Making the Cut: ––––––– Notes for Portfolio Workshop at UW / Blog Topic Getting to the top of the stack The Metrics. Describe the volume of portfolios The Physics of the Quick Look. Thumb from back? How is it meant to be experienced? Phone persona and Timing. Knowing what’s happening in an office before you contact them. Do your research. Break out of the formal Connect through mutual friends. I’ll always at least look at a portfolio recommended by a friend. Know where you are on the timeline of cultural history. Set your own style. Don’t be something they’ve already seen a thousand times. Feel as though you’re the start of The Next Big Thing. Break out of the formal. Be obsessed with the present trajectory of human thought and progress. Biographies for inspiration to become more fully human. Wyatt’s Kieran Timberlake leverage. Be inspired by sources outside of architecture. Don’t be a fucking architect cliché Be true to yourself. Be ready to walk away from deadening experiences. But also ready to deal with them and turn bad situations around. The Art of Persuasion. Be memorable.
Highlighting the Medium Duchamp’s Box of entire body of work Ruscha’s fold out book Obsession with stationery from the 30’s. Make moves that bring out the best in paper Websites. Amsel and Pazan. Amsels website and powerpoint. Pazan’s website and his BCJ landing Loose bound. That’s what a folio is supposed to be. Allows customization of content before each interview. fo∙li∙o (fl‐) n. pl. fo∙li∙os 1. a. A large sheet of paper folded once in the middle, making two leaves or four pages of a book or manuscript. b. A book or manuscript of the largest common size, usually about 38 centimeters (15 inches) in height, consisting of such folded sheets.
Typography The culture of Foundaries. The film “Helvetica” to see the depths of the obsession with typesetting. Thomas Johnston interview story. Graphics Diagramming is a clear and dense form of visual communication. Tufte. Aesthetic of an art book. Raymond Carver for keeping it short and full of information. Each simple word freighted by its context.
Good Writing Avoid The Manifesto Johnston’s success. Manifesto = Got it all figured out close‐mindedness. I know you can articulate your thoughts persuasively. Diagrams How do you record your thoughts? How do you develop them? Non‐linear development paths that gradually build up Show some slides from previous diagramming workshop Ugly but packed with information and searching Evocative Renderings Putting you right there viscerally Telling a human story in the foreground. Specifics Fleeting moment. The birds do it but are cliché. From the perspective of a daydream. Daydream. Doing the Internship The Politics of Collaboration Bring your Own Thoughts to the table – but carefully and be very prepared. Work on your thoughts at night Nighttime is the fertile ideation time and daytime is the execution of the idea. Own your role. Be responsible. Don’t blame others or wait for direction. Take and object and do something to it. Do something else to it.