Portfoliughs.
Putting together a portfolio and resume is probably the toughest assignment I've wrestled with as a student. There are so many variables, possibilities, and potential faux pas. Anxiety and self-doubt aside, it is also supposed to be exceedingly creative and generate interest, buzz and a feeling of, "why didn't I think of that?"
Trying to figure out how to display my work in the portfolio. Yesterday I was overwhelmed with ideas ...
Right now I'm thinking FUCK THAT.
I just had a very creative idea that I'm excited about persuing: it would be branding (sorta) myself as two seperate brands -- perhaps even seperating out my 2-D and 3-D work, even developing a website like 'Huston & Huston" Where one identity, the 2-D self, would use Timothy and would sort of express the exacting design of my graphic and web work. The 'Aaron' identity would seperate out the more experimental and whimsical nature and 'bad attitute' of my 3-D work. Punk rockstar attitute juxtiposed with my severe German obssessive-control on my 2-D work. Could also be a way to explain the ADHD (3-d) aspect of my personality as well as the OCD (2-D). A dichotomy concrete/abstract/ or imaginary/reality. Could be great.
• Potential to send out two seperate packages about myself to employers/schools.
• Would help with the struggle of rationalizing a design for these seperate philosophies/personalities.
Now i'm trying for clarity. The process should not be so frustrating. It should be fun and interesting. Explaining myself to others has not ever been something I'm good at, and I need to learn how to express myself more concisely.
Ideas:
• One page featuring all of the historical reference books I've put together while in school.
• Scrollable image featuring 'timeline' style .jpg of ideation processes.
• Simple, one paragraph at most, one sentance preferred for discriptions of projects -- try to find images or visual ways of representing process concepts and thinking.
• Simple relationships in text and image.
I'm currently looking at the Pentagram website and how they've designed an awesome wayfinding system for their website.
Also looking at the website for Moorhead & Moorhead, it has been a godsend. The way they use illustrator to facilitate ideas without hardly any words in really, really well done and inspiring.
• Almost exactly what I was picturing in my head for illustrating my projects to explain the broader implementations of concepts I've currently got in my 'book'
• Allows for feasability of the Elevators concept to be visually explained. Could use simple illustrator overhead maps, bezier curve-based paths masking the current Elevators in a photo, etc. See the 'art in Times Square' page.
• obvious implementation for the current thesis project. easily implementable - bezier paths of an 'outline' form for those campus photos since i have no formal concrete design for the actual art outposts.
Been a big, wonderful note session!
So. Tired.
I am exhausted, and I'm not sure why. I spoke to someone in the ID department about my portfolio and resume and it went OK, but I was hoping for more feedback about how to improve everything so that I can make a good impression on scary professionals and grad school when I graduate in December, only three months away! Instead I got, "Take it easy, get a (non-design!) job and then go to grad school in a few years." I think that really helped to kill the momentum I've had lately. Hopefully it will back tomarrow or some time soon. I need to keep working. Grad school applications are due SO SOON—first week of Novemeber. I want to apply for 3-5 schools. And I need all the luck I can get to reach that goal!
I also had the same talk about how my execution never lives up to its potential. Somehow I need to change this fact about myself in the next THREE MONTHS.
I would like to think that I wasn't being discouraged because my work was poor ...
Later this week, my three-color screenprinting project—the first multi-seperation design I've done yet. I'm thinking a black crown with a background of a field of flames.
DesignDesignDesign
I'm starting up this blog to polish my writing and essay skills to better prepare me for future gigs doing analysis, critique and article writing about design process & theory. Don't know if anyone will ever read this, but ah well.
Today I upgraded this:
It's the new iTunes, at least it's new to me. I just upgraded to Os X Tiger yesterday, and today upgraded to iTunes 5!
• Not really sold on the interface upgrade -- the design styling should emulate the style of the iPod in my opinion -- why not push that similarity and use the clean white lines and the power of simplicity to distinguish their music products from computers? I don't understand. It's a very pedestrian design, and doesn't excite me. It looks way too much like a bank account register or something a mechanical engineer would use for diagnostics. Not visually pleasing or sexy. Remember that whole MTV generation thing? I think we're on about the third generation of kids who grew up with that particular cable channel now!
• Basic layout is dangerously close to looking like college-ruled notebook paper -- hopefully this isn't enough to scare away any of those graphically-motivated MTV kids as potential first-time users.
Which brings us to:
• Are there 'skins' for iTunes? I've never seen any, and it isn't readily available. Why not under 'visualizer' have a few preloaded skins to choose from? Seems easy enough to me ...
• Speaking of visualizer, does anyone use this? It hasn't been upgraded or improved. Why does it exsist? It reminds me of bad 1990s house or rave music. Rock is back, man! Maybe just ditch the idea and make a more interesting and accessable music video player? A program that deciphers the guitar parts and generates tableture of a particular song? A way to add your own photos of the artist to play a little slide show of the images you have collected while the songs play?
• Maybe add a menu item that directs you directly to preformatted templates to create CD cases and labels? I know you can do it, though iTunes, but it could be a much more simplified process.
• An annoying thing is the placement of the buttons that take you to the Music Store. I accidently click on those arrows all the time! Then again, maybe they've done this one purpose ... Tricky! If not, it should have been fixed for 5.0.
*Just figured out you can turn those buggers off in the 'Preferences' panel!That's all I have for now, I'm not a program designer or an advanced user -- keep that in mind. Just spent five minutes toying around with the program!
