Portfolio Class at MWCC

This blog is a product of the graduating class at Mount Wachusett CC in the spring of May 2015. Potential portfolio projects have been uploaded for feedback, and the class and instructor have responded with questions and suggestions for the improvement of each project. The participation was a required, and central, piece of the classroom instruction - and wrapped an online component into the on-ground course design.

THANK YOU CLASS FOR A GREAT BLOG!!

Web Portfolio Via Behance

Hi Everyone,

Here is the link for my web portfolio—http://www.behance.net/susanshutedesign. My projects are in reverse and I haven't figured out how to fix that yet. Other than that, though, I think it is pretty much done.

Please let me know what you think—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

This summer, I hope to create my own personal website—www.shutedesign.com. We'll see how that goes. Have any of you done a prosite on behance?

Project #12—Alternate Entries—Web Mockup

Coni, do you think either of these entries would be stronger than the Educare iPad Mockup?

This design won best of category last year for website mockup. (It has issues as a live website, though, which is the reason I'm hesitant to include it unless I only include it as a mockup.)

Or this website mockup is another option. It won honorable mention this year.

Would either of these make a good addition instead of the Educare set?

Project #12 iPad Mockup

I decided to add one more project to my portfolio. Prior to this addition, my last page was going to be my Rockin' Raggae Fusion / Wicked Hangin' Chads concert poster for my service learning project. However, although Coni really likes this poster, it is not my favorite. I have always liked this iPad Mockup and think it might be a nice end to my portfolio. PLUS, it then makes the portfolio an even 12 pieces.

Portfolio Cover Page

I have two options here for my cover page for my portfolio. The first one is my preference but I wanted to run both of them by everyone. I like the simplicity of the first one and the message, while the 2nd one provides a sampling of what will be shown in the book overall. My concern with the 2nd one is that there is too much going on in one page.

Which version do you think is most effective?

NOTE: I added one more piece to my portfolio so that I could fill the grid of 12 pieces. I'll post that shortly. Also, I added a faint background on the black portion of the page. I am thinking of adding that to all of my pages in my portfolio. What do you think?

#10 - Sleepwalking Comic

This piece is a comic strip that is inspired by the song sleepwalking by bring me the horizon.

SL Update / Strahan / Historical Society Brochure

I made a few "tweeks" to my brochure for my service learning client, the Narragansett Historical Society of Templeton. The big change was substituting vintage paper as the background for the two inside boxes and moving the clock face to the left for better balance. What do you think?

#7 Update / Strahan / All Things Must Pass

I played with the font for the quote at the bottom of the poster, per Coni's suggestions. See two versions. I used Arial Regular / Abbott for the first; and Papyrus (which was my original font) / Abbott for the second. What do you think?

Web Presence

Here is my current deviant art page as it stands now: http://samster360.deviantart.com/
Maybe with some work it could make a decent portfolo site? If not, I'm going to try behance.

Greg Identity

Greg I just had this thought. I know you're very far along in your identity development but I have to at least mention it! Since your last name is Butler, could you maybe create some kind of play on words? Like have a simple illustration of an actual butler with fancy words "G. Butler Designs." I don't know if this ideas any good, just throwing it out there!

This is just a stock image for example purposes.

Project #7 / Strahan / All Things Must Pass

Here's an update of my Project #7, the "All Things Must Pass" poster. I purchased ($8) the font used for the title of George Harrison's album by the same name, and used that for the poster header (Abbott Old Style). I also made other recommended changes. What do you think?

Website logo/ header

Here are a few versions of I came up with what do you think?

Project #6 / Strahan / Civilian Conservation Corps

Hokey Smokes, Bullwinkle ... I forgot to post this website! I created this for the 50th anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of FDR's projects to put men back to work during the Depression (1930s) and to reclaim the forests and protect the environment. My Dad was part of a CCC camp in New Hampshire, working on Mount Kearsage. My Dad never would talk about the dark days of the Depression, only to say that he and his mother had one meal a day: applesauce on a slice of bread. (P.S. I used this axe before Greg.) www.cgdclass.com/strahanvirginia/cgd240/creativeproject2/

Business Card

IDENTITY—Stationery Designs

I've been playing around with several possibilities for my identity designs. Attached are six options. Please let me know which one(s) are the strongest in your estimation.

NOTE: The large SYIS will not print as darkly as it appears on screen.

Silver Linings Playbook

I didn't feel the real DVD cover for the Silver Linings Playbook did the movie justice and lacked any kind of connection to the movie itself. It was as if the designer of the DVD cover knew nothing about the movie, its characters or even the feel of the movie. This inspired me to make the DVD cover the way in my opinion it should blend and harmonize with the movie displaying and having an emphasis on the depths mental illness and it's wide array of emotions can have the same way the movie successfully portrayed.

Start Near. Go Further. Live Better! Campaign Poster

Magazine rework

Just realized I hadn't posted my magazine rework. what do you guys think?

Nazi poster rework

Reduced size of circle, emphasized last sentence of the quote, moved some of the figures around in an attempt to show more people saluting.

Business Cards Update / Virginia

Here are two updates on my business card. I increased all the type for readability, increased the spacing between my name and address, and added quotes. Also, I made one version "flush left" and darkened the border. What do you think? Is my address too big?

Something else to include...

I would also like to put a few comic strips in my portfolio. Here some examples.

Digital Illustration - Nashoba Valley Winery

So this extremely time consuming digital illustration was originally just the grapes, a wine bottle, glass, cheese and cutting board sitting on my steps.

Some changes suggested:

1. To fix the shadows
2. Either put in on a table or have a kitchen background. Something more appealing than the plain black and white steps before.
3. Possibly do a little write up about Nashoba Valley or what I drew.

Changes I made:

1. Fixed all the shadows
2. I decided instead of a kitchen backdrop maybe a vineyard would look better. But in order to keep the focus on the food and wine that I painstakingly drew, I blurred the vineyard so the focus is in the forfont and the vineyard is off in the distance keeping the element of hierarchy. Many photographers use this effect in real world photographs.
3. I decided the piece needed to be FOR something so I did some research on Nashoba Valley Winery and put together a Wine Tasting Event write up. I made the piece a promotional vehicle instead of just a digital drawing. It now has a purpose other than it was a class assignment.

Business Card / Virginia

Here is my business card, which connects to my passion for all things historical. I thought I should add something to the bottom left for balance, so I have this "historic" quote from now dead Pearl Buck (of whom I bet most of my classmates have never heard). I think I'd prefer a tag line connected to my work but I haven't been able to come up with something clever. What do you think?

Hiccup and Astrid

Okay I know what you're probably thinking Coni :)   Yes this is a fan art illustration similar to the Calvin and Hobbes DVD cover but I'm wondering if I could perhaps have a kind of fan art section in my porfolio since 3 of my 10 pieces involve other characters. Here I could plainly state that I have a love for character illustration and can draw any book or movie characters a client may want. This is just a thought. But other than that, I'm not sure how I would include a piece like this. Ideas?

Book Jacket Design

I fixed the "About the Authors" bit so it fits better in the space next to the picture. Also I enlarged the word "type" on the cover and moved the "5th edition" up to join the title. So now the lower left-hand corner may look too empty but I do believe it is better than before. Still probably need to adjust tracking.

#9 Logo Design

This is a logo that I made a while back for a pet groomer. I'm trying to think up of good design ideas that this could be a part of. Please comment some ideas for this piece.

#6 Woven Design Magazine