Building Design Portfolios: Innovative Concepts for Presenting Your Work, rest of book
I knew what this section was going to be about at the very beginning. Fundamentally, this section seeks the answer to the question How far may we stretch the boundaries? Exploring creativity in this particular section constitutes a tremendous loosening up of otherwise rigid boundaries. The radically different approaches, depicted by the well chosen images, help to inspire some creativity. I think it would be interesting to make a print portfolio that is printed onto an old fashioned scroll. Or perhaps a kaleidoscope-like device that, when the mechanism is turned, displays a new sample image. I like the tone of grey used in the last section, Interactive Portfolios and Websites, and I thought it was a great closing to this book.
Designing A Digital Portfolio, Ch. 10
This section has got me to thinking about the pros and cons between the solid/static framework of Dreamweaver tables and the dynamic framework of Flash. Of course, however, I chose Flash to build my portfolio site because it is far more flexible. But then I question whether or not this flexibility is obtained at the price of a less stable foundation.
Although I haven’t yet considered the “metaphor” through which I would design my site, off the top of my head I’d assume that the Narrative metaphor would be most enjoyable to me. I suppose, however, that an excess of story telling may block the way of a client looking for specific information quickly. The other idea that ought to be considered is the concept chart illustrated on p. 204. It lets you know that there may be interpretations of your work which, whether logical or illogical, may be entirely misconstrued.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Week 8, almost there
Building Design Portfolios, up to p. 94
This section was particularly pleasing in that it seems to have brought me some good news. Since websites are not the most efficient way for all types of designers to get their work out, Eisenman weighs out the various pros and cons of a web portfolio in relation to different design disciplines. It looks like my current design aspirations check out, so my web development will pay off. It was also nice to see that music was addressed in that section, being that I find auto-playing music to be very annoying. The section on motion graphics presented an interesting idea; animating still photos! Why didn’t I think of this before? Actually I have, and have done so as well. As always, great art in this chapter, particularly at the bottom of page 84.
Designing a Digital Portfolio Ch. 8
The idea of repurposing is new to me, but I suppose that may be because I am relatively new to design. Since I don’t yet have a large collection of designs, I tend not to deal with many different versions of the same files like other more experienced designers might do. Nevertheless, I would like to start taking my old Photoshop work (don’t worry, it’s quite nice) and being implementing it into Flash animations. Once again, I see another sign that PDF development is calling me, and I suppose its time that I mature and stop avoiding it. Furthermore, with all this recent talk about compression and file sizes, it seems that these issues may disappear with technological advances occurring at an accelerated rate. It would be interesting to watch the design flow change based on that phenomenon.
This section was particularly pleasing in that it seems to have brought me some good news. Since websites are not the most efficient way for all types of designers to get their work out, Eisenman weighs out the various pros and cons of a web portfolio in relation to different design disciplines. It looks like my current design aspirations check out, so my web development will pay off. It was also nice to see that music was addressed in that section, being that I find auto-playing music to be very annoying. The section on motion graphics presented an interesting idea; animating still photos! Why didn’t I think of this before? Actually I have, and have done so as well. As always, great art in this chapter, particularly at the bottom of page 84.
Designing a Digital Portfolio Ch. 8
The idea of repurposing is new to me, but I suppose that may be because I am relatively new to design. Since I don’t yet have a large collection of designs, I tend not to deal with many different versions of the same files like other more experienced designers might do. Nevertheless, I would like to start taking my old Photoshop work (don’t worry, it’s quite nice) and being implementing it into Flash animations. Once again, I see another sign that PDF development is calling me, and I suppose its time that I mature and stop avoiding it. Furthermore, with all this recent talk about compression and file sizes, it seems that these issues may disappear with technological advances occurring at an accelerated rate. It would be interesting to watch the design flow change based on that phenomenon.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Week 7
Designing a Digital Portfolio, Ch. 7
This was an interesting section of the book, and I suppose there were many elements here that I haven’t yet considered. As with the last chapter, Baron has provided the reader with a very systematic way of “cleaning up.” An interesting fact that I didn’t know: “JPEGS continue to lose more information every time you open one, make an edit (no matter how small), and resave it. (p. 121)” The section on histograms is nothing new to me, though the “cheat sheet” on p. 124 was a useful tool. I liked the fact that Baron used some examples in explaining the concepts of this chapter. In particular, I enjoyed Eleven’s portfolio. I may integrate the clarity of the Eleven website into my own portfolio. This chapter was a good tour guide.
Building Design Portfolios, up to p. 74
I’m beginning to enjoy this book for a simple reason; the artwork. I can open up to just about any page and know what the section is about without reading any text. All I need to look at is the artwork on the page, and it seems that there isn’t a page in this book that doesn’t contain artwork in some form. The cover letter and resume section seems quite helpful. There isn’t many sources for good information regarding these topics on the internet, so this seemed to be an important section of the book. Also, I’ve tended to avoid working with PDFs, but p. 66-7 have got me thinking about using one for my self-promo – just an idea for now.
This was an interesting section of the book, and I suppose there were many elements here that I haven’t yet considered. As with the last chapter, Baron has provided the reader with a very systematic way of “cleaning up.” An interesting fact that I didn’t know: “JPEGS continue to lose more information every time you open one, make an edit (no matter how small), and resave it. (p. 121)” The section on histograms is nothing new to me, though the “cheat sheet” on p. 124 was a useful tool. I liked the fact that Baron used some examples in explaining the concepts of this chapter. In particular, I enjoyed Eleven’s portfolio. I may integrate the clarity of the Eleven website into my own portfolio. This chapter was a good tour guide.
Building Design Portfolios, up to p. 74
I’m beginning to enjoy this book for a simple reason; the artwork. I can open up to just about any page and know what the section is about without reading any text. All I need to look at is the artwork on the page, and it seems that there isn’t a page in this book that doesn’t contain artwork in some form. The cover letter and resume section seems quite helpful. There isn’t many sources for good information regarding these topics on the internet, so this seemed to be an important section of the book. Also, I’ve tended to avoid working with PDFs, but p. 66-7 have got me thinking about using one for my self-promo – just an idea for now.
Week 6
Designing a Digital Portfolio, Ch. 6
Although Chapter 6 of this book didn’t necessarily apply to me, it will likely act as a future aid if I do consider non-digital design. I have been considering getting into photography, since it would make me a better all-around web-designer. I certainly feel at a disadvantage when I can’t use photos from the internet due to legal issues. Perhaps this chapter is just the boost I need to begin this new expedition. It is by far extensive enough for me to feel comfortable with trusting it. I like the fact that this chapter discussed resolution settings and Photoshop specifications as well, since those areas have been quite foreign to me.
Building Design Portfolios, up to page 40
The first section of this book was very refreshing for me in that it sort of takes you away from the digital aspect of a portfolio. Furthermore, it shows such wonderful examples of creativity that let you think outside the box. First and foremost, I love the idea of presenting a hardcopy of something on a material that isn’t the standard 8 ½ x 11. This wonderful little section can almost be seen as a gallery of options to mix and match and to choose the combination of elements that is right for you. After finishing the first section, “Making a Working Portfolio,” I decided that the introduction would be worthy of attention, so I read it word for word, and an interesting piece of text seemed isolated on the bottom of page 11: “In general, print portfolios are still the best method for young designers to secure jobs…” It seemed like a confident piece of advise that was worth mentioning, and also worth considering.
Although Chapter 6 of this book didn’t necessarily apply to me, it will likely act as a future aid if I do consider non-digital design. I have been considering getting into photography, since it would make me a better all-around web-designer. I certainly feel at a disadvantage when I can’t use photos from the internet due to legal issues. Perhaps this chapter is just the boost I need to begin this new expedition. It is by far extensive enough for me to feel comfortable with trusting it. I like the fact that this chapter discussed resolution settings and Photoshop specifications as well, since those areas have been quite foreign to me.
Building Design Portfolios, up to page 40
The first section of this book was very refreshing for me in that it sort of takes you away from the digital aspect of a portfolio. Furthermore, it shows such wonderful examples of creativity that let you think outside the box. First and foremost, I love the idea of presenting a hardcopy of something on a material that isn’t the standard 8 ½ x 11. This wonderful little section can almost be seen as a gallery of options to mix and match and to choose the combination of elements that is right for you. After finishing the first section, “Making a Working Portfolio,” I decided that the introduction would be worthy of attention, so I read it word for word, and an interesting piece of text seemed isolated on the bottom of page 11: “In general, print portfolios are still the best method for young designers to secure jobs…” It seemed like a confident piece of advise that was worth mentioning, and also worth considering.
Week 5
Designing a Digital Portfolio, Ch. 5
Cynthia Baron makes a rather interesting point at the beginning of this chapter, and that is, there are components of the design workflow that on the surface have nothing to do with design; in this case, it is file organization. I’ve notices throughout my years as an IDD student that many student-designers, though capable of putting together a decent design, seem to lack so many essential skills outside of design.
The end of file collection marks the beginning of file organization, and Baron provides a nifty, linear process of getting your files ready. The process touches upon five essential components; namely, group, name, show, weed, and backup. Although this process isn’t quite as rigorous as the scientific method, its relieving for me to observe some sort of systematic thinking in design. A large proportion of amateur designers are left-grain challenged.
I’ll certainly be following Baron’s steps as I create my digital portfolio. She also makes a good point on page 84, as she explains that student work often gets thrown around a lot, and as a result may be difficult to track down. This is so true, and I think the best defense is a good offence, so I’ll likely be keeping my files neatly organized to begin with.
How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul, Ch. 9 and App.
Chapter 9 touched upon a very creative concept; the “McGuffin.” Shaughnessy speaks of this muse-like entity in a very inspiring fashion, as he describes it as “the magic component in all briefs that you have to find to explain them.” What made his explanation even more superb was that he didn’t provide the reader with some royal-road to obtaining the McGuffin, which suggests that you find it by stumbling upon it; and that’s where the magic happens. Shaughnessy goes on to suggests that briefs shouldn’t be viewed as entirely static, and that our intuition (along with research) may become a tool for manipulating briefs toward a more productive goal.
Cynthia Baron makes a rather interesting point at the beginning of this chapter, and that is, there are components of the design workflow that on the surface have nothing to do with design; in this case, it is file organization. I’ve notices throughout my years as an IDD student that many student-designers, though capable of putting together a decent design, seem to lack so many essential skills outside of design.
The end of file collection marks the beginning of file organization, and Baron provides a nifty, linear process of getting your files ready. The process touches upon five essential components; namely, group, name, show, weed, and backup. Although this process isn’t quite as rigorous as the scientific method, its relieving for me to observe some sort of systematic thinking in design. A large proportion of amateur designers are left-grain challenged.
I’ll certainly be following Baron’s steps as I create my digital portfolio. She also makes a good point on page 84, as she explains that student work often gets thrown around a lot, and as a result may be difficult to track down. This is so true, and I think the best defense is a good offence, so I’ll likely be keeping my files neatly organized to begin with.
How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul, Ch. 9 and App.
Chapter 9 touched upon a very creative concept; the “McGuffin.” Shaughnessy speaks of this muse-like entity in a very inspiring fashion, as he describes it as “the magic component in all briefs that you have to find to explain them.” What made his explanation even more superb was that he didn’t provide the reader with some royal-road to obtaining the McGuffin, which suggests that you find it by stumbling upon it; and that’s where the magic happens. Shaughnessy goes on to suggests that briefs shouldn’t be viewed as entirely static, and that our intuition (along with research) may become a tool for manipulating briefs toward a more productive goal.
Week 4
How to be a Graphics Designer without Losing Your Soul Ch. 7-8
Adrian Shaughnessy speaks of clients in a rather enlightened tone. Since I have never been in any similar client-based relationships, I suppose I should interpret his words as Gospel for now. He seems quite sympathetic with the idea that it is natural for people to make false judgments about the relationship between themselves and their clients. After all, although the client and designer must interact and come to agreements, each of them is exposed to a distinctly different mode of experience. It is a common mistake, in perhaps all client-provider relationships (not just designers), to underestimate the value and significance of the client. Just as the success of a scientific invention will collapse if it doesn’t consider the public’s interpretation of it, the same rule stands for designers. No matter how “good” your design may actually be, the only litmus test that will determine whether it stands or falls is the client, and I think that to be the most essential point of this chapter. As Shaughnessy describes how to obtain, treat, and keep clients, I begin to realize that these actions are worthy of their own books.
Shaughnessy begins chapter 8 with a well-worded and much-needed “briefing” regarding the egoistic lens through which designers view their role in the world. Then again, if you ask anyone to provide an explanation regarding the value of his or her academic field, you will most likely be given a response that endures as long as you are willing to listen. Shaughnessy then emphasizes the fact that it is sometimes beneficial, in the long run, to work on a project that doesn’t have any apparent/direct utility. This seemed quote obvious to me, and the following sections seem to have illustrated something that is necessary for success in any field worthy of entry. That is, the more involvement we share with the design culture, the greater the chance of obtaining success within it.
Designing a Digital Portfolio, Chapter 4:
Although I found this section rather dry, it certainly eliminated a lot of guesswork that I would otherwise have had to do during the final stages of creating my portfolio. I can definitely understand why much of this information is important. If I was an employer, I’d doubtless want to avoid any frustration with poor navigation, file formats, etc. The section I found most useful was Doubling, on p. 72. I was under the impression that I would be able to separate drastically different types of artwork by putting the artwork into different sections, but I can see now why that wouldn’t make much sense.
Adrian Shaughnessy speaks of clients in a rather enlightened tone. Since I have never been in any similar client-based relationships, I suppose I should interpret his words as Gospel for now. He seems quite sympathetic with the idea that it is natural for people to make false judgments about the relationship between themselves and their clients. After all, although the client and designer must interact and come to agreements, each of them is exposed to a distinctly different mode of experience. It is a common mistake, in perhaps all client-provider relationships (not just designers), to underestimate the value and significance of the client. Just as the success of a scientific invention will collapse if it doesn’t consider the public’s interpretation of it, the same rule stands for designers. No matter how “good” your design may actually be, the only litmus test that will determine whether it stands or falls is the client, and I think that to be the most essential point of this chapter. As Shaughnessy describes how to obtain, treat, and keep clients, I begin to realize that these actions are worthy of their own books.
Shaughnessy begins chapter 8 with a well-worded and much-needed “briefing” regarding the egoistic lens through which designers view their role in the world. Then again, if you ask anyone to provide an explanation regarding the value of his or her academic field, you will most likely be given a response that endures as long as you are willing to listen. Shaughnessy then emphasizes the fact that it is sometimes beneficial, in the long run, to work on a project that doesn’t have any apparent/direct utility. This seemed quote obvious to me, and the following sections seem to have illustrated something that is necessary for success in any field worthy of entry. That is, the more involvement we share with the design culture, the greater the chance of obtaining success within it.
Designing a Digital Portfolio, Chapter 4:
Although I found this section rather dry, it certainly eliminated a lot of guesswork that I would otherwise have had to do during the final stages of creating my portfolio. I can definitely understand why much of this information is important. If I was an employer, I’d doubtless want to avoid any frustration with poor navigation, file formats, etc. The section I found most useful was Doubling, on p. 72. I was under the impression that I would be able to separate drastically different types of artwork by putting the artwork into different sections, but I can see now why that wouldn’t make much sense.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Week 9
Louis Fico
Designing A Digital Portfolio, Cynthia Baron: Chapter 9
Usually, when discussing any issue amongst designers, I tend to be a bit hostile toward their worldview. Often, I find that they don’t spend much time talking about some of life’s most pressing issues; free will, ethics, human rights, etc. Despite this opposition, however, designers know that their writing must be distinct; to the point. I can’t stress this enough. There are far too many novelists that seem to obscure their writing in order to hide a lack of content. As designers, however, we tend to be very busy. We don’t have the excess time to try to absorb extraneous information. The idea of [at first] developing a portfolio without written content seemed a bit foolish to me. Of course, I understand the argument that we ought not allow our designs to drown in an unnecessary pool of conceptions and ideas. However, shouldn’t treat our design and our writing as two mutually exclusive entities. Yes;, they are different; but also, they rely on each other.
Artistic content and written content share very similar properties. Although reading text and observing artwork are activities that relate to two distinctly different modes of experience, the shared properties of each help to blur the radical dichotomy often places between artistic expression and the enunciation of ideas. When an intellectual writer sets about the construction of his or her argument, the flow of their ideas will doubtless adopt some of the aesthetic properties of their design.
One of the most essential points of chapter 9 is that the author treats each written component according to its own nature. This is a somewhat naturalistic approach. Every organ in your body has a function for which it is well adapted. Shouldn’t the same apply to your written content? The sequential, yet divergent, developments in our design writing (i.e. identifying our work, introducing ourselves, enunciation to the audience), are to be treated as the broad embodiments of our actual design. Perhaps I’ve already exhausted the meaning of the phrase “written content,” yet I feel that the proper use of design-writing may only be obtained at the price of close attention.
Eisenman made a very good point that I ought to talk about thoroughly; don’t state anything that is blatantly obvious. My contention is that this is a far too sweeping generalization. One of the most striking observations that I’ve made during the past four years is that common sense isn’t too common. Among the plethora of software tutorials that I’ve watched over the past few years, a large proportion of them seemed to begin with the phrase “Open [insert application here],” as if this first premise wasn’t blatantly obvious. Apparently, this first premise is often forgotten. Nevertheless, this chapter seemed crucial in determining the content of our descriptions.
Designing A Digital Portfolio, Cynthia Baron: Chapter 9
Usually, when discussing any issue amongst designers, I tend to be a bit hostile toward their worldview. Often, I find that they don’t spend much time talking about some of life’s most pressing issues; free will, ethics, human rights, etc. Despite this opposition, however, designers know that their writing must be distinct; to the point. I can’t stress this enough. There are far too many novelists that seem to obscure their writing in order to hide a lack of content. As designers, however, we tend to be very busy. We don’t have the excess time to try to absorb extraneous information. The idea of [at first] developing a portfolio without written content seemed a bit foolish to me. Of course, I understand the argument that we ought not allow our designs to drown in an unnecessary pool of conceptions and ideas. However, shouldn’t treat our design and our writing as two mutually exclusive entities. Yes;, they are different; but also, they rely on each other.
Artistic content and written content share very similar properties. Although reading text and observing artwork are activities that relate to two distinctly different modes of experience, the shared properties of each help to blur the radical dichotomy often places between artistic expression and the enunciation of ideas. When an intellectual writer sets about the construction of his or her argument, the flow of their ideas will doubtless adopt some of the aesthetic properties of their design.
One of the most essential points of chapter 9 is that the author treats each written component according to its own nature. This is a somewhat naturalistic approach. Every organ in your body has a function for which it is well adapted. Shouldn’t the same apply to your written content? The sequential, yet divergent, developments in our design writing (i.e. identifying our work, introducing ourselves, enunciation to the audience), are to be treated as the broad embodiments of our actual design. Perhaps I’ve already exhausted the meaning of the phrase “written content,” yet I feel that the proper use of design-writing may only be obtained at the price of close attention.
Eisenman made a very good point that I ought to talk about thoroughly; don’t state anything that is blatantly obvious. My contention is that this is a far too sweeping generalization. One of the most striking observations that I’ve made during the past four years is that common sense isn’t too common. Among the plethora of software tutorials that I’ve watched over the past few years, a large proportion of them seemed to begin with the phrase “Open [insert application here],” as if this first premise wasn’t blatantly obvious. Apparently, this first premise is often forgotten. Nevertheless, this chapter seemed crucial in determining the content of our descriptions.
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