Keno's Portfolio

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Hey Keno,

After all the reviews you’ve given, it’s only fair that you get a thorough one as well.


So overall the layout is pretty good. Not mind-blowing but it’s pretty easy to navigate. Only thing is that it would be cool that once you click one of the three categories (quick concept design, product design, footwear design), you can just scroll down through all categories in that project rather than clicking the back button to see the next project.

Spotify Spotter is interesting use of logo. However, I’m not sure that I’m really wowed by it. I think it just needs a little something extra. I would also like to see some more explanation of how the repetition counter works. You also made a typo (it’s spelled repetition rather than repetion). Also, I’m not sure how well the volume up/down/play/pause controls would work from an interface standpoint. I know that it’s supposed to echo the logo, but is that really the best way to arrange the buttons?

The watch is interesting but once again the form is kind of basic. I think it’s cool to integrate the strap as part of the UI, but why not go super crazy with it? Why not make the whole strap a touch interface? Is there any tech that could make this possible? Is the solar panel on the side big enough to actually power the device? Can solar panels bend like that?

The Pianito is good but I’m also not wowed by it. I don’t see anything particularly wrong with it though.

So I know that the above three projects are meant to be quick and dirty. You wanted to keep them short and to the point. I get it. But you also want to make sure you still push the designs beyond their “expected” form factors while fitting within the constraints of reality.

The sketch quality is pretty good overall, however, and the layout for the pages is lively and pretty easy to understand.



Then I clicked on the “consumer products” section and it brought me to a single sketch page with no actual projects. But if I scroll down I see a grid of them below. This could just be my personal preference but this flow seems off somehow. Maybe consult with others. Your blurb was well-written here though.

I saw the Sonos thing and it was okay, but could use a bit more development and resolution.

I clicked on the ceramic soap dish after that. I would suggest playing to the materials’ strengths more. Ceramic is really good for big swooping surfaces and forms, but it’s not good for tight radii or long, straight flat surfaces (because it’s very uneven and wavy). So you should make the form not only drain out soap scum but also play to the strengths of the ceramic material. Also, bigger radii and more soft flowing surfaces are easier to clean (hard edges/corners are hard to reach into).

Overall, I see a kernel of a good idea in most of these concepts, but they need just a bit more resolution and development. A big part of selling a design is creating a good sketch (which you can do) but that’s really just the beginning. You would benefit from considering materials and interaction a little bit more, and seeing a project through from start to finish.

Hope this helps!

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Keno,

Looking good! I think if you’re looking to use this site as a tool to inform and win clients, you could delve a little deeper into processes or your experience with the different stages of the design cycle. For example, seeing the title “3d Printed Ceramic” got me really excited to see a couple process shots or hear a little more about the pros and cons of that type of RP.

The layout, color, and style of your sketches flows nicely throughout the website. I think you could add more without feeling cluttered. Saying “this concept tries to do that by incorporating some color on the end” can be conveyed with a sketch showing a detail shot of the end cap rendered with different CMF configurations, to show visually that you were experimenting and exploring.

In terms of layout, the titles of work thumbnails and their captions are a little wonky in my browser at full screen (they seem to float off left of the image), but are fine when the browser is scaled down to a medium size.

I hope that was helpful!

Corey

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That masonry library looks really slick. I think it would work pretty well for the thumbnails. I’ve been toying around with bootstrap and flexboxes lately, but it looks like masonry does exactly what I would like to accomplish with my layout, which uses thumbnails of different sizes.

Thanks for bringing it up!

I still really love your Ball and Peg project.

A small note on the layout of that project. I immediately scrolled down and was thought “oh, not much here”, then I scrolled back to the top and realized the top image is a slider… I recommend just putting all the images in a the scroll format so it tells the story as you scroll down. Also, one minor point, but I would photoshop the screws you used to match the color of the product so they don’t stand out. In production you could spec coated hardware to match.

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Hey Keno,
I think the website is okay and does the job. I think you should put your effort on improving your projects.
First of all the style of the visuals. I like your style of illustrating. But I think you overdo it. You should show more renderings and also physical design models. Not just for the sake of it but also to show you actually have that skillset. It is crucial to show you can think three dimensional and in “real objects” and not just in linework. You lack to show any of your products in any context. I never know about their size. I have no idea about their materials or their “heft”. I feel it is impossible to imagine any of them as real world products.
What also all of your products lack is formal developement. Proportions. Form. DETAILS!! That is what is really really important in design. You don’t show any of that. Everything has just such basic shapes it is very hard to tell if you did any iterative refinement on them at all after the first, initial ideas. For many objects I don’t understand at all what you were trying to do, like the sonos soundbar. Why does it look like that? What’s special about it? How does it work? You don’t tell a story. Letting the viewer fill in some blanks when showing a design is okay and can be interesting. But you leave 90% blank to a point where it gets really hard to gauge what kind of work you actually put in?
What bugs me on top of that that you are overselling your skillset compared to what you are actually able to show. You list like ten things of what you claim to be able to offer including skills like “art direction” and " branding". But you clearly have never art directed anything and you also show a lack of understanding for brands (quick example: you say “designed with sonos in mind but it could be any other brand” If you actually and seriously design for a brand you should know there is no way you can just relable the whole thing. If you can then that means you didn’t really tailor the product well to the brand). Not being the greatest designer in the world is not a crime but claiming to be a renaissance man without actually delivering leaves a bitter aftertaste.

If you are really looking for an industrial design job I would suggest you scrap most of your projects. Pick maybe three or four of the ideas you like and dig really really into them. Develop them from the beginning with the narrative in mind how you will tell the story later. Why? How? What? For whom? Show some process models and sketches and renderings. Show how you think. End it with some nice final shots of the products in context. So far you proved you can draw and color the linework in photoshop. Now focus on showing all the other important skills that you need to be a designer.

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Wow, at least you are not lacking in the sarcastic, passive-aggressive department.

Reading your responses to Mrog’s blunt but good points kinda makes me not want to touch your work and I will only say that taking critique on board or on the chin is a vital skill in itself.
Especially considering that you are dishing out advice frequently yourself here on these boards.

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Oh really! So how many products did you already launch to market successfully by being deeply offended by feedback and throwing around butthurt insults in return? :smiley:
(oh, and no, uploading a CAD file to shapeways doesn’t count :wink: )

Maybe work on your social skills even before you continue working on being a designer. Otherwise you would just waste your time.

I gather you are self taught?
No shame in that, there are many great designers out there putting out great work.
It’s a tough route to take and kudos for attempting it.

But going to design school teaches students not just sketching, CAD and the like. It exposes student to continuous sharing and presenting of ideas and presentations and helps students to take criticism the right way. Internships are also great for this purpose.
You are obviously quite insecure in your skills and work. It shows in your presentation, form development and most of all in how you conduct yourself here.
You have a lot to work on, but pounding your chest here won’t get you anywhere closer to become a good industrial designer.

I would agree that putting your efforts into learning how to handle criticism should be a priority.
Otherwise you won’t grow and people around you (and here) will grow tired of offering their advice.

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Do you pronounce it “kee-noh” or “ken-oh”? :confused:

OK. Everybody take a deep breath here.

Keno, I think if I were to boil down all of the inputs here I think it comes down to that your visualization “sketch” style and forms tends more to the illustrative vs traditional ID type sketches. I think that Mrog and Bengt’s comments could have been phrased much better, and some of what they said was un needed, but I think you could take the kernel from it.

Truth is, any one of our portfolios could be shredded with harsh critique. I’ve been tough on Bengt a few times I know. Sometimes we are just not in the frame of mind to write inputs in a neutral way, and sometimes we are not in the right frame of mind to take them that way. Easier said then done, and I fail as much as anybody, but important to give our fellow community members the benefit of the doubt on both sides of this.

Keno, lets not trash each other’s employers, lets focus on what matters, the work. Sometimes getting better means encouragement, sometimes you get knocked down. The important thing is to use it as fuel to improve. This is why you posted your portfolio, to get input to improve.

Commenters, you can be more constructive. I’m not sure what Mrog has done, Begnt has done some solid work, but think back to when you were earlier in your development as you give feedback. Of course you didn’t want it sugar coated, nor did you want you kneecaps bashed. I’d ask you to remember that next time you post feedback.

Thanks Michael for chiming in and yes, feedback could have definitely been better phrased.
I’ll rest my case.

BTW, I mess this up all the time. It happens.