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Hemlock posted:This question is probably a little off topic but hopefully someone will be able to help me. I'm a junior in industrial design, and I have a PC, even though most of the school runs on Macs. And to be more abnormal, I have an IBM (T-43). I've had it for almost two and half years now, and I love it. However, my edition has much better specs than factory standard, and that's really important for running stuff like Adobe. I have an ATI graphics card (forgot specs, I just know it's better than standard) and 2 GB of RAM, which is very, very nice. I can run Photoshop, InDesign, Solidworks, AIM, and Media Player all at once without any issues. As for processing power, I have a Pentium Centrino, but they've since moved on to Duo Core, which I hear is awesome, and definitely make sure to get Pentium over Celeron. None of this stuff is IBM exclusive, that's just what I have, and there just aren't too many other PCs in my class, a couple Dells and a Toshiba. Just make sure with whatever kind of PC you get, make sure it has good components, don't opt for a cheaper machince just because it's cheaper, and don't get a Gateway (a couple of my friends had them, and they just started wearing out and being weird after a year and a half). And back to the IBMs, one thing I like about them is that they are extremely durable. Well, just offering some advice based on my experience. I'm no expert, but reserarching your options and taking quality over cost effectiveness is important when you're always running tons of heavy duty crap and working on 200+ MB files. Also, going into graphics, I'm assuming you'd probably dabble in things like Flash and After Effects too, which again would be very taxing on a computer not up to par. Yeah, definitely make an investement in a high powered machine.
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Nov 7, 2007 04:06
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heatherbomb posted:I'm a fresh graduate with a BFA in Game Art & Design aaaand.. I can't get a job. Its awful, I'm a walking e/n thread. :/ Quite honestly, one of your main problems is the portfolio itself. The site feels dated, and there's way too much purple, which I personally don't like as a main theme color. The printable portfolio is honestly pretty terrible, not necessarily contentwise, the the presentation is just bad. I don't like the purple pattern background, mainly because it's kind of grating with the stark white borders. And then there's tacky collage vibe that lacks the artistry your degree says you have. The resume looks rather unprofessional with the border, the font sizing and spacing seem off - headers too big, too cramped at the bottom, and personal logos are typically frowned upon because they come off as pretentious. Your demo reel seems redundant. If it's on your site with everything up for viewing anyway, then what's the point of featuring it in the reel? I'd rather just look at all the pieces for as long as I want and in in the order I want. I also think the Heroes reel could use a bit more. I don't know how extensive you education was, but it would be nice to see something else in there, like environments and more actions and movements than the characters sitting and chilling. Also, I'm wondering about the content. I don't know what sort of art they look for in the gaming industry, but the subject matter of the content is way too narrow in my opinion, just too much fantasy and emo angel wings and stuff. Branch out and generate some pieces that demonstrate some diversity. Also, I'd personally lose the photography section, because I don't see what's special about them. I'd also be curious to see some real process and concept work other than the uncolored versions of the finished pieces. Generally, I'd try to make it more careerpath-oriented and less personal art gallery. Meh, those are thoughts on the situation. I don't know much about the game design scene, but even so, it feels like your portfolio is part of what's holding you back. I was unimpressed, and I'm just a student. The CC crowd is pretty good at ripping people's sites apart, so you could probably get some good advice on it. edit: Wait, why have you provided potential employers a link to your Myspace? I can't imagine that can be good. A portfolio site is definitely not a place to advertise your personal life. Authentic You fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Feb 12, 2008 |
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Feb 11, 2008 22:45
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Indeed. I'm two and a half years into design with an IBM, and it's been wonderful. I don't know how they could enforce a requirement like that, but I guess it's there because the MacBook Pro would have all the specs needed for getting through the program, so I guess they just tell you what computer to get instead of what specs you need. I dunno. You could check out the Pro specs and see how your computer compares.
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Feb 28, 2008 06:20
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^I can talk about Carnegie Mellon and Pratt. I go to CMU and almost went to Pratt. I really don't have any complaints about being at CMU. I'm in the design school, not art, but they both are in the College of Fine Arts, along with architecture, music, and theater. I don't know too much about the art program specifically, but I hear good things, and I've wondered around the art studios before, and everything up there is pretty awesome. Also, the school in general plays a huge role in the whole mindset behind all the CFA programs. Out of all the schools I applied to and visited, CMU was the most grounded in the real world, and applying itself to the real world, being practical and using your skills and your thinking skills to make something of yourself, instead of just learning the skills period. Another excellent feature is that it is an entire university, and not just an art school. So you have the opportunity to take classes in any field you want, business, engineering, computer science, other science, and all those programs are top of the line in their fields. This is one of the main reasons I chose CMU over Pratt, even though Pratt gave me a huge scholarship. Also, while Pratt is highly recognized in the arts fields, as is CMU, CMU is recognized in all sorts of fields, so it looks pretty awesome on a resume. Other strong points include excellent and efficient administration that makes your life (and your parents') really easy. Also, it's a big open pretty campus and in a really vibrant and safe area of Pittsburgh, and right next door to University of Pittsburgh, which is massive, so there are tons and tons of college kids, and plenty of fun restaurants and such. About Pratt, since it's just an art school, it's way smaller, around 3,000 students instead of like 9,000. It's very distinctly an art school, so if you just want to be with other artists and not have to worry about other academia, it would be great. While CMU trades some of its creative and expressive angle for technical skills and practicality, Pratt doesn't so much. Again, just speaking for design and architecture, so CMU's art program could be as artsy and expressive as Pratt's for all I know. I'm just going from the differing tones of the schools and the programs that I do know. When touring, my parents and I walked around the studios and asked students about the school and the programs, and the general consensus was that everyone loved the program, projects, and teachers, but that the administration loving sucked, was terribly disorganized, full of people who didn't know what they were doing, etc etc, rising tuition that just seemed to be squandered, and a good amount of bitterness towards it from a few students. I also found Brooklyn pretty bleak. The campus was a bit claustrophobic, even though it's the only art school in the city with an actual campus with lawns and trees. It's a gated campus, and the gates are locked at night because it's in a dangerous area. It was a bit off-putting for me. Well that's about it. I could answer any more specific questions about CMU if you're interested. Also, if you come visit the campus, drop me a PM.
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Mar 17, 2008 15:18
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hello_mannequin posted:Oh my god. Thank you so much for all the information. I do consider my education in humanities and social sciences to be (probably) more important than my art education, so I am leaning towards universities as opposed to strictly art schools. I'm a little irked by CMU at the moment because they've lost my transcripts 3 times now and my school report form once, but I doubt that's representative of their administration. I'm still awaiting my acceptance (or non-acceptance) letter from CMU, but I'll definitely contact you if I get in, because I will be visiting. I really appreciate the offer. :] Glad I could help. Yeah, the losing transcripts deal would be an admissions issue, and definitely not representative of the whole administration. My sister goes to a UC, and it's a bureaucratic nightmare ompared to CMU. And they lose and misplace way more poo poo than just a transcript (like housing payments, they say they never got it, even though the post office told us it had been received - and we later found out that they went and processed the check anyway without bothering to verify who it was from, aka 'never got it' - poo poo like that). Anyhow, definitely get in contact if you come visiting. That would be awesome.
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Mar 20, 2008 10:10
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One design book I found particularly useful and interesting is Universal Principles of Design by Lidwell, Holden, and Bulter. We used it for one of our design courses, and it's proven to be quite interesting and useful. The book is set up so that it's really easy to use as reference, defines the principles very clearly, it's illustrated, and just really interesting to browse through.
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Oct 29, 2008 06:42
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KittenofDoom posted:In my art program you would've been far from being "the old guy". There were people just starting their education who were in their 40's or even their 50's. This is pretty dead-on. Doing art in itself doesn't NEED to be taught, but the surrounding things that an art-based education give you are also really really important. I must agree on the criticism bit. Getting ripped to shreds by your professors really helps toughen you up and get some perspective on your work, while at the same time you learn to look at a piece and be able to see why it needs work and how it can improve, and how to express it. As for doing freelance successfully in the meantime without a degree, network, network, network. Did I say network? I'm an industrial design major, and all the freelance work I've done has been in either web design and illustration, and obtained through just knowing the right people and being recommended to people they know. For example I happen to know lots of people in the publishing world, my current illustration job is the cover art for a friend's book that's coming out under a major publisher. Previously, I did illustration work for an advertisment campaign for a book under another major publisher, because my other friend does collaborative work with them. So yeah, get yourself out there, make friends and connections, and make sure they know about your art. I'm not at all trained in illustration, or web for that matter, but I still get sweet jobs through people I know.
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Dec 2, 2008 11:24
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Hwangin Tough posted:https://www.m3ta.co.uk Hmm, and as for being taken seriously, it's hard for me to say. The designs themselves are basically solid and not that bad, but I've also seen plenty of more impressive web design. For me, front-end web development implies more than just the graphics and look, and in which case, an employer might like to know the process behind these sites, so perhaps describe the systems you've implemented and how the sites work with a bit more detail. Well, even though I'm not an actual employer or even a web developer (though I've done some freelance web design projects), I hope that helps. And good luck! Authentic You fucked around with this message at 07:41 on Jan 6, 2009 |
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Jan 6, 2009 07:39
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You're certainly welcome. And some more thoughts about having your contact info/resume on your site, even if it's redundant because you've already given the prospective employer the resume. When you have a portfolio with absolutely no reference to your person (even the page title is just 'Portfolio'), it's really easy for anyone looking at it to dissociate. It becomes just some applicant's online portfolio. But if you restate your name, contact info, and have your resume available, then the potential employer reacts more along the lines of, 'So this is Hwanging Tough's portfolio!' The association will be stronger and therefore more memorable. Right now the lack of contact info and even your name makes it really impersonal. Another thing I thought of is, when you're in the process of looking for a job position and are on alert at all times, what's easier to have on you at all times, a business card or a stack of letter-sized resumes? When you're talking to industry people outside of a formal interview situation, then it's always nice to give them a business card. You link your site on it, and they they can see (more of) your work, and your resume. And once again, the association is there. But yeah, having your info on your portfolio doesn't mean for a second you're just soliciting yourself as a freelancer to random people who see it on the internet. Even in freelance you need to refer people to your site, work, and resume first. So really, offering easy access to your resume and reference to YOU, from multiple mediums (printed copy, available online, etc), makes you more memorable and accessible, which may prove helpful in landing you a job.
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Jan 7, 2009 08:18
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Have you looked at Coroflot.com? It's basically a design industry job listings site where you can also post a portfolio.
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May 7, 2009 08:50
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Oh dear god I hate that ad. I just want to see the temperature or the rain forecast, not loving Mentos falling all over the screen. I could never find the close button fast enough. I made a point to never buy Mentos ever because of that ad. I guess doing sleazy projects for clients like that is part of the game though. I'm in industrial design, and in school we got to know that not all design is cool and awesome, and that you have lots of lovely, obnoxious and/or unsustainable products in industrial design that make you feel lovely designing them, especially since you're making physical items that will inevitably end up in a landfill one day.
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Aug 27, 2009 21:21
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I got into Pratt with a massive unsolicited merit scholarship, and my unweighted GPA was a 2.9. My SAT (old version) was 1380, which was higher than their average. Though another factor could be that my high school was an academically rigorous private school. But then I got rejected from RISD. In the end I turned down Pratt to go to CMU, which as a whole is probably more academically focused, but I still got in with my lame GPA. I think you can make up a less-than-stellar GPA with an outstanding portfolio, good recommendations, good essay, and a general upward trend in your lovely GPA (I started with a 2.4 freshman year and my senior year I had a 3.5). But yeah, if you're going into a talent-based major, they aren't going to give a poo poo if you're good at Spanish or whatever, only that you're not completely stupid and/or lazy. How academic and unlazy they want you to be can vary though. I've heard that at Pratt, they basically accept anyone who's not a dolt and with a portfolio that meets their specs, and offers scholarships to the people they actually want.
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Sep 6, 2009 22:20
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Are you talking about an actual job as an illustrator with a company, or freelance? I have no idea bout getting a real job, as I know nothing about the industry in your area. I do some freelance illustration, and all the jobs I've ever gotten have been through connections and just knowing the right people. Also, the internet is a wonderful thing. I'm in Pittsburgh, and my current illustration client is in Australia. Freelance is great for adding stuff to your portfolio and getting more contacts and work. I have a former client who tips me off about upcoming jobs with big players like EA, though none of them would have worked out logistically. I'm currently working on breaking into the Pittsburgh game industry, and so far I've made a bunch of connections with people already in, and it's helping out a bunch in terms of learning of jobs that aren't formally listed to what to say in the cover letters.
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Nov 24, 2009 23:54
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Deep Hurting posted:Either would be good, though I prefer the former, depending on the specifics of the job, of course. quote:Washington state, although I'm willing to move if necessary. I'm somewhat interested in Portland, and while Los Angeles is an obvious place to live for this sort of thing, it's much farther away, so I can't visit it as often as long as I don't live there, and I definitely couldn't afford to live there before locking a job down. quote:Tell me more about that, please, keeping in mind that obviously I must not know the right people, because if I did, there wouldn't be a problem (or maybe I do know the right people, but just haven't identified them?). Also, chum the water, as my dad says. Give out tidbits and favors to people, and they remember you fondly for it, and may come back to you later (this is how I got the EA job tip). quote:Good for you. Is there some way you can frame this that will make it useful to me? Sorry for being lengthy, but I've been having a hard time quantifying advice, because so much of it is just stuff happening around you when you poke in the right places. Like the entrepreneurship class I took, since it's such an organic process, the class was much more about how to conduct yourself than what to do.
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Dec 28, 2009 05:52
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I got into Pratt with flying colors with my 2.9 and 1380 (old SAT). But wait.. is that 1490 old math + verbal or is it the new score? If it's the former, congrats, if it's the latter, then you're pretty hosed. I got rejected from RISD, though. That's super hard to get into. But I didn't apply to any of the others. However, upward trend in grades is always helpful (mine was like this too), and the portfolio is much more important than grades anyhow. And with the portfolio, you could use some culling. I'd immediately take out the sketch pages, the portrait, and the newspaper thing. I'm no portfolio expert, but maybe replace it with something that really demonstrates your technical command of various media? And photograph your sculptures with better light and fix the white balance. And if you photographed these pieces, I'd adjust the exposure so that coloring and brightness is on par with how they appear in real life. Right now a lot of the stuff looks muddy and dim, a la inadequately lit photography. You need a gently caress ton of light for photographing artwork.
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Dec 31, 2009 08:11
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Artistic Monkey posted:In a separate note, is there something that could start teaching me the basics of html and php and css and such? And by basics, i mean reaaaaal basic.
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Jan 26, 2010 06:29
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Cizzo posted:So ever since the 6th grade (I'm now 22) I've always loved web/graphic design. This was all fine and dandy until the 8th grade when I found out I was colorblind. Not completely colorblind mind you but all I was told when I took the test (the different colored circles and such) and got half of them wrong. So of course she was asked about how she got around it, and a large part of her method involved consulting friends and colleagues and documenting successful colors and how to make them (this proportion aquamarine blue, that proportion of violet blue, etc). Based on that, I'd say that if you establish a method for finding and documenting color schemes, like through consulting with other designers/clients, you'll be fine. Color is only one aspect of many in good web design. A good design in black and white is better than a crappy one in color.
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Sep 19, 2010 03:35
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QUEEN CAUCUS posted:You did point out some useful things such as the typeface and a miscolored link (Both of which I changed) but I will try to defend my design choice. I understand that you may not like the color purple or the nouveau swirls, but I don't think it's too terrible. I wanted to do something a bit different than the sleek/modern square look I see everywhere. Does the design itself not work, or do you simply not like that particular look? I think you could benefit greatly from lighting up the design and letting your work shine through more. All I see are tiny, tiny thumbnails that don't sufficiently preview the work or small paragraphs of text stuck inside this heavy frame of nouveau decorations. Also, I'd cut the fade in the image viewer thing. The image will fade out so that I can see the website in the background, and then snap to the next image. Maybe its just me, but it feels a bit jarring. Oh, and if you can, put the x button in a consistent place, because it changes location with each different sized image. Lastly, I saw on your resume you wanted to work with Flash and that you knew Flash and Actionscript, but then I learn that your site is built on Wix, which I see is an easy Flash site builder thingy. It automatically makes me wonder if you are indeed capable of building stuff in Flash. But hey, I think your illustration is pretty cool.
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Oct 26, 2010 01:45
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QUEEN CAUCUS posted:I already took it off the links section and completely overhauled the site. It was good advice and I took it. DevArt was the only gallery I had for many years so I've probably become desensitized to most of the poo poo on there. The resume/contact link is really cramped, though.
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Oct 26, 2010 21:24
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putang posted:Looking for advice so I don't lose my mind: You said you were lacking in Adobe skills and have been looking for work for four months. Have you gotten any better at those Adobe programs in those four months? In the time you're looking for a job, try to build up your skills. It's awful trying to do stuff when you're unemployed (I've been there and it loving sucks), but it doesn't hurt to try. If you want practice making graphic design stuff, walk down to the local library or soup kitchen or any non-profit and offer to make them some graphics - a poster, flier, whatever - and then gently caress around in Photoshop and InDesign until you make them something nice. There's probably no money but you're doing something, getting experience, and getting yourself out there, and you can add real-life work to your portfolio. Also, what the hell goes into a digital media degree? Seeing as you came out not knowing InDesign or Illustrator I'm confused about what it is exactly.
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Feb 4, 2011 06:40
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The Good Professor posted:I'm currently looking for jobs in testing/QA as I hear that that is a good way to start networking with people in the industry and get some at least somewhat related work experience on my resume. Is this true/is this a good idea/where do you suggest I go to find testing jobs without previous experience? Internet listings for this are pretty sparse. I'm not in game design myself, but I have a few good friends who are. The general consensus from them on testing is that it's the worst job in the industry and doesn't actually do much for getting your foot in the door. Also, testing is way shittier that a lot of aspiring game designers seem to think. Wanna bash your space marine against the same spot on the wall 400 times so that you can replicate a glitch that sometimes happens? quote:Right now I'm planning on going to school in 2012, and am looking at the various colleges and universities in Vancouver, BC where I live. I've heard that with the exception of VFS, most "game design" programs are not thought very highly of. I'm much more interested in design and writing than I am in programming -- though I am learning a little code and intend on knowing basics to facilitate communication and be able to do scripting, etc. Am I shooting myself in the foot if I take a non-computer science program? Can you tell me anything else that will help? There's a big art/design side to game design - it's not all programming. You'll see a mix of designers, artists, and programmers with varied educational backgrounds at any game firm. As for 'game design' schools, I hear they're a waste of time and money too. Do undergrad in whatever (maybe design!), and then check this program out. Only seriously legit program I really know of.
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Jun 10, 2011 05:54
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Aizen posted:Ahh crap... That's popped up before, I don't know how to get rid of it. I hope no future employer has Kaspersky :/
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Feb 24, 2012 16:21
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:I have an interview coming up where I need to bring a physical portfolio (due to security reasons I can't bring my portfolio on my iPad... which is the sole reason I got an iPad in the first place so I could cut printing costs and do more last-minute edits I would emphasize pieces that show you can think about things in terms of environment, how your thing fits into its environment, etc. In essence, interior design is designing entire environments. Knowing stuff about materials (especially wood, stone, textiles) is a plus, so is color. Also, you'll be dealing with industrial design items like furniture, fixtures, etc, so in this aspect your background will be helpful. At one point in my job, I was set to designing a lamp shade because the one the client wanted couldn't be ordered in the thousands (the firm did hotels), so I made up something similar to be produced at a factory the firm had hookups with. Oh, also demonstrate your rendering skills, traditional especially. I got to do a rendering for a restaurant interior and it was awesome. Going into work everyday to dick around with watercolors was pretty nice. My firm produced most renderings traditionally because clients always responded better to them than CAD renderings.
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Apr 20, 2012 22:11
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I went to a top notch design program, and we did a lot of drawing, and the professors told us off the bat to knock off the anime/fantasy/bullshit and actually learn how to draw. You'd get called out if you had "unicorns and other fantasy bullshit" in your class sketchbook. If the instructors aren't forcing you out of your comfort zone, then they aren't teaching you anything, in my opinion. What's the point of taking drawing classes if you're not learning how to draw stuff beyond your signature stick figures and anime? I mean, does your bf have other drawing stuff like life studies, still lifes, perspective drawing, etc in his portfolio? If the school can't even help their students generate quality portfolios, then it's a sucky school. Also, when you're visiting these schools, I'd highly recommend breaking off from the canned tours and wander around the studios and talk to the students and look at their work. I way learned more about the schools I was considering from poking around the studios than from tours and meetings with admissions people.
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Aug 3, 2012 22:57
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Generally in creative fields, your body of work is the most important. However, a real design degree, from what I've seen, does a lot to set you apart from self-taught designers. For example, a classmate of mine worked a couple of summers at a graphic design firm that specialized in restaurant menus. They employed mainly self-taught designers. But he quickly got promoted above them because one to two years of design school was enough to make him an objectively better designer than many of their self-taught designers. You learn more in design school than just how to make things pretty and how to use software, so yeah, a degree, while not entirely necessary, does help set you apart, especially with how many self-taught designers there are out there. However, if your fiance really wants the design degree, go to a real, reputable design program. Many state schools have perfectly decent programs. My dad spent some time involved in the hiring process for a top notch interior design firm, and driven, capable people from state schools (i.e. [Midwest State] U.) were selected over people from online/for-profit programs every time. That's just one firm, but I definitely picked up that there didn't seem to be much respect for online/for-profit schools or Art Institute type places (if you weren't phenomenal) in general. If I were your fiance, I'd go to a design program at an in-state public university over some online thing any day. Chances are the degree from a real university will be the better deal. It could very well be cheaper than some online thing too. So, direct answers: 1. Technically, no, but a BA in a design field would put her above a lot of the competition. 2. I've personally never heard of any reputable two-year design program. 3. My vote would be to stay away from online stuff. 4. I've never heard of American Intercontinental University before. Google tells me it's for-profit, so I'd stay away.
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Aug 30, 2012 18:06
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qirex posted:I would consider it nearly impossible to get the level of feedback you need for design from an online school, a big part of it is presenting to groups and collecting live criticism/feedback and being able to deal with that is at least as important as being able to design the stuff in the first place. A million times this. Crit was a Big Deal in design school. An hour or more of every studio class was dedicated to either group critique or work time where professors would go around and talk to students one on one about their work. Your professor can't grab some tracing paper and red-line your drawing in front of you while explaining proper techniques if he's on the other side of your computer monitor. My professors were very hands-on, and the program in general was very collaborative. That face-to-face collaboration is extremely important for learning how to work with other designers and with clients.
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Aug 30, 2012 20:15
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uglynoodles posted:horrible portfolio I poked around the Futureworks website, and their news section profiled some very capable and talented grads, and if they have industry folks as instructors, there's going to be some good networking. Even highly regarded programs fail to filter out 100% of the hacks. My design program is consistently ranked top ten in the US, but a couple of my classmates SUCKED rear end. They got into the program, but were asked to leave after the first year. My university, which is top notch all around, has still given degrees in cases that were not deserved/appropriate (like masters to two lazy asses in a new masters program in which it was was bureaucratically impossible to issue a failing grade). It happens everywhere. I guess the question is, is this guy with the poo poo portfolio the norm or the exception? Is it a school where they just let you in, take your money, and showcase the few students with actual promise, or does it have a generally decent student body with some duds? Have you toured the facilities/studios? What does the student work look like? If it's all mediocre and students are allowed to continue their silly idea-guy poo poo and traced crayon fantasy drawings, then run. edit: The more I look at this portfolio, the more ridiculous it gets. Like the game idea with Daleks (I don't think those are general sci-fi canon..), and that he credited the crappy how-to-draw books that he Authentic You fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Sep 5, 2012 |
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Sep 5, 2012 19:58
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TigerRose posted:I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong, or not doing enough of, that I'm having such trouble finding a job. I was looking in graphic design, as that's what I did an internship in, had done freelance work for, etc even if it wasn't the focus of my degree and I went to a state school that kind of forgets it even has an art department. But now that I've been out of school for almost a year and a half with nothing to show for it, I don't know if I should just try to find something else, look into another field, anything. Every day I'm stuck working a 12 hour retail shift is another day my internship experience gets farther and farther behind me and gets less and less relevant. I loved school and I like the idea of a masters degree but it's not exactly realistic, especially in this economy and with my background. I just want to stop feeling like I'm doomed to be a useless suburban retail wage slave for the rest of my life. Basically, what pipes! and kedo said. The portfolio alone is a massive turnoff. Because design is so much about presentation and attention to detail, the portfolio itself is a design piece that can be used to gauge your ability as a designer. If you can't design a good showcase for your work, it makes me question/doubt you as a designer. I do front-end web development in addition to design, so I poked around the construction of the site a bit. I'm guessing you coded it yourself/used a graphical web page editor? One of the glaring issues I saw was that the menu was an image map (hence its unresponsiveness).  Did you want to use those non-web fonts? But then you've successfully imported some Google fonts, so.. wtf I'm confused. So yeah, the whole code side construction with the image map and internal scrolling screams 90s, and even though you're not marketing yourself as a web designer, it all says 'not with the times'.However, there's absolutely no shame in not creating a portfolio site from scratch/using pre-made templates. If you're applying for jobs right this instant, put up your work and info at someplace like Carbonmade and link to that instead of your website. Portfolio sites like Cargo Collective, Carbonmade or hell, even DeviantArt Portfolio instantly give you a clean, easy-to-navigate showcase for your work. In the meantime, you can put together a better self-hosted portfolio. An easy option is to install Wordpress (free, easy to manage, extremely well documented) and find a portfolio theme for it. Here are some cool free ones. If you know CSS, you can very easily modify themes. As for content, I'd ditch the whole animation section. The average length of the animations is like six seconds, and I don't see the point in demonstrating that you can move some cutouts over a background for a few seconds. Also, you might want to cull some pieces from your art sections, and then combine fine art and other art into Art. Right now, the collection looks very art student. I'd also take better photographs of the best/favorite ceramic pieces you want to include. Again, sorry if this all sounds harsh - we just want to help.
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Sep 24, 2012 21:47
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TigerRose posted:Thanks for all the responses. I didn't realize there was such an issue with boxes/margins fluctuating and all that, or the boxes being too small. It fits on my 13" screen so it must look the same on all the others, right? Yeah, that can be a problem with well-meaning friends and relatives. Back in high school, mine all said my fantasy novel was the best ever, but then I dug it up on my old laptop the other day and...  Anyhow, Wordpress is great, good to work with, a good web design/development learning tool, and is a useful skill. I've gotten a couple job inquiry callbacks specifically because I have 'Wordpress' on my resume. It's a great CMS for lots of stuff other than blogs. In general, I think designing/building on a database-driven CMS is the way to go. Get a portfolio theme and tweak it, then get a skeleton theme and practice customizing it. Feel free to PM me if you have any Wordpress questions.  And yah, it's amazing how dated web classes tend to be. The one offered during my stint in design school was a joke. Just very basic HTML and CSS. The kids who took it produced portfolios that looked good, but were a loving bitch to update. Wanna add a project? Hand-code the new menu link on every single page! Don't want to hand code? Then bloated, table-ridden templates are for you.
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Sep 28, 2012 23:53
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I'd asked other people for feedback (both well-meaning relatives and friends who should know to look for these issues) and they'd never mentioned any of this, so thanks.
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rosselas posted:I don't think that all of my stuff is unpolished/unfinished. Feature only your best stuff. I have a similar problem, where most of my work is in the form of scribbly, incomplete sketches. I have a WP-powered portfolio (that I've programmed to mimic one of CargoCollective's awesome grid layouts because I'm not cool enough for an invite  ) and use the blog function as a dump for my sketches, WIP, and other incomplete work. Also ramblings. Speaking of which I need to post more often to it because I have a giant backlog of sketches. Even so, I have enough work to not have to throw rough, half-finished sketches in with the main features. (I'd post a link, but I don't like crossing streams between SA and real life  ) If you don't have enough polished awesome work, make more. And if you want to show off sketches, create an appropriate outlet for them like a blog or Tumblr you can use in addition to a static portfolio.Also, stuff like this captioned with, 'These are my best drawings' doesn't make me, a potential client, confident in your ability to produce for me a pro-level, complete illustration. I'd advise removing that piece from your portfolio because it's obviously not one of your best drawings. Just offering some honest feedback  . Keep in mind that we're not being dicks, just trying to be helpful.PS: Yeah, 99designs and other crowdsourcing/contest sites are the worst. Every time you contribute to one of them (or any designer or artist does), you are sabotaging your ability to earn a fair rate for your work. Having a solid portfolio is really important because you use it to apply for one-off projects, contract work, etc, and people will pick you based on previous work, rather than you having to produce stuff you have a very good chance of not getting paid for.
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Feb 24, 2013 01:32
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rosselas posted:Is it that bad? I got a new Canon LiDE scanner. It scans things in very brightly, so I have to adjust them in Photoshop. I've been quote:You don't need an invite. You can apply too. If you want I'll invite you. I'm not sure how it all works. Anyhow, on the portfolio, you really just have to sit yourself down and put it all together and get it over with. I bought hosting, installed WP, and then sat on a blank 'under construction' site for ages. At the very least, spiff up the Carbonmade site a bit. Add a header, reorganize it, and add custom thumbs instead of the auto-generated one that's chopped the head off one of your figures. As for Lord Emery, it just does not appear to be on the same level as the rest of your stuff. I went to a portfolio review when I was applying to college design programs, and I had one piece in my portfolio that was okay, but not near the level as my other stuff. I just threw it in because I was low on human figures and it happened to be my next best human figure. The dude critiquing my work just told me to take it out because it was a drag on the rest of my stuff. If you want to show off cross-hatching, make a better piece or show off some cool cross hatch doodles in your sketchblog. Here's the level of cross-hatch ballpoint doodles I'll show off. Even so, this definitely isn't one of my main featured works because I have better, complete pieces for that.
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Mar 1, 2013 03:52
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redjenova posted:...anyone? First of all, why is it blue? You'd be much better off with a white or even grey background. Also, there's so much headroom that most of your thumbs are below the fold on my 1600x900 screen and it's possible to miss the self-rearranging thumbs show if you click a portfolio category from the sub menu (which shows up at the bottom of the screen for me). And when the thumbs do rearrange, I get jerky transitions when the scroll bar disappears and reappears. It's just the browser doing its thing, not the coding, but it's still a bit jarring. Also, when you click into a project, the details are boxed in between the huge header, blue background, and the cramped thumbs below, and it's not presented at a particularly large size. On the thumbs themselves, give them some breathing room, and crop them so they're a uniform size or at least have uniform spacing (like how thingies on pinterest display). Oh, and when you're looking at a particular project, there are arrows that show up on the picture, and I click them thinking I'll get to see more work within that project (like the other monster alphabet letters), but instead it just scrolls me up to the top of the page. fake edit: Okay, JUST figured out how to get to a better, clearer view of an individual project. (Why do I need to click on the thumb AND that little title that I didn't even know was clickable in order to get a good view of a project?) I'd definitely suggest simplifying the design because the site just gets in the way of the work. Check out the featured sites on Cargo: http://cargocollective.com/favorites I don't have a Cargo site (it's WP with my own custom theme inspired by a lot of Cargo sites), but I spend a lot of time looking at those sites for inspiration.
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Mar 1, 2013 05:10
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ChakAttack posted:My boss is terrible and notoriously cheats her employee out of money. Incidentally she just spent 30k remodeling two bathrooms, went to London for a weeklong vacation last week, and is going to the beach this week... So she told me she feels like she paid me too much for the logo I designed for her company a couple months ago. So now she is switching me from an hourly rate to a flat fee. She wants me to update her webpage now (mainly doing coding, to be honest, but also some graphic work). All my other web design experience has been personal or for my unpaid internship, so I have no idea what to charge. I'm good and I work fast, but I'm not at professional-level. Any advice what to ask for? Figure out how many hours the updates will take you to code, multiply those hours by two, and then charge (at least) three times as much per hour as your former hourly wage. Also, provide your awful boss with a strict proposal and contract that says what you will and will not do on the website for that flat amount of money. If she balks (she will), just walk, because your work situation sounds loving awful and exploitative. Is this some sort of internship or contract-based job? Because what the gently caress.
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Mar 23, 2013 21:01
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I'd say that at the very least, start with option #2. Get a bunch of practice in and demonstrate that you can produce good quality, finished work. Also, get really, really good at perspective, not the type where you draw your little vantage points and use a ruler, but the type you just freehand it because you KNOW perspective that well. Also lighting. And drawing buildings and nature from reference.
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Apr 3, 2013 04:46
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Edgar Allan Pwned posted:Hurr, so I have a question. I am currently double majoring CS/Studio Art at an undergrad liberal arts college. It has been occurring to me that I want a career in art, and I have been considering product design or animation. I don't really have the skill set for either as it's a liberal arts school. I really want to go to grad school after my undergrad, but is that a smart decision for art? If I could do product design, I would want to make products that use technology to help/improve people's lives, especially for disabled or mentally ill people. I have no idea how to jump into this. I asked around and someone vaguely told me to check out RISD, but what are other programs? Does product design sound like the correct major for what I want to do? (I have always loved animation and would do it if it wasn't for the fact that I believe I could help people more by doing a different job Be sure to check out CMU's HCI program: http://www.hcii.cmu.edu/ Seems right up your alley, especially if you're into accessibility and helping people. Many of the current student projects involve applications to help people learn/improve accessibility. CMU also has a product design masters program, as well as many other design/CS/arts related grad programs.
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Nov 5, 2013 16:39
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Ksi posted:I just graduated as a Graphic Designer focused on photography, as such i don't have that big of a design portafolio but i have lots of photos for a photography one. If you want to get into web design, the best thing you can do is design (and code) websites. I'm a UI designer working on a browser-based application and I do a lot of the front-end coding/development as well, and while I have a formal education in design, I have no formal training in web development. It really just takes doing. Some tips: -DON'T DESIGN WEBSITES IN DREAMWEAVER. Code your stuff by hand. Go switch DW's workspace to Coder, switch the view from Design to Code and never look back. The code editor half of Dreamweaver is pretty nice - it's what I use as a primary code editor. However, I never, ever touch any of the 'design' functions. And to me, listing 'Dreamweaver' as a skill on your resume means you don't know jackshit about how to actually construct websites. -Flash is effectively dead as far as web design goes. Don't even think about making Flash websites. -If you want to do Wordpress, get into theme development. Install Wordpress locally, download some free themes from Wordpress.org (like Toolbox), open them up and see how they're put together and then make some modifications. Read everything on ThemeShaper and check out the Underscores theme: http://underscores.me/ It's a fabulous foundation for designing your own themes. -Use Chrome dev tools and/or Firebug to inspect websites. Explore how the HTML and CSS work together. Use these tools to change attributes and see what happens. -For Javascript, start out by implementing snippets of code on your own site. Check out the CodeAcademy lessons (I've done some and they seem okay - be careful of the third party contributed ones, though). As for books to read and resources, I don't really know, honestly. The books I read when I got started are all sorely outdated now because this stuff changes so fast. Whichever books you read, make sure that they are new and up-to-date. Try CodeAcademy, I guess. But all in all, I really think you learn best by just doing, once you pick up the minimum basics of HTML/CSS. And yes, absolutely give yourself imaginary projects to put in your portfolio. Actually, what you can do is make your first project your own portfolio website. I'd recommend finding a Wordpress theme that mostly works for you and then modify it - change the typography, the colors, the margins, etc. Really, Wordpress is great for learning front-end development and how to implement your designs. I think my knowledge of WP helped get me my job - it demonstrates that I can work around an existing back-end and with an API and know enough coding/design to make a WP site look and act like anything, whether it be a blog or portfolio or corporate site. This is all kind of high-level stuff, so maybe someone else can suggest specific resources. Authentic You fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Nov 7, 2013 |
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Nov 7, 2013 21:31
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PrivRyan posted:I know this is out of discussion, but what do you gentlemen think about a career in Computer Engineering? I think it's a fine career, but SH/SC might be a better place to ask about it.
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Nov 9, 2013 04:46
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Nessa posted:I think I can confidently say that I have a solid eye for colour that I've developed over the years. I really don't know what I can do with that information. How can I apply that to other kinds of jobs? What other skills do I need to make a career? "Liking pretty colours" is not a career and doesn't really require any skill. I need to learn how to be good at things besides pretty colours. I know the creative industry is full of very skilled and talented people, which makes it much harder for someone like myself to find a spot in it. I need to have something to offer. Something that no one but me can provide. On the interior design industry in general, you'd probably like it. I interned for an interior design firm back in college, and it was varied, interesting work (when I wasn't doing intern bitch work like copying and collating), and the people working there came from all sorts of educational backgrounds - graphic design to liberal arts, so don't worry about having to go back to school for some overly specific area of design. Drop me a PM if you want to know more about interior design and the interior design industry.
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Oct 14, 2014 22:08
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FadedReality posted:I might be moving across the country in the next couple years so the associate's I had planned to start with from the local community college looks like a no go. Its accreditation is regional so I assume I'd have to start over completely. Regional accreditation is the type of accreditation that real schools use (Harvard is regionally accredited, for example) and I don't imagine you'd have much trouble transferring credits between community colleges. The problem with credit transfer usually happens when you try to transfer credits from a for-profit degree mill/career college (usually nationally accredited, though some for-profit schools have obtained regional accreditation) to an actual university. As for online art programs, I can't begin to imagine how that would be worth anyone's time or money. Having gone to design school, I can say that having face-to-face interaction with both your professors and your peers is extremely important. It's just one of those fields that doesn't really translate well to an online environment. Even if you can't find a full-blown program where you're going, taking some local classes or finding a MeetUp thingy with other designers would probably be a much better use of your time.
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Jul 31, 2015 18:19
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