Too much text？

[Aiyou Zhu]

Hi, all, do you think I have too much text in my portfolio?

I just feel like there are so much to talk on every graphics, but it’s obvious I am not that good at writing, haha! anyway, if it is too much, can you guys give me some advice to reduce it?

http://issuu.com/aiyouzhu/docs/laportfolio

Of course, you are welcome to leave any comments about my portfolio.

Thank you very much!!

[Aiyou Zhu]

Any ideas, guys? 

haha!

[Wes Arola, RLA]

I think it looks great. You may benefit by summarizing your text into more of a summary of the project. One key item for each project I would include is the programs/process you used for each to show your experience and skills with handsketching,Photoshop,Modeling,CAD, Illustrator, InDesign etc..

People first want to see and look at the photos or plans, then if they want to know more they read SOME of the text and continue on to the next page.

Best of luck!

[Aiyou Zhu]

Awesome, I think I will add a summary page to every projects, and then add SOME text, thanks!

[Tonie C.]

I agree with Wes, reduce the text into summaries or bullet points.  I find the gray boxes a bit distracting too.  It seems like an unnecessary element that isn’t adding anything.

 

Be sure to proofread, and maybe ask a friend or instructor to edit too, I saw some grammatical errors.   

 

Almost there…. : )

 

[Aiyou Zhu]

Haha, I will sure ask my friend to look at it, thank you!

[Anonymous]

[Tosh K]

I like that you start with one of your strongest projects, the last one should be your strongest (it looks like it will have more content?).  I agree with the previous posters – the grey is distracting.  Amount of text doesn’t bother me – but it should add relevant content not repeat the obvious (didn’t get a chance to go through it).

The use of white space is well done and most of the graphics looks solid.  More hand/process work would be beneficial

[Anonymous]

First off I think you have great graphics, they are punchy and interesting.  I also like your contents page and the over all diversity of types of projects.

Here is my advice:

1. Get rid of hyphens, you can do this easily in indesign if that is the layout program you used.

2.  Make your captions, shorter, pithy and concise. With that said, you might want to make titles more descriptive, for instance instead of the title “Transit”  get to the point of the image like “Transit connects visitors to park”  or whatever the point of the image is.  Also make the font size a little bigger on your headings so they stand out.

3. I think bullet points are ok, but with moderation. 

4. I personally don’t like how on p. 9 and elsewhere you start the page of with text.  Your images should dominate the page, not the text.  Something about this makes me uncomfortable. The text in these cases detracts from your sexy images.

5. To add to the last point,  maybe break up your layout with some pages with a full on images.  You do that once I think, but it could be done more.  It makes the reader pause and look at the images more and helps break up monotony of pages full of lots of little images.

Ok that is all, hope it is helpful.

[Aiyou Zhu]

Right I need to spend more time on the writing part to explain my projects more clearly. Thank you!

[Aiyou Zhu]

yes, I realized that the grey was distracting and I agree that more hand process sketches would be beneficial, thanks!

[Aiyou Zhu]

This is helpful for sure! You gave me some good advice about my layout. I really agree that graphics should dominate the page. Thank you!

[ida]

Yes you can reduce the text, but you should try place the text in one area rather than in-between the images. Having text in-between reduces the images’ impact. Right now your pages look like a muddled mess of gray. If you need a caption to describe the image, the caption should only be 1 sentence or 1 line, not a paragraph block. I agee with the previous post, it looks like a planning report (yawn) rather than a portfolio. The employer will only give seconds of his/her time to look at your portfolio before moving to another, so you want your images (your work) to be the first thing they see, text should be secondary because text does not sell in our industry.

 

Good work by the way!

[Aiyou Zhu]

Thanks for your advice, it is helpful!

You mentioned that it looks like a planning report, is that mainly because of the text? or problems with my content?

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

[Author]

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