Thursday, April 24

Senior Portfolios - Discussion #9

So your magazine has been submitted, your newsletter is under way and we have two weeks left of the semester. Aaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhhhh! Will it ever end? Oh the stress of it all! Can’t wait for summer? Relaxing by the pool, fun in the sun, a part time job, hanging with your friends and not a CD project on the horizon. Kickin’ back and chillaxin! (Isn’t that a great word!)

REWIND!

Are you graduating in December? Are you enrolled in portfolio this coming fall — the 8-week CD Stressathon? Yes? You can pretend to be blissfully ignorant of what lies ahead and spend the summer in sweet denial. You can come back in the fall and FREAK OUT! Forgetting about your CD stuff for the summer sounds like a chillin’ plan but truthfully it’s a kinda dumb one. (Don’t you just hate when old people use silly slang?)

Do yourself a favor; allocate at least a small part of your summer – perhaps 2 to 3 hours a week preparing for portfolio class. A little preparation can go a long way to keeping your stress level much more manageable. I’ve taught enough portfolio classes that I have learned from students, which strategies work and which — quite frankly — don’t. Procrastination, disorganization and a haphazard approach to time management don’t fair well in portfolio class. (Yep, I am a nag.)

Here are a couple of tried and true suggestions that I am going to throw out there. Do with them what you will.

1. Before you go home for the summer touch base with you portfolio teacher. Find out exactly what is required for class. Ask for any materials that might help get you started. Consider asking your portfolio teacher to take a look at your work and getting some feedback before you leave school. Generally most portfolio profs require a minimum of 10 projects but remember a multi-piece project counts as one.

2. Create a thorough list of what you consider potential portfolio projects and prioritize that list from love it, like it, to hate it. Then take that list and break it down into categories. Everyone has a different method but here is the one I use: try to distribute the majority of your projects evenly over the first four categories. If all 10 projects are in categories 5 and 6 you may have some soul searching to do.
  1. Definite inclusion – completed
  2. Definite inclusion – could use as is but would like to change
  3. Definite inclusion – tweaking and fine-tuning
  4. Definite inclusion – moderate work necessary
  5. Definite inclusion – major work necessary
  6. A possibility when other work is complete.

3. Organize, organize, organize! Open each project. If it was compiled in an old version of a program save as a new copy in your current software and attempt to print it. I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard, “but it printed perfectly a year ago.” Make sure you have all fonts and images. If it isn’t packaged, package it. Create a job jacket for each project. Write down on the outside of each job-jacket what supplies you will need and what you need to do to finish the project. If you need to find images with better resolution, work on that. Time-consuming, fairly mindless work isn’t stressful when you aren’t on deadline but can become all-consuming frustration when you feel like ten things are due at one time.

4. Once organized, backup your work! Stick a CD in each job-jacket with the project name, your name and date. Enough said. Do you know how much time it takes to go to each of your professors to get pdfs of your projects when your hard-drive with everything on it has crashed?

5. Write your resume and start to think about a personal identity system. Walk over to Career Services in Admin and request your very own “How to Booklet” before you take off. Talk to CD profs to take a look at their CD resume stashes for ideas. Having this at least 75% completed by the first day of class can really keep you ahead of the game.

6. Save money. The more mounting, pocket construction and well building that you want to farm-out the more money you will need. I had someone who did all their own mounting, pockets and wells—granted they had access to free printing — who spent about $300 total on portfolio while another person paid to have everything mounted and pockets/wells built that spent about $1200. I would say the average is about $600 – $700. These costs also included the cost of the portfolio, supplies and professional photography for three-dimensional work. (Having access to your own large format good quality printer can be a real timesaver for portfolio class. If you equate time to money it can be a real cost saver too. The Cannon i 9900 and the Epson R1800 seem to be the current faves.)

7. Create a time management plan. It is kind of a pain-in-the-rear to work out but from the feedback I received from my students it is well worth the initial aggravation. Plot out a very thorough day-to-day calendar of what you want to get accomplished and when you plan to have each project complete. It is really kind of scary to think about but will keep you on task through the semester.

So I am trying to come up with ten. Hmmmm... OK so at this point you’re rolling your eyes, your muttering “yea I’ll work on portfolio this summer when hell freezes over” and you have that, “Please no more-prof-kaka-glazed-over expression.”

Read on my design-grass hoppers...

Some comments from 2008 graduating seniors:

From J.R:
“I would tell a junior that the calendar at the beginning of the semester helps so much even if it is hard to think that far ahead."
From A.F.
“I have a big puzzle board — probably 20" x 30" + I have a large, self-healing mat 24" x 17"— which came in exceedingly handy when it came to cutting boards and trimming out projects. Buy 100 pack of Exacto blades. Pay the $ now + you’ll have blades the rest of your life, or portfolio, whichever lasts longer. The more time you spend on projects now, the less you have to do for portfolio. YOU NEED TO LEARN TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS!”
“Stay organized + keep everything. Back up everything. Go to Profs for comments. The more work you do now will pay off in the long run.”
From D. B.
“Most important advice is to have projects near completion, and don’t fear portfolio, it’s not that bad.”
“Try to do most of the stuff yourself. I did all but trimmed my boards and make my well and spent much less than someone who did nothing themselves. Plus you feel better about it”
From M.O.
“Find and organize all your files before class.”
“I made a chart to hang up in my room with all my projects and steps such as computer changes, back up files, take photo, print, comp, mount. I would give myself a smiley sticker for everything I accomplished. It was more motivating then the calendar.”
From C.G.
“Another thing that I found useful was having a small T-square ruler to help me mount.”
From B.M.
“Plan ahead and try to get done a week before anything is due.”
From A.V.
“Work slowly and carefully. Take your time and avoid the trip to the emergency room. Sleep deprivation + sharp objects = emergency room”
From G. W.
“Own printer would make life a million times easier! Print early...reprinting happens. Following calendar helps.”
From A. G.
“Do your projects as well as you can the first time — that saved me a lot of work/headaches in portfolio. Buy a printer junior year and get to know it then. I also can’t even begin to tell you how happy I was to find that all of my files were organized, well labeled, and had fonts stored with them, so I didn’t have to waste time looking for anything.”
From D.M.
“The most important advice that I would give to a junior would be to follow your portfolio calendar. Also I would recommend that you just sit down and work. I know this is time consuming but this is what shows your talent as a designer. The two most important words of advice are DON'T PROCRASTINATE!”
“Just grab hold and enjoy the ride of portfolio. It is stressful but hey you have already made it through 31/2 years of stress so a ½ semester’s worth is nothing. :-)”
From B.S.
“Make sure you have extras of everything. Chances are you’ll redo a lot. Start working on your resume now, that took a lot of focus away from just the portfolio. And redo projects over the summer, make them the best they can be now to minimize work later on.”
From T.F.
“Start your own personal logo ahead of time, it’s just like an additional project added to the other 10+ you have to fix, and it can be frustrating”
And finally from R.H.
“If you wouldn’t want to buy or hang up every piece you have in your portfolio don’t put it in. You have to love it. And as Sagmeister said, ‘Complaining doesn’t solve anything!’ and as Yoda says, ‘Do or do not there is no try!’ :-) ”

And finally, finally, finally from Ms. Dash

While looking for the Sagmeister quote online, I found this link. I didn’t find that quote —I’m going to trust R.H. on this one — but you’ll like these. Check it out. http://www.oneplusoneequalsthree.com/2004/03/what_is_design.html

Good-luck and what are your plans for the summer? How are you planning on preparing for your portfolio and/or senior year? What can you do to make you last year not only memorable, but able yourself to come out the other side with your sanity intact?

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

For me, this summer will be the chance to do everything I've wanted/needed to do. An amazing internship, a trip to San Diego, being able to draw what and when I want. It'll be great, and a much needed lull in design assignments. On the outside it'll seem like I'm living stress-free. But really, I'll have sooo much on my mind. I graduate in December, so this summer should really be devoted to real world prep time. Ugh. I guess I'm not a kid anymore.

Everything I'm planning for the summer has that underlining goal. Matt, you're a big boy now, about to head into the world on your own. Fend for yourself. Find your own health insurance. Get yourself a 401K. Ok, I'm being dramatic but still, it's an intimidating time. I'm excited to face it, sure. I just have to keep in mind that this summer is my last! I need to find that balance of fun in the sun, and fun at the drawing board. It means compiling illustration work for self promo, finishing personal work for submissions, polishing design work for portfolio, getting myself a proper website (I'm so bad at web design), working an internship (keeping in mind it's possible I could get hired there! OMG!), oh, and backing up all my files (because I'm a daredevil/idiot and haven't done that yet).

So anyways, the meat of the discussion was about portfolio prep. My files are well organized, but not backed up. Some need polishing. Plus, I plan on getting some new illustration stuff done to add to it.

Summer is going to go soooo fast.


Matt_T_DB_GDII

Anonymous said...

Throughout this year, I've been trying to "do it right the first time." I try to get my projects as close to portfolio quality as possible so I don't have so much revamping to do next year. I've also saved all of my grading sheets with prof's comments and I plan on organizing my massive pile of paper and start making tweaks to my projects this summer. There are also a few files that I know I've accidentally lost some links to, so I plan on going back through them and rescanning or doing whatever I need to do to get them in portfolio shape. I definitely plan on working on a logo for myself, and have been toying with the idea of building a website too (not only to promote myself but to stay friends with Flash, which will be forgotten over the 3 months if I don't touch it). I'm also going to try and freelance a bit between work at my job to build my resume. And, hopefully, I'll have time for a vacation somewhere.
JennF_DB_GDII

Anonymous said...

So I'm not graduating in the fall, BUT reading this sort of put things in perspective for me. Plus I could use those tips and start to fix things over the summer and really get things going as far as organization and preparing myself goes over Christmas break.

I guess my biggest thought on this would be, I always expect things to be one way and then when I actually get into the class it's totally different. I really don’t want to spend hours and hours fixing things over the summer and working on specific projects that a prof might tell me they like now but then when I actually take the class months down the line I have different projects and they change their mind. Also I don’t know who my prof is even going to be yet.. so how can I get a jump start with out it being a complete waste of time and effort?

AndreaF_DB_GDII

Anonymous said...

I have spent since around January or December, looking for and getting in contact with companies/firms/designers to try and snag an internship for the summer. I don't need the credit so I'm trying to get one outside of the University to get the experience. Until I have something along those lines, I will be working at the Student Union building continuing the design that I have been doing all year (that most will never see).
As for portfolio... I have already started trying to get together the pieces or at least find someone who can make them. I am considering something slightly different than the usual portfolio case, so we'll see how that works out.
Senior year will be interesting for me (everyone else too), but I have more than enough credits, and just need classes now. I could potentially graduate in December, which would be great. To do that I would have to take I think 7 design classes and an art history, which would be over kill and leave me with no sanity. I could also just take the majority in fall and take 1 or 2 in the spring and only have a half semester in the spring.

Memorable Senior year? Sure. Unforgettable years from freshman through graduation? Definately.

AndrewW_GDII_DB

Anonymous said...

I have spent since around January or December, looking for and getting in contact with companies/firms/designers to try and snag an internship for the summer. I don't need the credit so I'm trying to get one outside of the University to get the experience. Until I have something along those lines, I will be working at the Student Union building continuing the design that I have been doing all year (that most will never see).
As for portfolio... I have already started trying to get together the pieces or at least find someone who can make them. I am considering something slightly different than the usual portfolio case, so we'll see how that works out.
Senior year will be interesting for me (everyone else too), but I have more than enough credits, and just need classes now. I could potentially graduate in December, which would be great. To do that I would have to take I think 7 design classes and an art history, which would be over kill and leave me with no sanity. I could also just take the majority in fall and take 1 or 2 in the spring and only have a half semester in the spring.

Memorable Senior year? Sure. Unforgettable years from freshman through graduation? Definately.

AndrewW_GDII_DB

Anonymous said...

My plans for the summer are to teach at the art campl ike i have the past 4 years, build a website for my self and continue working on my resume, logo, businesscard...... yeahh all of that

I hope to work on previous project making corrections and making them look better so there is less to do for portfolio.

i really need to work on time management before portfolio comes around i have two jobs during the year which makes my scheduel hell for the most part. i think that that will help me keep what sanity i have left.

PJ_D_DB

Something Jenna-ish said...

Wow. I'm scared already. I feel like I've grown so much this year, but I also still feel like a major work in progress. While I also don't have portfolio in the fall I'm definitely going to do some major organization over the summer and try to figure out what my best pieces are to date. It's just funny because you always here from certain students that they had to "re-do everything." I kind of wish I had my own large printer but I still don't feel it's worth it. After the initial costs and the ink I still feel I'm better off paying for prints...plus my room is majorly lacking in space.

Anyway I'm forgetting the point of this. Summer. Work. What else is new? I had a crappy internship last summer so this summer I'm just staying at my old faithful non-designerly job and I plan to take a trip to California right after the semester ends for some much needed vacationing. I plan to also work on a website and while I have a resume I need to give it style and create a logo. So yeah I think things will be okay. We'll see.

Jenna_P_EC_GDII

Anonymous said...

My plans for the last summer of my life till i retire or hit the powerball. well there's a week in ocean city maryland with 8 others (in a condo a few block from seacrets what whaaat). a week (possibly 2?) in long beach island new jersey. weekend trips to wildwood / AC. casbah night club in trump taj mahal. 4th of july parties. clubbing in new york city to one of the worlds best DJ's. etc etc :]


as for my design-related plans ;p
i definitely plan on revising as many projects as i can. okay, let me rephrase that. the projects that i'd consider for my portfolio. magazine without a doubt. newsletter. voices from the library poster. my project for print media, etc. i also plan on doing that whole organizing to CDR jazz. i’m going to be designing a website for my sisters business, (it sucks being the one and only designer in training in the fam). standards based, and hopefully in flash, because every day you don’t use that program, you forget more and more about it (which also sucks). learn (much) more of after effects. freelancing. working on a personal portfolio website for myself. etc


I find that to be a happy medium of fun and business :)

joeL_EC_GD2

Anonymous said...

The fact that this is my last "free" summer is kinda scaring the crap out of me (no offense). But I am going to fill it with as much fun and work as possible.

First for the fun stuff, a bunch of my friends and I head to the beach just about every monday that weather permits. Day trips are great and mondays are the perfect time to go because the beaches are mostly barren. I already have tickets to 3 concerts that I can't wait to see. Other than that, I'm going to try and ride every roller coaster on the east coast and scream my head off.

Now, the not so fun part. I will continue to work full time as I have all my college years and save as much moolah as I can so I'm not going crazy trying to figure out how I'm going to pay for portfolio.

Besides work and play, I'm most likely going to be spending all of my free time right here, in front of my computer, organizing files, trying to find stuff that's hidden in weird places, and getting everything ready to go for portfolio. I really want to be as prepared as possible for that little class so I don't lose my mind more than I have in the years since I decided to become a CD major. I also am going to do a lot of job searching in the Lehigh Valley area. My plan is to work a year or so around here and then hopefully move onto bigger things. Of course, being the old lady (I think I'm the oldest in the program) I don't want to wait too long, so all you other youngins get all the great jobs! Just kidding! Being a CD major has been the greatest experience of my life so far, a pain in the butt at times, but amazing. And I am very thankful that I was able to study and learn alongside all of the students in my classes, they have pushed me to work harder, and made me a better designer. I told myself I wasn't going to cry...just kidding, but thanks everyone. Of course, the fact that we have the best professors in the world helped quite a bit!

ES_EC_GDII

Anonymous said...

This post although I knew most of this was kinda scary to hear, was exactly what I knew it would be for the fall. Especially since I'm going to be graduating then. This summer already for me will be filled with some freelance and if all goes well an internship with a nice non-profit who I'm currently waiting to hear back from to schedule some kind of review of some work. It was really great to hear most of the comments from former seniors because hell they've been through it so its easier to take than from the profs (no offense guys) I just hope I don't procrastinate and things will go well.

CarissaKe_DB_GDII

Anonymous said...

Well I dunno about my peers but I have lost my sanity many many years ago, pretty much when I decided to become a CD major..haha. Anywho but seriously this summer Im not quite sure what my plans are I know that I should be planning ahead but since I personally don't have portfolio till the fall I guess I need to really dit down and look what I have to put in my portfolio first of all and then try to see what exactly I need/want to fix up and get feedback. Since I work full time during the summer I was going to try and get a full time design job but then after further consideration I decided my last summer I really just wanna kick back and look at what Ive accomplished and what yet I have to do to get ready for the "real world" as people like to call it.

Anonymous said...

The best thing I can do for myself to prepare myself for next year is to REFOCUS. After spending some much needed time next to a beach or working as usual next to a pool, I think a few days will get me rejuvinated enough to start planning ahead once again.
Because I am good friends with some graduating seniors this year, I can learn from their mistakes and thier suggestions and try to utilize my summer "fee time" as much as possible by reworking projects that I know will need to be reworked, etc.
Aside from that, who wouldnt want to doubly-back up files? Sounds like not only a waste of a perfectly beautiful summer afternoon, but a MUCH needed necessity and COMPLETE lifesaver- should something go wrong next yr. (and god knows, when it can, it will!)
So... portfolio... The best idea from the blurb posted was to meet with your portfolio teacher THIS year BEFORE school is out. Sounds like thats an excellent idea and gives you an idea of what to work on in the summer so looks like I will be doing that some time within the next week/ week and a half!
GigiI_EC_GDII

Anonymous said...

well preparation seems to be the key word for this summer. as far a portfolio goes, getting everything organized, finding new imagery, and deciding on what i may want in it may be the extent of it, ya know, all the tedious stuff. winter is when ill really drop the hammer and everything will really be ready to go to make spring relatively light(a Utopian concept but hey, ill give it a shot). ill be interning this summer, where is TBD yet, but after my day job i plan on doing a lot of technique exploration, both with traditional mediums(outside of pencil and marker) and computer based(programs beyond adobe). expanding my style if you will, i can definitely use it. i've got a few freelance jobs lined up so those will definitely keep me occupied as well. so that's the bulk of my prescribed summer, hopefully it goes according to plan(knock on wood).

DanielF_DB_GDII

Anonymous said...

Portfolio A-hoy in the Spring of 2009! I have some time, but it's nice to have heard some feed-back from this post and other friends and classmates about preparation and what to expect. I've been trying my best to finish projects to a 'T' in hope of less work for my portfolio, but they're always something when you look back at a past project.
This summer I plan to finally own a shiny new MAC (first one). About time to set aside my old friend the PC. :( Sorry buddy.
I plan to start some freelance work this summer also. For myself and also a new freelance design website that companies offer projects, which anyone can bid on once you have a profile. I should also start thinking about my resume and find out what to include and how to lay it out.
But...of course I'm going to enjoy my summer in Kutztown, take vacation, relax, and have fun before this next year flies by and I'm finally in the 'real world.'

Anonymous said...

This summer I plan to finally get a brand-spankin' new MAC and Adobe Suite. Sorry PC. :( It's going to take a nice loan though, but worth it. I plan to stay here in the little town of Kutztown, work part-time and try to find some freelance work. I have a hand-full of ideas that I want to pursue, for myself and other companies. I found a great freelance website for designers and companies that need design. All you need is a profile and you can bid on any job.
Coming up in the fall I have internship, ID, and PubPrint. Spring is the fun time for portfolio and a few extra electives to polish off for graduation in the Spring of 2009.
Although portfolio is not in the Fall for me, I still am going to take some preparations to get things organized this summer...hopefully.
Yet it's a fact that I'm going to enjoy the crap out of my last summer before I enter what they call 'the real world,' and have to start emptying my pockets into my loans.

MikeP_GD2_DB

Anonymous said...

The summer is my time to catch back up on things and find a job again to pay for my apartment. I'm trying to get in with some design places because I am really not planning on going back to my manual labor job...

Over the summer I need to work on my own portfolio online to get myself out there. I should really have it done now, but we all know how busy we all are. My resume is done so that is a plus. I just need to hope someone wants me over the summer for some web work.

I don't really think though that I have to do too much to make my last semester memorable. I'll have lots of classes with lots of good people.

I'm ready to hit portfolio. All my projects are backed up and ready to go.

WesM_EC_GDII

Anonymous said...

This summer, I'll be working at a design/copy/pack'n'ship place close to home. I have yet to hear what hours they're able to give me, so maybe I'll have to find a second part-time job as well. Either way, I'm going to learn a lot there, so I'm excited. I also plan on putting together a personal website, and contemplating getting through the fall's triple-concentration madness.

As far as next year goes, I won't be taking Portfolio until the spring, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about it. But that also means I probably won't be doing much about it over the summer. My procrastinating nature won't let me. :) I agree with Andrea about doing a lot of reworking for portfolio now. I don't want to waste my time, and I'd like to have some more time to separate myself from my work, so I can look back on it with fresher eyes.

At least I've kept myself pretty organized over the years. I have all my work in folders according to the course, and all those folders in a folder organized by years. Then all of those are unceremoniously dumped into the folder "Art Stuff" on my desktop. I have backups of everything up until last semester, burned to CDs and stored in a fireproof box at my best friend's apartment. Paranoid much? But I still don't have consistent backups of all my stuff from this semester. I need to get on that.

DarbieB_DB_GDII

Anonymous said...

I am going to Mexico with KU in two weeks! I plan on lifeguarding for cash this summer, taking tons of pictures and painting in my spare time. I am also planning on visiting Canada to see my relatives in Ottawa and Stratford, Ontario. As for design work I am currently in search of an oppurtunity to intern or volunteer in something related to this field. I want to get better at sewing however and would gladly take a job involving clothing and fashion. I want to learn pattern-making and play violin more. I do plan on organizing my files and getting some things together and tweaked for portfolio. I am also making a logo and letterhead for my sister. Depending on where I end up living this summer I may take a dreamweaver class at Temple U. It is too depressing to think of this as the last summer for fun! I think it will be an adventure but hopefully a productive one. LIFE IS COMING FAST
Nora_Q_EC_GD2

Anonymous said...

ahhhhh. summer. 7-3 full-time job monday through friday. helping a friend out with his family business. and when the weekend rolls around...design work and chillin with friends. I am completely ready for this entire year to be over and not have any deadlines, projects, thumbnails, itoya's, or sketchbooks to worry about. I'm actually looking forward to working in a more relaxed state and tweaking/completely ripping apart my projects to prepare for portfolio. I already have a resume typed up but need to incorporate a design along with my logo/identity.

word of advice to get away from ALL DESIGN WORK COMPLETELY: a trip to ocean city maryland and multiple stops at Seacret's. Also, a good weekend at Atlantic City and a solid night of raging at the Club Casbah in the Taj Mahal.

KyleS_EC_GDII

Anonymous said...

This summer...

...as of now, I am already scrambling around trying to find a job and trying to get an auto loan.

Besides that, on the design front, I really want to start designing a personal logo, letterhead, and to finish the website I started creating and get it launched when I come back to school(I'm sure there will be bugs that a prof will have to take a gander at).

Also, my sister is getting married soon, so I have the privilege of designing her invitations, RSVP cards, and announcements.

I'm hoping I get a job, a car, and pump out some kick ass work.

AmyW_DB_GDII

Anonymous said...

I'm psyched for the summer. Aside from being flea market/garage sale season, I've been needing the time to get back into some of my hobbies (mostly photography and a small vintage fashion business). I'm also looking forward to freelancing a bit. I've had some good experiences in the past, and it's a good way to pick up some (much need portfolio) money. I also really want to brush up on my interactive skills and get a site up for myself.

As for portfolio, my files are all pretty organized. They're not backed up, but I'm working on it. I'm really looking forward to my senior year so I can finally pump out and refine some good pieces. I can't wait to have a solid portfolio that I'm actually proud of.

BethC_DB_GDII

Josh said...

:<

only one more free summer...

i'm glad to be nearing the end, but also somewhat sad and intimidated by the idea of entering the real world.

this summer, i'll return to my usual job as tronning (the genderless term for waitering) at isaac's deli. it's not the coolest job, but i can usually pull together a decent amount of money just by working a few hours in the morning. that leaves me the rest of the day to do whatever my little heart desires...i wish. nah. i'm going to crack down and whip out some personal logo/etc and a website, and just keep designing for fun. once i get the stuff done, THEN i'll treat myself to a trip to ikea/king of prussia.

as for portfolio material, every once in a while i'll go through the millions of unorganized folders and pick out project files and anything class related—filing them into neat and clean directories. sure, i'm nowhere near finished, but atleast i'm making (some) progress. some stuff needs to be revisited and worked out (especially grammatical/technical errors. i SUCK at proof reading.)

i don't want this summer to end.

and it hasn't even started yet.

JoshS_DB_GDII

Anonymous said...

I know what I'm going to do. (Or try to do, that is.) I'll do that list of ten or so projects I think are worthy of my portfolio and also begin to fix some mistakes that I've noticed. I know my magazine could use quite a few tweaks, some pages more then others, and I will have time this summer. I am going to Florida this May, so I'm currently distracted by thoughts of this trip and trying to fight through to the bitter end of Junior year. I will make it! I will survive the last projects and tests! Golly...summer is clouding my thoughts. Anyway, I hope I can get myself into gear and really get a lot of prep work done during these upcoming warm, sunny days. Its not like I'll have anything else planned, like tanning. Yes, that was a 'pale' attempt at a joke. Wow, I'm tired. I've got to get a calendar for the next semester so I can write myself millions of lists of things to finish each day. How I love lists! I could write them everyday. On that note, I must go finish some good old school work. What a shock.

Janel_D_EC_11

Anonymous said...

While I am not graduating in December or taking portfolio in the fall, I still intend to prepare. Between re-filling my account and thesis work (and about 100 other things), I want to sort through all my files and back things up. I also am going to work on improving projects from this semester for portfolio. Wave goodbye to your last summer everyone!

Anonymous said...

This summer will definitely be an interesting one. I work Monday to Friday 12 hour shifts, plus I need to get everything together for portfolio. Don't be suprised if I come back in the fall with my hair ripped out. That's not how I imagined my last summer vacation, but I signed up for this, right?

Like Matt, I too am an idiot and still have some files to back up. I have to package a few files, and I have a whole lot of tweaking to do. And that's not including the resume. Somewhere in between there I might try this thing called "sleep". I'm not quite sure what it is, but I heard of it and I'm willing to give it a try.

KatrinaK_DB_GDII

Anonymous said...

After copying and pasting the entire list of things to do before portfolio, I plan to print it out and seriously take the advice and get my butt in gear. I am going to fight my laziness and get things together. THankfully I have used my brilliant brains and kept all of my files.. ok most of my files organized and together and backed up on my external hard drive and Flash drives. Woo. My biggest issue i think is that I want to really fix everything. A lot.
This summer I plan to ...( be honest) SLEEP, hang out with my friends and my family and enjoy my last summer of being a college student. Tear. I also have plans to do some freelance work for my uncle who has given me the oppurtunity to do some ads and graphics for his pet store.. and I want to write a childrens book. O Snap.. I almost forgot that I also have to work as a teller at a bank. Boo to that. Anyway the first half of fall semester for me will be internship. Since I will have some time over the summer I am definetly going to try and get my things together for portfolio which I plan to take in spring 09'. There are many things that Id like to improve so it is definetly a good idea for me to look over everything and gather everything this summer. I cant believe I am preparing myself for this and I am nervous as hello to graduate but at the same time I am excited!!!! Andrea Fairservice are you ready to move to California?

KATIEZ_DB_GD2.

Anonymous said...

Yea... this is a ton of work. A little scary. Next semester is my last. I have internship the first half and portfolio second. I have spoken with my portfolio prof and we decided together that during the first half while I do internship I will get a head start by meeting with her and fixing up some projects before the class even begins. This is a great Idea for anyone. Seriously, get a head start..I have heard horror stories. There isn't much to say really except, REALLY LISTEN TO THE ADVISE GIVEN HERE.

Anonymous said...

This is a ton of work for a ton of money and it is very scary! I am taking internship first half of next semester and portfolio the last half. I decided to get a jump on the matter so I already talked to my portfolio prof. and we decided that while I am doing internship I will meet with her to polish up work, so that during the actual portfolio class, I can worry about my few last classes more so. It is a big step for us and it will be challenging, but really work hard at it because it is going to be a major part of the deciding factor of where you will be hired. All I can say is LISTEN TO THE GIVEN ADVISE! good luck!
LindsayK_EC_GDII

Anonymous said...

Although my summer will be a lot of work, I think it will still be a great one. I've got a great internship and plans to be out in the sun either at the beach or the lake almost every weekend. I'm very excited :)
However, I know that much work is needed on the pieces I will be using for my portfolio. I honestly don't think I'll mind putting in some hours on them this summer though. If fixing little things here and there throughout the next couple months means that my life will be easier next semester... I'm all for it. My time management skills have gotten much better over the years, but I know come portfolio time (if I haven't done any work) I'll be going crazy. I'd kind of like to graduate with some of my sanity, so I'll be good this summer!

Liz_W_EC_GDII

Anonymous said...

Honestly, this being the "last summer" really doesn't scare me. The thoughts such as, "this is my last _____" come up, but to be honest I have found it to be more exciting than scary.

I have been awaiting graduation a little bit now and I have felt like I was preparing myself a bit every day for all this ( with a bit of unnecessary work in between :) of course ) but its not a hugh surprise. (I thank alumni and professors who gave us the heads up early about it all.)
It definitely will be a good amount of work but I plan on starting this summer by going through my work and figuring out which ones I would like to have in my portfolio in the end. I would also like to design a logo/ resume design for myself again because I am already tired of my other one. Aside from that... I will be working near by to make some money (and saving up). I have a couple projects lined up as well... I will be designing wedding invitations for a wedding in august, and since my parents got me a large printer (which I do think is a very good investment) they are putting me to work so I will be designing signs etc. for their salon. That will be fun.

I just plan on really getting into things for December. Just "mentality wise" and "portfolio wise" :)

I will take all of this advice and hopefully give myself a goal of getting at least 50-75% of this done. I would feel good about that.
Because I do plan on going on a couple of vacations... my friends are moving to California so... ROAD TRIP?! :) and I go see family every year in Florida for a bit, and of course MUCHO beach! :) (heck yeah JERSEY to all you haters! haha jk)
It will be a lot but worth it.

Portfolio BRING IT!

Brittany_CG_EC_GII

Anonymous said...

Considering that next year is my senior year, I have already thought about planning on putting some time aside to work on some projects this summer. there are a lot of things that I would like to fix and change and tweek concerning past projects. Even the projects I am happy with, I still want to do more with. And now that I am even closer to being thrown out there into the real world, I am now more than ever concerned about my portfolio. Concerning my files, I am pretty confident. I am a transfer student and have learned from way back when, to definately organize my files and ALWAYS keep back ups. We have all learned the hard way in some aspect and that is also why I am so anal about keeping my files backed up. So as far as files are concerned, I am sure that I have every project I have ever worked on to take into consideration of what will be going into my portfolio and what won't. I want my portfolio to be nicly polished and something to be proud of when it comes time to graduate and this summer is a great opportunity to get started on it. Time goes by fast and once school gets started, we're not going to have all the time in the world to be dwelling on our portfolios. Take advantage of the summer!!

SarahG_EC_GDII

Anonymous said...

I’m not graduating by fall but I did think a lot about portfolio and whatever I can do to get ahead. I’ve taught myself to be
good with managing my time just because I know everything takes me longer.
I’m not sure how much time I want to spend on refining projects just incase it ends up not being liked by my portfolio prof. So
instead I think I’m going to organize and back up everything, get all my comments and grades together and just write down
what I need to do. Then over winter break I can meet with some professors on what projects are good for portfolio and start
working them.
I live with someone who’s doing portfolio now so that will really help me out next year and save me from some confusion and
by then I wont be in shock anymore seeing how much it cost. I hope I’m still in this mentality when I see the beach this
summer.

KC_EC_GDII

Anonymous said...

My plans for the summer originally were to have both an internship and a job, however I recently found out that where I was going to intern, is somewhat 'falling apart'. I was very upset when I heard about this because I was really looking forward to being an intern for the first time. All I know about graphic design right now is from Kutztown University classes in which we can do whatever we like—I really wanted that 'real world' experience to get a little peek into what life after graduation had in store for me. Hopefully I may still be able to do one day a week, but as for now it is completely up in the air. I actually just received a call yesterday for another job interview, so as of right now, I see lots of working ahead of me! Unlike previous summers where, I have to admit, I would pack up my art stuff here at school and pack it right back into the basement when I got home, I am not going to do that this summer. Although I do not take my portfolio class until Spring semester next year, the earlier start the better! I can't say I'm going to spend a couple hours a week, nor will I even have the time to with two jobs, but I will start going over everything, organizing my work into piles, putting together lists of things I want to change or questions I want to ask, and much more. I do believe I will actually reference this blog throughout the summer again just to get some ideas!
CarissaKatz_DB_GDII

Anonymous said...

My plans for the summer consist basically of working at my internship and at another job earning money for next semester. I guess in between all of that I should start looking at pulling my portfolio together as I'll be extremely busy with all my classes trying to graduate in December.

I appreciate you posting some advice on what to work on or to organize this summer. It would be nice to get ahead start, but as someone pointed, don't want to get too carried away and have to redo everything I worked hard on in the summer.

JimG_DB_GDII