My name is Dann Forrester and I’m a 1st Class Honors Consumer Product Design graduate from Coventry University, UK.
I recently relocated to the USA (since September 2013) to pursue a career in Footwear Design.
I have collaborated with fashion designers (who have featured in ELLE magazine) and my work has been displayed in fashion
shows (in Belgium and London). My overall experience includes taking initial footwear sketches through to production and designing/working in different countries (Finland, Estonia, Belgium and USA).
Currently I am searching for internship/long-term opportunities to provide me with new challenges and was wondering if there were some improvements I could make to my folio in order to stand out.
My advice would be to keep doing what you are doing and get this portfolio into the hands of the people who you want to work with.
I think with your portfolio, you should have some images on the start page, so that viewers have a reason to click. I think the white page with your name is a bit too minimal.
To me, the best project, visually (as in how it is represented in your portfolio) is the lumin lamp. Great work, showing sketches, to building in the workshop to use.
Thank you for your advice and kind words. I appreciate you taking the time to reach out.
Will be sure to try and get this into the right hands. It’s always a big help to know someone on the inside at a company
but we all have to start somewhere.
Hey Dann,
I think you have some really solid work, really appreciate how hands on everything was with prototyping and mock ups. Are you interested only in footwear or are you open to other design fields as well?
I think your presentation style is a little dry right now and if you wanted to take it to the next level you need more impactful storytelling. The nature inspired heels is a good example of great work that I don’t think is presented in an exciting way. I want to see what from nature inspired you, I want to see the sketches (back sketch if you don’t have them anymore), I want to see a little more thought process beyond just prototyping process shots. Try to really design each page and make each spread exciting and interesting to look at.
The one major crit I would give is that it might be great to add a project with a bit more of a problem statement since right now most of the projects are styling/trend based and the Twist tether ball project is a still pretty weak in terms of identifying a strong problem statement and trying to address it. Even if you’re gearing it towards the footwear industry it’s still going to be necessary to show that you’re capable of designing around constraints and trying to address a problem statement.
Good luck on the hunt, you’ve definitely got a solid base of work to start from
Matt
I appreciate you taking the time to get back to me. Thank you for your comments.
I was involved with the nature inspired footwear at the later stages of the project (after the sketch phase) to help with building the prototypes. That is why I didn’t get to see the sketches or inspiration images that lead up to the final designs.
Do you have any examples of how I can improve my presentation style? How was the presentation of the Variation Footwear Project (the first project)? I am personally interested in Footwear Design but I am open to product design opportunities.