Portfolio feedback please

Showcase portfolios
1

Hey,
I’m Charu, a design graduate from India. I’m planning to do my post-grads ( aka. graduate studies) from overseas (…where in particular, i don’t know so far…) I would like some feedback on my portfolio , specially in context of applying for further studies. Honest opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

umm…i thot i could start off on my own…

  1. I think dat my portfolio luks really different from everybody else’s. Cos, i guess i havent used as many softwares etc.
  2. Even though i ve called my wrk product design, i’m not sure whether or not it is…or maybe my presenation isnt lyk most
    iders presentation.
  3. It is not impactful…n i wud lyk sum suggestions on dis aspect.

Honestly speaking, I came accross dis website sum 5 days back and now i spend most of my tym browsing through it. It has been a major reality check, all d portfolios i hv seen here are really professional luking. Though, I think , my portfolio wud do just fyn here in india, but it doesnt luk sufficiently ‘international’.

  1. Also, I wud lyk sum experienced ppl to tell me whether they r able to spot a glimmer of creativity, despite d primitive presentation.
3

First, don’t type like a 13 year old. “Thot” “Dat” “Lyk” “Dis”. You’re going to kill your credibility as a professional. This kind of typing is reserved for preteens on Xanga and little girls. No offense, but I have a really strong prejudice against people who type LYK DISH. It drives me (and a lot of people I know) crazy.

  1. I think the images are way too small. I think it might be fine if I was able to view it full size, but on Coroflot where they limit your image size to that tiny size, I can’t read ANYTHING. (ok I just realized you can click on the magnifying glass to make it bigger (ugh) but the images are still pretty small.)
  2. That kind of green is hard to read on about half the screens out there. Probably fine on some, but don’t take that risk.
  3. CONTEXT! I don’t see context in any of these images, and that’s really important. For example, the shelves: where’s the shoes that you say can fit on the shelf? What’s the scale of that shelf? Put a silhouette standing next to it. Show those tablewares in a hotel environment! Show the champagne in the bucket! Show a hand interacting with it. (The menu card holder shows the context by displaying the card). I have no idea what that makeup thing is. No context!
  4. What’s up with the organization? What’s the diff between PD1 and PD2? they look like they could all be in the same gallery or split up into each project on its own. It’s also hard to tell when a new project is starting. Probably cause you’re only using that bright green for everything.
  5. Sorry, I don’t really know many 13-19 year olds what would want an eyeball reminder holder. The bookend’s kind of cool, though. Not explicitly grotesque.
  6. The most interesting project I found was the shoe project where you made modernized versions of tilla jutti. Expand on that! I guess this goes for all of your other projects, but you show really little of your process. It’s tiny. I can’t follow your thought process, so it’s hard to assess you as a designer. Showing research, sketches, how you narrowed them down, etc. I see one sketch ( not a very strong one) and then some interesting cut outs of paper, and then suddenly there’s the final shoe. What happened in between? Where did those shapes come from? How did you choose the colors (considering your target audience of young adult males)?

I think your portfolio doesn’t suffer from lack of impact, but rather suffers from lack of clarity, both literally and figuratively. Literally in that everything is so small and that green makes it harder to read/understand. Figuratively as in you don’t present your concepts clearly, so it’s hard to understand (show them in context, show your process, etc).

You should take some things you like from the portfolios you see here and apply them to your own.

===

I just realized you could zoom in on the images (I hate coroflot, it’s a usability sin) and I can see a lot of unclean pixels. Like the last shoe slide, there’s little bits of pixels you didn’t erase cleanly. You should probably fix that.

4

Well first off, please oh please check your spelling in your post!!
“luks”, “wrk”, “lyk” and such are really a major turn off.
I am not sure if it is some kind of internet slang or unintentional but whatever it is, it is really distracting and makes it hard to reply to you in a serious manner.

In terms of your portfolio, I think it lacks some pop and variation. It is very short and to be honest, looks like a semesters work.
I think your shoes are the most successful, mostly because I can see that you have a point of view and final models.
The presentation is not the big problem.

To be honest, and being a grad student myself, applying for grad school will be difficult. Partly because of the recession, there is a lot of pressure on those school.
What grad programs are looking for is a unique angle on Industrial design which later in your studies will become your basis for discussions and further development. From your portfolio, I really don’t get a sense of any personality.
Your intro text is not enough and reads like a bumper sticker.

I would advise to definitely go on a soul search and really formulate for yourself what it is within product/ID that you can contribute with. Then go on to make many more projects with this statement in mind. The portfolio is way to short.

good luck.

5

Thank you, both of you.
Really appreciate all the feedback :slight_smile: