hi chad,
regarding internships, what kind of position are you looking for ? i mean, are you looking at corporate positions ? model maker at a consultancy ? the main strength i see in your portfolio is your prototyping skills, rock solid. the main areas for development i would suggest are more research and problem identification, storyboarding and particularly sketching. in order to get an internship, you need to exhibit more of your sketching process, particularly in the early stages by showing a lot more loose ideas followed by a progression of tighter digital sketches. following are some suggestions i think would help you develop your portfolio towards getting an internship :
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your sketching needs to improve a lot, especially if you’re looking for an internship at a design consultancy. as the saying goes, your as good as the weakest work in your portfolio which i think are the sketches for adrift : highlight more problems identified (go deeper in your research), fix/remove the guy drinking out of the bottle, loosen up the sketching such that problem identification, fluidity and speed are exhibited in your drawing technique. fill up the page with more ideas and re-proportion/highlight some of the stronger ones so that viewers eyes progress and ‘read’ the visual story.
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change page #2, the design challenge page, it looks like an intro for a toy design or a kids story, make it look more professional. review the statement made at the end of the project - treat it like an abstract so that this statement ultimately addresses the most critical problem(s) identified through the design process.
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pump some 3d cad, show some photoreal renderings of final designs too. as much as i love to see the variety of prototyping techniques which is the current key strength exhibited in your portfolio, you need to demonstrate 3d cad proficiency by way of exploded views, control drawings, organic surface modeling etc. i would redo the manufacturing page for adrift as a 3d cad exploded view showing wall thickness, thread detail and so on.
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the final photo for adrift is not showing enough of the design. take a larger in situ picture showing the full design.
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the beats rendering looks good, show some more of the process drawing and rendering stages between.
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show more inspiration and sketches for the candy tray, maybe experiment with different colour and textured sheets…
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you could use some more lifestyle photography and inspiration/mood boards for some of the projects showing more
of the influences and demographics of the users. -
the helmet is one of your best projects. expand and develop it by identifying more problems and opportunities for
design development. show a storyboard of these problems in real life photographs and sketches. scan in all of those sketches and present them as part of your process. -
the thermostat housing project looks great. show more of the process that got you there, the sketches, the physical
prototypes, any press brake photos or sheet metal equipment that you used (a valuable process skill). -
the nacho try is a nice looking design but the final photo does not do it justice. maybe take a picture of it in an
environment where people are having a party, a place with bent plywood furniture, a studio… you know someplace that
accentuates the design and shows it in use. it would also be nice to see more process sketches for this project.
in a nutshell, keep looking for more design problems and opportunities, present them and work those sketches.
good luck with it.