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TH221

TheArchitectsPortfolio:AGuidetoEffectiveSelfPresentationintheMarketplace

Thursday,5/17/2012,2:00PM3:30PM

ProgramDescription

Thisseminarisforarchitecturestudentsandyoungprofessionalswhowishtodevelopandproducea

portfolioandresumetailoredtospecificrequirements.Theseminarprovidesthesettingnecessaryfor

concentratedreview,analysisandcreativedevelopmentofportfolios,resumesandpromotional

materials.

Thisseminarprovidesthedesignofportfoliosandresumesasacombinationofstructural,visual,and

conceptualexploration.Theabilitytocommunicateone'sselfsuccinctlyintheprofessionalenvironment

isparticularlyimportantfordesignerswhetherpresentingskillstoadesignfirm,orexpertisetoaclient.

Theprofessionalstandardforthisperformanceistheportfolio,andso,it'scurrency,it'sbrilliance,it's

'script'isessentialintheworldof"DesignConnects."

Thisseminar

will

be

an

opportunity

for

rehearsal

and

fine

tuning

of

visual

communication

skills

demonstratedwithinthetotalityofdesignpresentation.

LearningObjectives:

1. Participantswillbeabletodefineasixstepsprocessofmakingsuccessfulportfolioandresume.2. Participantswillbeprovidedhandsonstrategiesforselfevaluationallowingparticipantstodesign

intelligentlyanddirectlyfromtheirownsources.

3. Participantswilllearnnewwayofgaugingthe"success"ofanarchitectureportfolioandresume.

4. Participantswillbeexposedtoexamplesofprofessionalportfoliosandresumesfromaroundthe

globewithretrospectivesummariesoftheconceptualanddevelopmentprocessbythearchitect(s).

PROVIDER:BowlingGreenStateUniversity,OhioandRoutledge,Taylor&FrancisGroup

SPEAKER:AndreasLuescher,AssociateAIA,Ph.D.

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Role: Speaker

Andreas Luescher, PhD, Assoc. AIA.

Professor of Architecture and Environmental Design

Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH

Andreas Luescher is a Swiss architect, artist, writer, and Professor of architecture and environmental design at Bowling Green

State University in Ohio. His scholarship is widely published and he is a frequent presenter at national and regional American

Institute of Architects and Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture conferences. Dr. Luescher (Pennsylvania State

University, Ph.D., 1998) published thirty-refereed articles, (twenty-five as sole author) and recent highlights include a chapter in

the anthology Space, Travel, and Architecture (2009, Ashgate), and the book The Architects Portfolio (2010, Routledge).

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SeminarProgram2:002:10 WelcomeandPopQuiz

2:102:20 Introduction:

Planning,DesignandPromotion

2:202:40 Lecture:6MajorPanningStages

2:402:55 Exercise:EditorinChief

2:553:10 Showcaseofprintandelectronicportfolios&resumes

3:103:20 Discussiononstrategies

3:203:30 Conclusion,questionandanswerperiod

After Seminarevaluation

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Content

PopQuiz 4

Introduction 6

Sixmajorplanningsteps 7

1. Planit 11

1.1

EstablishingaProcess

2. Researchit 11

2.1 IdentifyingyourAudience

3. Writeit 13

3.1 BuildingaTheme

4. Designit 13

4.1 MakingIdeasappear

5. Promoteit 24

5.1

IntroducingYourself

6. Interviewit 27

6.1 CoachingYourself

Exercise:EditorinChief 27

AIADFormula 33

PortfolioChecklist 34

Reference 35

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PopQuiz

1. Whatisthepurposeofaresumeandaportfolio?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Howlongshouldaresumebe?

a.One

page?

b.Twopages?

c.Asmanypagesasittakestocoverallofyourwork.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Howlongshouldaportfoliobe?

a.Fifteenpageorless?

b.Twentypagesorless?

c.Asmanypagesasittakestocoverallofyourwork.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Whatdoyouimaginearethefourthingsmostfrequentlylookedbyresumerecruiters?

a.

b.

c.

d.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Whatdoyouimaginearethefourthingsmostfrequentlylookedbyportfolioreviewers?

a.

b.

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c.

d.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Whataretwoformatsforportfoliopresentationbesidesslides,orCDROMs?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Ifsomeonehasaskingtosendyouaportfoliowhatfollowupstepyouneedtotaketo

assuretoaccomplishyourgoal.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Employerswillfrequentlyaskyoutosendaportfoliocontainingexamplesofyour

workBEFOREtheydecidewhetherornottoinviteyouforaninpersoninterview.

Ifajob listing doesntspecifyaportfoliopresentationmedium(forinstance,CDROM)

whatformatwouldyoubepreparedtosend forthejobofyourdreamsTOMORROW?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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Introduction

Designingaportfoliooftenrequireslotsofcreativeproductioninashorttimeschedule.Havingaprocess

methodology asetofstepstoreferto helpsyoumanagethesimultaneousintegrationofallnecessary

considerations. Processmethodsareasvariedaseachindividual. Theyrangefromthosebasedonintuitionand

experiencetothosebasedonformalandinflexiblelogic,butallproceduralmethodologiesincludethefollowing

actionsin

one

form

or

another:

1) Recognitionanddefinitionoftheproblemandobjectives

2) Observationandcollectionofdatarelevanttotheproblem.

3) Developmentofalternativeideasandsolutionssuitableforthespecificproblem.

4) Synthesis,ortheputtingtogetherofideastoformcompletedesigns.

5) Evaluation,or

the

testing

of

alternative

designs

against

requirements,

and

optimization.

Proceduralmethodsallowyoutobeconsistentinyourcreativeprocessandgenerateadocumentofwhat

youvegiventhoughttoandhowyourideashavedeveloped. Processdocumentsareinvaluableforproviding

colleagues,andclientsaplatformforunderstandingyourideas.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Thesequencepresentedhereismyrecommendedbestpractice,butisbynomeanstheonlyapproach.

1 Plan it

2 Research it

3 Write it

4 Design it

5 Promote it

6 Interview it

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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1 Plan it

Whetheryouaremakingyourfirstportfoliooryourtwentieth,whatpersistsisyourjobofdisplaying,inastyle

appropriatetoaparticularaudience,certainmaterialandideas.

Thestartingpointisalwaysthesame:analysisanddescriptionofthenatureandpurposeoftheproject.

Analysismeansmakingacriticaldiagnosisofthenatureandoverallrequirementsoftheproject;inotherwords

establishingenoughinformationabouttheyouraimsandtheoverallrequirementsofyouraudiencetoallowthe

feasibilityoftheprojecttobeassessed.Descriptionmeansestablishingaframeworkwithinwhichtowork. Itis

theprocessofsettingboundaries,anddetermininglimits. Settinguplimitationsandparametersgiveyou

somethingtograb,somethingtooppose,somethingtohelpyoudefinewhatitisyouresearchingfor.Your

analysisanddescriptionwillbesummarizedinaprogramorstatementofintention.

Figure1:Processofvisualediting

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2 Research it

2.1

Understandingyourself

o whatareyourskills?

o whatareyouraspirations?

o wherewouldyouliketolive?

o wherewouldyouliketowork?

o

___________________________________________________________________________________________

2.2 Identifyingyouraudience

o generalortargeted?

o Academic,Business,Government,Nonprofit

o networking

o informationalinterviewing

o

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3 Write it

3.1BuildingaTheme

o yes,no,maybe(potentialforimprovement)

o visualediting

o clustering

o begintoexpressyourideaortheme

o

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Whoseattentiondoyouwantandwhydoyouwantit?

Whatdoyouwanttosayandwhatdohavetosayitwith?

Summarizeyouraim

Stateyourtheme

Describethepurposeandnatureofyourportfolio

Whatinitialideasdoyouhaveaboutyourportfolio?

Whatmediumwillyouuse?(printordigital)

Whoistheaudienceatwhomtheportfoliowillbeaimed?

Whataretheaimsandeffectsontheaudiencewhichyouhopetoachiev

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4 Design it

Weuseportfoliostomakeourideasapparent. Thedesignbriefencapsulatesthatinitialidea.Itis,amongother

things,arecordedstatementofintentandasetofcriteriaandinstructions.Onasinglesheetofpaperanswer

thefollowing

questions.

Even

ifyou

can

only

state

the

answers

in

general

terms

go

ahead

and

write

them

down.

Don'tgethunguponthis.Don'tletyourprojectgetboggeddownforthelackofasetinstoneobjective.You're

betteroffdeclaringanaimthatyoucanlivewithfornow. Itisinthenatureofthedesignprocessthatyouwill

developandrefinethisaimastheprojectcontinues.

Figure2:Sketchofdesignbrief

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PrinttoWebPortfolios

Web basedportfoliosofferauniquelyfluidandsustainablevehicleforthepresentationofyourwork. Wide

rangingversatilitycomeshoweverwithahostofrequirementsincludingwritingfortheWeb,crossplatform

design,responsetimeconsiderations,multimediaimplementation,navigationstrategies,searchboxes,

internationalconsiderations,justtonameafew. Andthenthereareallthoseattractivenuisancesand

meaninglessdistractions

...the

bells

and

whistles

which

are

fun

to

play

with

but

which

often

detract

more

thantheyadd. Itisessentialtostayfocusedonwhetheryourwebdesignactuallyaccomplishesitsgoal,whichis

usuallytosell,teach,orentertain.

Figure3:Awebpagelayoutincludingthegrid

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DesignStylevs.UsabilityDesignEveryonewantstodesigncoolwebsitesbutifyourwebuserscan'tfigureouthowtouseyourwebsitein

aminuteorso,theywillleave,ortheywillbringaverybaddispositionaboutyouyourdesignsensitivitiesandtechnicalcompetenciestothetaskofcontinuing.

Justaswithaprintportfolio,youraudiencemustbeyourcentralconcern.Fromcontentandpagedesigntodesigningforeaseofnavigationanduserswithdisabilities,youneedtoremainedfocusedhowtoconnect

withyourwebusershopethatheorshecan

a.)findwhatthey'reafterquickly;and

b.)browsequicklyandaccessinformationtheycomeacrossinalogicalmanner.

Withliterallytensofmillionsofwebsitecurrentlycompetingforattention,usabilityanddesignfor

usabilityisthesubjectofintensecommercialinterest.Researchintoworksandwhatdoesn'tworkin

interactivemediahasproducedanumberofbooksandwebsitesaboutwebusability,pagedesign,content

design,sitedesign,andintranetdesign.

NoteworthyconceptisbasedonthingsusersmostwantdescribedbyJakobNielsen(healsohasanexcellentwebsiteonusability:www.useit.com.)inhisbookDesigningWebUsability:ThePracticeof

SimplicityarefourcriteriaforthefoundationofagoodWebdesign:

H highqualitycontent

O oftenupdated

M minimaldownloadtime

E Easeofuse

AccordingtoJakobNielsenbutyouneedtogobeyondthefourbasicstohaveatrulystellarsite.TomoveformHOMEdesigntoaHOMERUNdesignandaddthreeextras:

R relevanttousersneeds

U uniquetotheonlinemedium

N netcentriccorporateculture

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Linearvs.RandomAccess

ImportantcriteriafordesigningnavigationsystemsforWebsiteshavetobekeptassimpleaspossible.Its

importanttoalwaysgivetheuseraclearwaybacktothestartofthepage.Itiswrongtoassumethatausercan

learnanavigation

system

and

remember

it

unless

the

site

is

designed

as

agame

and

is

intended

to

take

users

on

ahunt.

Thenavigationsystemsholdbeusedasconsistentlyaspossiblethroughoutthesite. Thenavigationsystem

shouldbethoughtofnotonlyasfunctionalmeanstogetaroundthesite, butalsoaspartofthesitesidentity.

Thesimplestofallwebsitestructuresisalineardesignvs.randomaccess.Thehomepageleadstopagetwo.

FromthereyoucangoBACKtothehomepageorFORWARDtothethirdpage. Andonthethirdpage,youhave

thechoiceofgoingBACKtothesecondpageorFORWARDtothefourth.

Youstartaddingcomplexitiesifyouaddadirectlinkbacktothehomepagefromanyofthesepages. Stillmore

complexityisaddediftheviewercanjumpoffthesecondpageinsixdifferentdirections:toaphotogallery,a

linkpage,

an

email,

etc.

These

in

turn

lead

to

other

pages,

and

so

on.

Its

easy

to

see

how

the

complexities

of

navigationstartaddingup. Thepointofthisistohaveaplan,andthevariouspathsmakesensetoyour

audience,includinganeasywaytogetbacktothehomepageoneveryotherpage.Ifthevisitordoesntfindit

easyandobvioustoaccessthepartsofyoursitetheyreinterested,theyjustmightnotbother.

Designaninterface

Youcanuselogos,symbols,icons,menubars,buttons,etc.todeliverthecontext. Thoseinterfacearethe

mechanismthroughwhichvisitorsunderstandandinteractwithsite.Agoodinterfacegivesvisitorsassurance

thattheywillbeabletofindtheinformationtheyneedwhentheyneedit.Youwanttogivevisitorsasenseof

control;they

are

making

the

choices

about

where

to

go

and

what

to

see.

Using

flowcharting

conventions

for

the

developmentofthenavigationalaidtospecifiedforeachsectionofyourdesign.

Whenyoudesigninterfaceelements,tailorthemtoyourexpectedaudience.Theselinkswouldenabletheuser

tomoveeffortlesslythroughalltheportfolioentries,followingupaninterestingleadinoneentrysimplyby

clickingonakeygraphicandgoingtothelinkedentry;thenperhapsreturningtotheoriginalitem,orfollowinga

linktoanotheritem.Itissafetoassumereadersarefamiliarwithscreenbasediconsystems.Donotlosethis

familiaritybycreatingaseriesofnewsymbolsforthemtolearn.

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5 Promote it

Thenexttolaststepisntcompleteuntilyourportfolioreachesitsfinaldestinationwithoutmishapordamages.

Considerthestepsonthefollowingpagetoensurethattheportfolioarrivesontimeandinperfectcondition

withoutgettinglostinthemaileither.

Remember,everythingmeanssomething. Forexample:yellowstringandbuttonenvelopesareusedfor

internalpostandcarrieswithittheimplicitmessageofworkrelatedpapers/bulkitems/andother

undesirables(!).

Onceyourportfolioeitherinprintoronlineisavailableyoushouldmakesuretopromoteyourwork.By

submittingespeciallyyourwebpagetosearchengines,designwebsites,magazinesandapplyingforawardscan

makeadifferenceinenhancingyourvalueinthemarket.UsingtheInternetasitsmessageisquiteeasyformula

forsuccessbecauseitislesstimeconsumingtoproduceincomparisontoprintmedia. Aportfoliowebpagecan

beaccesseasilyandanonymouslybyvisitors.Forstarterssmallprojectsandundevelopedideascanbe

presentedinsuchawayastoappearcomplexbecauseyoucanbluffandusuallyvisitorsdontexpectindepth

content.

Atthesametimemaintainingyourportfoliohomepageitisaimportanttaskthoughcanbedoneeasilyand

quicklyatanytime.ObviouslytheInternethasthereputationofbeingoftheforfrontofnewdigitaltechnology

thatfunctionalonerequiresthatyourdesignandanimationsofyourportfoliowebsitekeepuptheevolutionof

themedium.IfyoucreateCDROMorwebbasedportfolioitstillimportanttocollectasmuchfeedbackas

possiblebyusingpreaddressedformatstoyousuchasaskingtheviewerstofilloutasmallquestionnaire,or

leavecommentsbyhavingaEMAILbuttonwhichwillopenupanemaillettertoyouorincludingreplypostcard

whichadditionalmaterialscanberequest.

o selfinitiatedevents&exhibitions

o cultivatemediacontacts,peers,clients,etc.

o exchangelinkswithfriends,distributors,blogs,etc.

o submityourwebsitetosearchenginesandwebsitedirectories

o

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___________________________________________________________________________________________

6 Interview it

Inanycasegettingtheimmediateattentionofyouraudienceisessentialtoasuccessfulsubmissionofyour

resumeandportfolio.Thatsmeanfollowupwithyouraudiencebysimplyprovidingselfaddressedenvelopeor

contactthereceiverbymakingatelephonecallaskingforintervieworpresentationtime.

Lesson1:Beyourself

You hope that I will give you answers that you can repeat it as such in interviews? You are mistaken.The

difficultyliespreciselyinthefactthatwemustavoidanyformattedoutput.Thegoalistokeepyourselfandyour

waytomeetwithyourvocabularyandyourownideas.

Lesson2:Learntoimprovise

Thedifficulty

of

an

interview

is

that

you

can

imagine

the

kinds

of

questions

that

recruiters

are

going

to

ask

you

butyoucanneverbesurewhattheywillasked.Thatiswhyitisimportanttoimprovise.Neveransweryoudo

notknow.

Lesson3:Knowtowhomyouspeak

Never go to interview without to be informed in advance of the company for which you apply.Refer to any

websitecanbeagoodstart.Findsomeonewhoworksorworkedthereisevenbetter.Theimportantthingisto

understandthe"philosophy"ofthecompany,whatservicesorproductsitoffers.

Lesson4:Transformyourweaknesses

Agoodwaytoaddressyourpotentialweaknessesistotalkandturningthemintopositives. Thinkinadvanceof

your

weaknesses

and

your

strengths

because

these

are

aspects

that

are

regularly

discussed

at

meetings.

Lesson5:Giveagoodimpression

Thismayseemcontradictorytoyoustayingwithoneself.Beingyourselfdoesnotmeannotmakingefforts,quite

thecontrary.Recruitersneedtoseethatyouaremotivated,you'vereallywantedtoworkinthisbusiness,you

understandtheissuesrelatedtobusiness.

Lesson6:Doesnotseemstressed

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It'shardnottohavethevoicethattremblesandpeaceofmindbeforeoneormorerecruitersthatyouarejust

tryingtodestabilize.Thiscanhelpyoucontrolyourstress:adoptacomfortablepositionwithbothfeetonthe

groundandbreathedcalmly.

Exercise1:EditorinChief

Totell

astory

requires

asequence

of

impressions

that

will

form

aproper

exposition

of

the

subject.

A

portfolio

usuallyincludesadiversecollectionofrepresentations. Thejobofarrangingtogether,anddesignedintoone

cohesivecompositionis,asmuchasanything,amatterofeditorialskill.

Aseditorofyourownportfolioyoumustbeactiveinthreeareasofdecisionmaking:

1. Encapsulatingtheinitialidea

2. Identifyingtheobjectschosentotellthestory

3. Clusteringrelatedobjectsandbeginningtoexpressyourideasorbuildyourtheme

Thisexercise

calls

attention

to

this

important

idea

of

design

as

an

editorial

process.

Based

on

the

page

layoutsnextpages,determineasequenceofideasandtheirplacementinit.

Determinetheorderinwhichtheycanbemadetotellastory,andwhatchunksofinformationhavetobe

interpolatedorattachedtomakesensetotheintendedaudience.

Youwillbebothvisualandverbaleditorinthisprocess. Youmayaddtitlesandbriefexplanatoryorinterpretive

textorcaptionstodirectthepresentationforyourreader/audience. Keepinmindthatthemosteffective

portfolioshaveasinglenessof purposebestachievedbybriefcaptionsorheadlines,notbylong

compositions.

Objective:designtomovethereaderforward.

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AIADFormula

AIDAisanacronymusedinmarketingthatdescribesacommonlistofeventsthatareveryoftenundergone

whenapersonissellingaproductorservicebuthereweapplyitforjobsearch:

A Attention(Awareness): attracttheattentionofthefutureemployer.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

I Interest: raisefutureemployerinterestbydemonstratinghis/herabilitiesandskills.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

D Desire: convincefutureemployerthattheywantanddesirehis/herabilitiesandskills

thatitwillsatisfytheirneeds.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

A Action: leadfutureemployertowardstakingactiontobehired.

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References

TheArchitect'sPortfolio:Planning,Design,Production

AndreasLuescher

ISBN:9780415779012

Publishedby:Routledge,2010

http://www.routledgearchitecture.com/books/TheArchitectsPortfolioisbn9780415779012

ArchitecturalRecord

TheArchitecturalRecordhassectiontitledProjectPortfoliowhereinnovativearchitecturearebeenfeatured.

http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/portfolio/

Fabrica

FabricaistheBenettonResearchandDevelopmentCommunicationCentre. PortfolioofyoungFabricaartists

canbefoundunderFABNEWS.

http://www.fabrica.it/fabnews/

MetropolisMagazinePortfolio

Metropolispresentshowcasesworkbyemergingdesignersandartists.Submissionsof12to15images,in

portfoliopresentationoronCD,shouldbeaddressedtoSaraBarrett,Metropolis,61West23rdStreet,4thFloor,

NewYork,NY10010.

http://www.metropolismag.com/portfolio

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SOMFoundation

TheSOMFoundationhasawebsitewiththeportfoliosofpastfellows.

http://www.somfoundation.som.com/

ContactInformation

AndreasLuescher,AssociateAIA,Ph.D.

ProfessorofArchitectureandEnvironmentalDesign

CollegeofTechnology

BowlingGreenStateUniversity

BowlingGreen,

OH

43403

0301

Officephone4193720347,

Cell7348831598

Email:aluesch@bgsu.edu