DDP Ch. 8:
In Ch.8 of Designing a Digital Portfolio Baron discusses Repurposing and Optimizing, two distinct and important tools when gathering your work and getting it ready to showcase in your portfolio.
Baron gives us great tips on repurposing with PDF’s. I know that I’ll show most of my print work in PDF format so it’s important that I follow all of her steps especially since I’m really not good at repurposing and end up breezing through all of the pop-up options, etc. I won’t do that for my portfolio though, I’ve learned my lesson. Baron also talks about optimizing image files and the basic process one needs to go through. I’m good at optimizing my files and will do so for my web designs,etc.
I checked out Gunnar Swanson’s web site after Baron raves about his “tastefully” done animations and other effects in his portfolio. I, on the other hand, think his portfolio looks like crap. He has these absurd animations that look like they’ve been drawn by a 12 year old in photoshop that lead to each of his pieces in his portfolio. His work is good, especially his print/typography, but it’s overshadowed by this ugly site with horrendous animations and a very poor layout. This site definitely needs to be cleaned up and redesigned- there’s too much going on at once and you can barely navigate through the pages.
BDP pgs. 74-94:
The reading in Building Design Portfolios this week was really helpful. Eisenman talks about creating your web site and shows us some great portfolios that got jobs. Eisenman discusses how a web site can be quite a dangerous proposition because you just don’t know what kind of method the person is viewing it at. So it’s important to have many options, including Flash and HTML. A benefit of creating an online portfolio is that it allows you to organize all of your diverse work in a clean and maintainable fashion, rather than just having a print portfolio.
The gallery of portfolios showcased some really nice print portfolios by people who got jobs from them. I LOVED Jim Drobka’s book. Everything about it, from the different textures of the cover and pages was beautifully done. I would like to include transparent pages in my book (if I ever create one) because it would go perfectly along with my serene fluid-like logo. Making a book is expensive but definitely worth it I think, especially if it can get you a job.
I went to Hull’s Art Store over the weekend and checked out their portfolios. In the back of the store there’s a little room that is full of all different types of paper and every kind of portfolio you can think of. I found one I really like by Art Profolio, and PB was right, if you want a good one, you’re going to spend at least $50, and this one was just that amount. I’m going to check out if they have an online store or if I can find something similar to it for cheaper online. Wish me luck.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Do Your Share
DDP Ch. 7:
This week Baron talked about the subject of cleaning up ones digital files and the different techniques one can use to edit their work. I won’t go into more detail about this because it’s basically information we all already know and have learned since freshman year. But Baron does make it helpful by including examples and tutorials of edited images and how to go about it for those that need to be refreshed.
BDP pg. 40-74:
Having a strong portfolio (and I’m referring to the actual carrying-type) is vital when presenting to employers. Your work can be alright, but if your portfolio is unique it can become a great showpiece to exhibit your work in.
Eisenman discusses how to present each work, the pace you should go, and the order that it should be in—first piece something engaging but not your best, and last piece being the icing on the cake. She says to “think of your portfolio presentation as a piece of music; you’re the conductor, setting the tempo and rhythm.”
A great piece of advice Eisenman gives us is for recent graduates to not be too specific about their class experiences when on an interview. It’s important NOT to say that, “yeah, this is an AD I made for my Advanced Typography, IDD 370 class” and to INSTEAD say what you learned and enjoyed doing work when creating the AD.
The promotions in this reading are really great. I like Odgis + Company’s promotional piece because it’s simple and very effective. I also love de Vicq’s letterpress book, Men of Letters. I’d love to flip through that book. I found de Vicq’s web site and it’s a clean site but I’m not a fan of how his navigation is set up. He has a skinny vertical bar with different colors to distinguish between each of his projects and next to the bar are very small dots that you must exactly line up with your mouse arrow to be able to click on—a little annoying. But nonetheless, he has outstanding innovative work.
I need to seriously start thinking/sketching out ideas for my promotional piece right now.
This week Baron talked about the subject of cleaning up ones digital files and the different techniques one can use to edit their work. I won’t go into more detail about this because it’s basically information we all already know and have learned since freshman year. But Baron does make it helpful by including examples and tutorials of edited images and how to go about it for those that need to be refreshed.
BDP pg. 40-74:
Having a strong portfolio (and I’m referring to the actual carrying-type) is vital when presenting to employers. Your work can be alright, but if your portfolio is unique it can become a great showpiece to exhibit your work in.
Eisenman discusses how to present each work, the pace you should go, and the order that it should be in—first piece something engaging but not your best, and last piece being the icing on the cake. She says to “think of your portfolio presentation as a piece of music; you’re the conductor, setting the tempo and rhythm.”
A great piece of advice Eisenman gives us is for recent graduates to not be too specific about their class experiences when on an interview. It’s important NOT to say that, “yeah, this is an AD I made for my Advanced Typography, IDD 370 class” and to INSTEAD say what you learned and enjoyed doing work when creating the AD.
The promotions in this reading are really great. I like Odgis + Company’s promotional piece because it’s simple and very effective. I also love de Vicq’s letterpress book, Men of Letters. I’d love to flip through that book. I found de Vicq’s web site and it’s a clean site but I’m not a fan of how his navigation is set up. He has a skinny vertical bar with different colors to distinguish between each of his projects and next to the bar are very small dots that you must exactly line up with your mouse arrow to be able to click on—a little annoying. But nonetheless, he has outstanding innovative work.
I need to seriously start thinking/sketching out ideas for my promotional piece right now.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Still can't think of a good title
DDP Ch. 6:
I feel like this chapter was a review for me because I’ve been going over the scanning and printing process’ in my advanced typography class for the past two weeks now. But alas, Baron makes good outlines and points out different methods we can use for our work.
It’s important to use a scanner for 2D work, photography, etc. so that you are able to effectively showcase your work in a sharp and clean matter on the computer. I suggest using scanners at Kinkos or Staples because you know they are of good quality and you’ll get dynamic results. Another way you can capture your work is by using a camera. I sued my digi-cam to take pictures of paintings I did on oversized canvases because they are 3-Dimensional, (thank you for reminding me of that Baron—“Digital art is flat; 3D art isn’t’”). But yes, if you have a camera it is very handy in presenting your work. And once you have it on the computer you can bring it into photoshop and create a suitable background or dropshadows around the work. Another method is digitizing (I didn’t even know this was a word). I don’t think I need to worry about digitizing because I don’t have any work on slides or VHS tapes.
BDP pg0-40:
I just tried to open the book on my desk, completely forgetting about the magnetic side... haha, I’m probably the only person that has done that… ANYway, this book is beautiful and refreshing. The beginning of Part I talks about making your portfolio and how it can be created in book format. Sara Eisenman explains that, “book presentations tend to make designers seem more like artists and less like standard problem solvers looking to join a design staff”. I like this quote because I’m an art minor and would like to call myself an artist and a graphic designer in the years to come.
All the different book designs she shows us are great examples of creative and flexible ways to present your portfolio. I would love to create a book for my portfolio but it seems so daunting and difficult. I also liked all the different portfolio cases she showed; it’s definitely a tailored way to present your work.
I feel like this chapter was a review for me because I’ve been going over the scanning and printing process’ in my advanced typography class for the past two weeks now. But alas, Baron makes good outlines and points out different methods we can use for our work.
It’s important to use a scanner for 2D work, photography, etc. so that you are able to effectively showcase your work in a sharp and clean matter on the computer. I suggest using scanners at Kinkos or Staples because you know they are of good quality and you’ll get dynamic results. Another way you can capture your work is by using a camera. I sued my digi-cam to take pictures of paintings I did on oversized canvases because they are 3-Dimensional, (thank you for reminding me of that Baron—“Digital art is flat; 3D art isn’t’”). But yes, if you have a camera it is very handy in presenting your work. And once you have it on the computer you can bring it into photoshop and create a suitable background or dropshadows around the work. Another method is digitizing (I didn’t even know this was a word). I don’t think I need to worry about digitizing because I don’t have any work on slides or VHS tapes.
BDP pg0-40:
I just tried to open the book on my desk, completely forgetting about the magnetic side... haha, I’m probably the only person that has done that… ANYway, this book is beautiful and refreshing. The beginning of Part I talks about making your portfolio and how it can be created in book format. Sara Eisenman explains that, “book presentations tend to make designers seem more like artists and less like standard problem solvers looking to join a design staff”. I like this quote because I’m an art minor and would like to call myself an artist and a graphic designer in the years to come.
All the different book designs she shows us are great examples of creative and flexible ways to present your portfolio. I would love to create a book for my portfolio but it seems so daunting and difficult. I also liked all the different portfolio cases she showed; it’s definitely a tailored way to present your work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)