do some reformatting.
My undergrad is Civil Engineering and I am currently looking into University of Colorado Denver, Arizona State University, Boston Architectural College, and Virginia Tech.