Portfolio Review

Portfolio link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_QTVGA3WKsja0NzbVNWOEdxUkk/view?usp=sharing


Hi everyone,

Would anyone be able to give me feedback regarding my portfolio (i.e. readability, layout, font choice, sketching, renderings)? I’ve been doing Industrial Design for about two years now, and I would like to start applying to internships (leaning more so for a toy design internships)…

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Hi!
Not a bad start. I would change the order of the projects a bit so you don’t have two toy projects in a row. After scrolling through the first project and saw the second one I thought “oh, a pure toy portfolio”. Something like toy - no toy - toy - no toy would maybe be good.
Also You should maybe widen the format a big and give your layout a bit of breathing room. It really looks like you are trying to cram everything into those pages. Also to achieve that you can consider making the text a bit smaller. I have yet to meet someone who actually reads more than the headlines when going through a portfolio, so you can maybe save some space there :wink:
For my taste the whole portfolio is a bit to “cute” and playful, but I guss that is you style.

I also think the chairs for the noodle shop are not really the best choice. To me they stylistically really don’t align at all with the rest of the design and stick out.

Hi Theresa,

I’ve only had a quick scan through but I think its a really good start to the portfolio.
I agree with the comments that Mrog has made.

Your illustration and sketch style is lovely, its different to most of the sketch styles that I am used to seeing which will help you stand out. I think the playful style of it will help you in the toy industry as it seems to fit well.
(I haven’t worked in toy design but I know some users on this forum have so reach out to them too!)

Personally, I think the design of the portfolio comes across like it is aimed at a younger audience, which works well in your individual project work, but the person who will be viewing your portfolio is a different audience. Maybe have a look through some portfolios on behance for some inspiration on layout etc. As Mrog said, the text could be shrunk down a bit.
One thing that I am not a fan of is words being split across two lines, its a personal preference but this option can be turned off in programs like indesign.

Overall I think you have a good body of work. The nightlight and caterpillar projects particularly stand out and the end products looks great, I’m not convinced by the noodle hut project…maybe show some more development if you would like to keep it in.

Keep at it and you will have a great portfolio :slight_smile:

Hi!

Overall I agree with all the above and you made a decent start for a toy design portfolio.
You have a good sense of form and color, your sketches can use improvements with more fluidity and variation in linework and perspective.
Your designs are somewhat conservative so you can aim for developing a more modern design language as well. For a stronger presentation, in future projects also take along manufacturing and business perspectives. Work on idea generation techniques to come up with very refreshing ideas and combinations.

Your graphic style is just ok, the colors and overall layout works. See if you can make the graphics crisper wherever possible and use a more distinctive header font.

I like the Sprout project, it would be good to tell more specific reasons as to why you developed this design. For example, a weather-proof outdoor semi-private piece of furniture with low manufacturing cost would also be a great innovation.

I also started ID doing a lot of illustrations and graphics on the side, later I learned that these are separate professions and need separate portfolios. You can work on 3D depth and the plasticity of your drawings. Overall good work, keep posting!