As I’ve noted in an earlier entry about my ideal career, I don’t necessarily plan on becoming a full-time, professional graphic designer. I am more interested in architecture and design theory than doing graphic design work. With that in mind, I would like point out that rather than discussing my portfolio as if I was applying for a job in the field, I would like to discuss work I would include in my portfolio and how it applies to my own professional pursuits.
In the gallery below, I have included three pieces of work and within the comments, I will discuss how they work in my portfolio.
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- The Pampers Independent Marketing Campaign. This project has been instrumental in regards to teaching me about detail. I used to think new product design was simply copying of old designs and slapping a “new” sticker on it. However, the theoretical knowledge of size and spacing or colour theory has really come into play here. Designers don’t choose anything at random. There is a lot of planning and thought, research and development, doing and redoing involved in product and package development. As far as architecture goes, this project has allowed me to understand the importance of the details behind why a design is the way it is. And more often than not, those reasons are very rational as well as functional. In the case of this Pampers package, visibility and organization of content was my key focus. Those issues were addressed using colour theory along with some of the principles of design.
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- The Audi Annual Report. This is where I learned about the organization of lots of data. Learning to incorporate storytelling, style, and technique into a large array of spreadsheets and textual copy has been helpful in teaching me how to identify key components of a large quantity of data in order to properly apply emphasis where it is needed the most. I also learned how to use white space and colour to both unify my content as well as make vital details stand out by reducing crowding.
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- The Worgle Corporate Identity Handbook. This project has taught me how to look at intricate details of a design and how to implicate rules and restrictions for the use of those designs. Here, I am focused on the identity of an imaginary design firm that I dreamt up. By restricting proportions and typefaces, sizes and colour, I am able to maintain a corporate identity that portrays the company in exactly the manner in which I would like it to. The more detailed an thorough, the more precise the identity of the company. However, in hindsight, I also learned that sometimes a company wants to be more flexible in order to give off a more friendly vibe. I learned that by looking at every detail and putting everything under the microscope, I am able to even define the boundaries of the flexibility I will allow. Though this applies more theoretically to my needs than it does directly. This project has shown me that only by scrutinizing every detail of my work and being absolutely meticulous, can I truly understand how my work will make people feel. In terms of architecture, that means I must analyze structural, functional, and aesthetic details in order to create guidelines for my projects that my engineers and architects can use to help me plan and develop my work. Rather than using the handbook as a book of restrictions, I now see the handbook as a means of eliminating aspects of the research and design process that take away from my original goals, standards, and criteria. This means focusing on greener materials if my project is a green project by expressing those concerns in a guidebook. It also means making legal restrictions known and available to everybody that has access to the handbook. Whatever the reason, this specific piece of school work has taught me how to go about creating an identity for a project, and how to demonstrate that identity to those who need the criteria.
