Hi everyone!
Lately I’ve been looking to leave the freelancer orbit for something a little more consistent, so I finally decided to dig in and make a PDF portfolio for a bunch of stuff I worked on throughout 2018. There’s one more project I’m working on adding which I think can address physical prototyping, which is one area where I think it’s weak but I suspect it’s not the only area. I’d appreciate any feedback you can offer!
Thank you!
Dan
Dan,
Looking good. All of the work you are showing is pretty solid. A few thoughts.
Those are just my opinions of course. Take from it what you like. I think adding one more full project will really help. Are you open to moving? I know some people who might be looking.
First, take a good look at the kerning in your name - D AN DEVINE and all of your headings - it’s disconcerting and shows lack of attention to small detail before you see any of your work. Take the donut water bottle out - in an interview, you will be asked questions that will become a sticking point and divert attention from better work. And, and as Michael suggested, move your resume to the end.
Thank you Michael! These are great ideas! I really like the idea about screencapping my IG as the intro to that project. With the water bottle I had been thinking about taking it through another iteration and expanding on the donut theme a bit more, maybe with some ‘sprinkles’ or other details molded into the silicone. I see what you mean about the first and last pages, I’ll definitely liven them up for my next version!
I’m totally open to moving! There aren’t a ton of opportunities in South Florida and I’m eager to try working somewhere new!
Oh man, I don’t know how I missed that! Thank you for catching that! You make a good point about the donut water bottle, I think I may pull it out for now and try to see if I can make a more complete project for it rather than just a single page for it per Michael’s point.
Now that Dan pointed out the kerning I can’t unsee it… 
My eye snagged on it but I skipped the first page so quickly that I didn’t think about what was irking me. This is why it is always so good to share your work. You get fresh eyes on it who see things you take for granted.
Absolutely, it never hurts to get another perspective. Thank you both for the help!
The main thing I am seeing is that, though visually everything looks all slick, there is little design work and I feel I am looking at a concept design portfolio. There are a few good ideas but within which parameters are we working…that going in-depth is crucial for a product to actually make it, especially if you are going to use this booklet to convince potential employers. An eye-opener for me was recently at a houseware company I was talking about the value of design when they mentioned that the most innovative and design-rich products actually sold the least well for them, at least so far.
Hi Dan!
Checking out your portfolio here, little late to the game but hopefully you’re still looking for feedback.
The first thing that stood out to me was that you have limited process work, and the process work you do have tends to show the same flow (idea, sketch ideation, sketch refinement, 3D render). I think showing more user insights from field research, key problems you’re trying to solve for, as well as more physical prototypes will help show that you can solve many different kinds of problems, not just those where sketching is the best method.
You clearly know your way around Keyshot, so that skill is definitely covered.
I’d love to see more of your sketches in all of your projects; I think they can be a great insight into you as a designer and how you think. In particular I think your life vest sketch communicates quickly and explains its function quickly, so I’d love to see more of that level of sketch in a new project.
Overall it seems like you have a really solid foundation with some good projects, I would just like to see more of how you think!
Josh