New Portfolio

[Mings]

Hey guys,

Some of you might remember the previous version of my portfolio, which was black with linework on the side that one professor recently called Art Deco (not a bad thing....just not what I was going for). After two years and with my design paradigms changing, I decided to redo my portfolio in an attempt to match some of the boldness of my work. A couple of websites that are bold and use a lot of color are big.dk and jds.dk (Bjarne Ingalls Group and Julien De Smidt Architecture) and inspired by those I created my new portfolio.

This is still a work in progress as there are more projects to be added. I would like C&C on anything you would like to comment on, as except for the designs of the buildings themselves, everything is open to change. The current format is a 9x7 book that I will be getting printed at lulu.com (better quality and options than kinkos for much less price).

Let me know what you think and thanks in advance!

[Mings]

[chestnutz]

I agree your work is pretty bold, and your portfolio matches it. I truly love it, to be honest. The little headers on the top left of each page look great, and the font is perfect.

[pollux]

Very nice work Josh.

If you're willing to put time to have this done on a website also, it would look great. Bold and easy to understand. Well done.

[BrandMooreArt]

where is your contact information? your name and logo should be on every page, and all contact info at the beggining.

lose the table of contents

put your resume at the end

other than that, the design looks good. if your book is a black leather case then forget it. you look like every other designer out there. be creative with your portfolio design!!! mine for example, is a aluminum folder which i keep in a black 1940s ammo can. the whole concept behind that is "alien technology". ive also carried that theme through my business cards and other stationary. just some things to think about

[heernumurr]

Really like the layout and the colours, the little icons remind me of some signage I produced for my degree. The blocks of colour on the recto pages work really well and everything seems to flow through the book. Your cover is a little too busy for my tastes, I'd go with either the the icons or the the photos, not both. Also, the mix of photograhy and digital imagery on the cover seems a little odd to me, maybe just one great image or photo on the front would work better.

A couple of people graduating from my degree this year have had books printed through lulu.com, and they have not been impressed with the results. They had problems with effects like drop shadows (though I cant see any in your book) printing as solid blocks of colour, and the books being cropped very badly. I think in one case the guy had intended a large margin round each page, which lulu completely got rid of. I also heard that they received no correspondance from lulu after receiving the finished books, and their complaints have gone without reply. Not sure if anyone else has had trouble with them, and this is just what I've heard from others, just thought I'd give you a heads up.

[andrewharrington]

Much better.

[Mings]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Everyone of them has either been very helpful or has let me know I definitely went in the right direction with this.

Now for individual responses:

Chestnutz: Thanks man. I enjoy seeing your work and how you have progressed over the past year.

Pollux: I did design this a bit with a website in mind, sort of in a branding aspect where it all flows together. When I get to said site, no clue. I may have to bring in some of the more web savvy members for that. I know you helped me a bit with CSS, but that was a few years ago now.

BrandNStudio:

1. Contact information was an oversight as this was initially for school review, landing an internship. However as I progress it will become more for getting new business and clients. It will be in the revisions.

2. Any particular reason why I should lose the table of contents? I have been going back and forth on it.

3. Great Idea with the resume, will do that in next revision.

4. Definitely will not be a black leather case. The first image in the first post is my cover (with a solid orange back, which most likely will get some text on it like contact info so it isn't completely blank.) Thanks for the tip on branding as well. I definitely understand the importance of a strong brand.

williamrhys:

1. Yeah I agree the cover is too busy, but at the same time it pops out and grabs your attention. I'm going to try a couple variations of it.

2. A couple of people where I work had their portfolios printed there. I talked to them about what goes on with them and took extra precautions, but thanks for the warning, and it is making think of looking at other places too. Anyone have experience with other publishing sites?

andrew: Thanks man, I really appreciate it. I would be interested in seeing what your portfolio looks like sometime.

Once again thanks everyone, and look for some more updates soon.

[BrandMooreArt]

the reason i would drop the table of contents is that i dont feel it is needed because a potential employer will (hopefully) look at every page, and each page should explain itself. you dont have to write anything about your work, but it should be clear which i think it is. your very best should be at the front as well.

also, if you have a PDF version that you send via email, one less page makes for a smaller file size

good looking on the portfolio and branding

[Mings]

Update time:

1) I kept the cover the way it is. Even though it is busy, I feel it stands out. If there was only one image on there, I don't think it would differentiate itself enough from the title pages in the portfolio (ones with the large main image).

2) Added the resume, but should it be at the front or at the back? I figured let my work talk for me first then have the resume.

3) Added contact information in a few places, and I thought adding it to the back cover will help to, since when they close it, it will be right there and they can call me. It is also on the resume too. I didn't add the logo on every page because I felt it would take too much away from the work so I bookended it (front and back covers)

Thanks everyone for the help and C&C. I really appreciate it. Here is hoping it lands me something good (I currently have an internship but its not going the way I wish it would)

[Mings]

[Mings]

[BrandMooreArt]

looks very good. i have asked a few of my instructors about the resume and they all insist on it going last. it serves as an end to the presentation. if the last page were a design page an employer may wonder "are these all the pages? did i lose one?"

i would say put your logo on every page or none at all. consistency is very important. although, just going with the covers still works. if you want you logo on every page consider making a template for your pages sort of the way i did. except for the first and last, all other pages in my portfolio use this template plus my email address at the top. that said, i think what you have is very nice, and should have no problems finding a job

[Mings]

Update time....made some changes and added a couple new pages for the recently finished project. I used a different green for this one, but I don't know if I should change the other green to match the new one as well. Thoughts?

[Mings]

[Mings]

[Kit]

Just some quick thoughts:

1. The disclaimer on the back page should be split over two lines at the end of the first sentence instead of left to a natural line break.

2. You appear to be using hyphens instead of en-dashes for the date ranges in your résumé

3. I agree with the others that said the cover was too busy; it distracts significantly from your name and the book's title. Can you maybe reduce the photographic elements to simple blocks the size of your icons and distribute them randomly on the horizontal axis leaving the rest of the page white? I think you need to really play up to the whitespace on the cover because the rest of the pages are quite dense already.

4. Not sure if you're looking for feedback on the architectural renderings but the first one ("Rethinking Percival Stern") is obscured a bit too much by the silhouettes of the trees and the lens flare on the interior shot. The other renderings do a better job of presenting the design of the buildings.

Still, this is pretty nice and certainly shows a flair for presentation.

When it comes to printing, don't cheap out. Find a good local printer (doesn't have to be offset or anything, and certainly doesn't have to be a big chain). Printed on good quality stock with a basic finish you're not going to be looking at much more than $25-30 (based on a rough AU?US conversion rate)

[Mings]

Hey guys...bumping this up. I'm going to be revamping this a bit now that 3rd year is over and I have a couple more projects to add. A few notes on my plans:

1) Go to 1 accent/icon color instead of the 5 I have now. I'm going to go with Pantone Red 032C at 75% or maybe 60%. I think this will help unify the portfolio some and keep the multiple colors from overpowering the good stuff.

2) Cover page is going to go to a single image with the Josh Mings Architecture logo and the 2007-Present Bar. I'm thinking since I'm going to start taking out projects based on what I need the portfolio for the line of icons won't work as well.

3) Icons will go back to being in the same place on all the title pages since there are getting to be a lot of projects, and it will make it easier to take out pages as needed.

Speaking of the projects, which ones do you guys feel are my best ones. If you could name 3 or 4 that would be awesome so I can start to get a consensus. I have my ideas about it, but I want to hear your thoughts as well. I'm pretty sure all of my projects from this past year will be in there since they were all selected for the Year end Review that the school publishes.

Here are links to the projects not currently portrayed in this thread.

Louisiana Civil Rights Institute

A New Dance School for the Moulin Rouge

Look for updates in the next couple days. In the meantime I look forward to your comments. Now its back to painting the bathroom for the misses as one of the things I have to do before I leave for Europe.

[BlueSky]

The portfolio is impressive and nicely done.

Now let's have a contest to see who can pronounce "Tchoupitoulas."

[Mings]

I think the first time I tried to say it I made it sound like Oompa Loompas