Preparing a portfolio for a master can be daunting for many architecture students. However, this has become a necessity since most universities all around the world have added the portfolio to their application documents. Although it seems complicated to create a portfolio called your visual CV containing successful and explanatory presentations of your old works, you can easily handle this job by paying attention to the essential points. Here are some things to consider when preparing a portfolio suitable for graduate admission.
Content
If you have embarked on portfolio preparation for a master’s degree, you are probably quite confused about which projects to choose. Should you include every project you have done so far? How should you choose your projects? It’s normal for questions like these to be puzzling your mind right now.
First of all, you do not have to include every job preparing a portfolio for a master’s degree. In your education’s first years, you may not want to present your work to others while you have not yet reached professional and technical competence. In this case, including the projects you designed when you are close to graduation will reveal your real competence.
You may also want to roughly review your past jobs while creating a portfolio for graduate studies. In this way, you can correct technical errors you made during the design process. You can take your project to the next level with better presentation techniques since you do not have time limits.
Schools that want a portfolio for a master’s degree do this to see your design vision and technical proficiency. That’s why starter sketches and concept drawings will help them get an idea about you. Also, clear technical graphics and three-dimensional visuals provide you with an opportunity to prove your program knowledge to the school you are applying to.
Design
There is no single way to design a portfolio for a master’s degree. The important thing here is that you can be original and reflect your design view to the institution you apply to. So you shouldn’t hesitate to show yourself.
If you are preparing a graduate portfolio, you should avoid imitating someone else’s designs. It would be a much more correct approach to focus on original expressions that reflect you as much as possible.
The aesthetic stance and graphic character of the master’s portfolio are essential in showing the projects you have already completed one step further. However, your page design should in no way interfere with the actual project. Original, easy-to-read, and straightforward designs make it easy for others to understand you as a designer.
Delivery
For a master’s degree, you have to submit your portfolio at the end of the portfolio design process. This delivery can be in printed or digital form, depending on the conditions of the institution you are applying for. If you have created a printed portfolio, you should pay close attention to the page order before printing. It is also essential that your portfolio should be of high quality for the master’s degree. The lousy print will make even well-designed projects inadequate.
If you are submitting your master’s portfolio digitally, you may encounter problems such as file size here as well. Huge file sizes can be annoying. And your chances of getting errors increase while opening your file. One way to reduce your portfolio size is to express yourself with a limited number of projects. Instead of adding every work you have done to the portfolio, you can give an idea of your design approach by showing a few well-chosen projects.