My portfolio website: cecilypincsak.com
Link to my emailable portfolio: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9e56q4x0ami5est/pincsak%20pdf%20portfolio.pdf
Out of the three projects in Practicum this semester, I think the creation of my portfolio was what stressed me out the most. At first, I had the rather lofty goal (for me, anyway) to design and code my website entirely from scratch. I was actually into the coding process about halfway through the semester when it became apparent that it was simply too overwhelming and time-consuming an endeavor for someone of limited web experience/confidence. Meanz told me about the hosting site she was using for her portfolio site, Cargo Collective, so I looked into that as an option... and very quickly became a convert, changed my plans, and signed up for my own! Cargo provides a number of basic templates for you to choose from and makes the uploading process incredibly easy, but they also allow you to go into your site's CSS and customize it any way you would like, which is really the perfect balance for me. I have a few minor things to add (I would like to retake some photos over the summer and I need to compose a more engaging "About me" page), but my portfolio site is essentially complete and it has been fully functional from the moment I set it up. I will definitely be staying on Cargo for the foreseeable future.
I had very lofty goals for my presentation portfolio, as well... after seeing what Isaac put together, who wouldn't? Time and indecision got the best of me this semester, though, and I ended up decided to get a presentation case from Pina Zangaro rather than make my own--and I love it. I got a clean, minimal, white acrylic book that I will be able to happily use for years, and which allows the work it showcases to (rightfully) take the spotlight. I used my leave-behind as a chance to create a mini handmade portfolio, instead.
The important part of all this is, of course, the work I am choosing to show. All of the pieces I picked for my presentation and emailable portfolios are ones that I take pride in, and which I feel helped me to grow as a designer. I included a few more minor pieces on my website, but there is nothing present that I am not proud of and glad to showcase as my own. I think I created a good arc in my presentation to maintain the viewer's interest and to show a variety of projects, beginning and ending with my strongest pieces. Once I have a job and am creating regular work, I am sure that some of my school projects will disappear from the portfolio more quickly than others... but I like to think that I will still be very proud of my Dadaist Manifesto, Knowledge Map, and Murphy's Law book many years from now! As with everything this semester, this was an incredibly useful and necessary project for me and I'm glad the Practicum course gave me the opportunity to spend time developing it.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
PROJECT 2 ASSESSMENT
I dedicated an earlier post entirely to images of my finished stationary system, so feel free to bounce back and forth while reading. I knew what direction I wanted to take for this project pretty early on in the semester: my blog post immediately before Spring Break documented my system's early incarnation, for reference. It has undergone some revisions since then, but no major changes in direction or complete re-dos (other than the necessary re-creation of everything after the loss of my data a few weeks ago). Even though this is a stationary system I will use when seeking a design job, I wanted to give a nod to another interest that is dear to my heart and highly influential over my design work: printmaking! I cut the components for the original logo out of MDF board and printed them multiple times on newsprint to give myself varying textures to work with. After scanning them in, I was able to play with the pieces and their colors and build my system from there. The original stationary ended up feeling a little heavy and over-worked (especially with the pervasive line pattern I was using on everything), and my teal color was printing darker and duller than I wanted (although it was wonderfully bright onscreen!), so I made a few tweaks until I had the current feel, color, and layout, but with the older style logo. Again, I thought it felt very heavy, so I dropped the black outlines and went with the much lighter, fresher-feeling blue dot and white C.
I'm quite happy with my final identity system, and I think it will remain useful for me for some time. I think it fits my personality well while still appearing professional and clean, and it's flexible enough where I will be comfortable using it to apply to a wide range of jobs. It's entirely bleed-free (unlike the former version) and very easy to maintain with little or no work (since I will not have immediate access to the Adobe Suite after leaving Drake). This was a very productive project for me, and a really great way to watch myself refine a system until I found a satisfying solution I can be proud of
I'm quite happy with my final identity system, and I think it will remain useful for me for some time. I think it fits my personality well while still appearing professional and clean, and it's flexible enough where I will be comfortable using it to apply to a wide range of jobs. It's entirely bleed-free (unlike the former version) and very easy to maintain with little or no work (since I will not have immediate access to the Adobe Suite after leaving Drake). This was a very productive project for me, and a really great way to watch myself refine a system until I found a satisfying solution I can be proud of
PROJECT 3 ASSESSMENT
Final tally of activity points:
200 points: BFA Thesis Exhibition.
+ 15 points: Juried Exhibition Submission
+ 15 points: Reading responses (I did two, but I have extra points anyway!)
+ 25 points: Teaching candidate activities (I attended five)
= 255 out of 250 possible.
Because my BFA show comprised the majority of this project, my longer post on that from a few weeks ago is a pretty good summation of how I used this third credit hour! I am so grateful that we were able to use that experience as a component of Project 3, because the sheer time commitment required felt like adding an entire course to our schedules. As I said in my activity notes for the show, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life so far; I grew in so many valuable, tangible ways that it really did fully embody the idea behind Project 3. Working in close collaboration with my group members required careful time management and prompt attention to emails and other communications, because we were determined that no one would be left picking up the slack for anybody else. In addition to working on a team with my own peers, I gained a great deal of experience in working with outside vendors to get the materials and services we needed. In particular, I worked very closely with Christian Printers in person and over the phone to make sure our print materials would turn out perfectly (and got several unofficial tours of their facilities as well, which was an added bonus!). I got experience in budgeting and comparing prices from various vendors, and started to get a feel for how slowly or quickly we could expect certain jobs to get done for us. And, of course, I learned more about curating a show, prepping and installing in a gallery, and planning an exhibition opening than I ever thought I would know! All in all, it was an incredible experience that helped me grow a great deal as an artist, designer, and soon-to-be-professional.
200 points: BFA Thesis Exhibition.
+ 15 points: Juried Exhibition Submission
+ 15 points: Reading responses (I did two, but I have extra points anyway!)
+ 25 points: Teaching candidate activities (I attended five)
= 255 out of 250 possible.
Because my BFA show comprised the majority of this project, my longer post on that from a few weeks ago is a pretty good summation of how I used this third credit hour! I am so grateful that we were able to use that experience as a component of Project 3, because the sheer time commitment required felt like adding an entire course to our schedules. As I said in my activity notes for the show, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life so far; I grew in so many valuable, tangible ways that it really did fully embody the idea behind Project 3. Working in close collaboration with my group members required careful time management and prompt attention to emails and other communications, because we were determined that no one would be left picking up the slack for anybody else. In addition to working on a team with my own peers, I gained a great deal of experience in working with outside vendors to get the materials and services we needed. In particular, I worked very closely with Christian Printers in person and over the phone to make sure our print materials would turn out perfectly (and got several unofficial tours of their facilities as well, which was an added bonus!). I got experience in budgeting and comparing prices from various vendors, and started to get a feel for how slowly or quickly we could expect certain jobs to get done for us. And, of course, I learned more about curating a show, prepping and installing in a gallery, and planning an exhibition opening than I ever thought I would know! All in all, it was an incredible experience that helped me grow a great deal as an artist, designer, and soon-to-be-professional.
PRESENTATION PORTFOLIO
I am using a presentation portfolio and sheet protectors from Pina Zangaro, which allows me a lot of flexibility in customizing the inserts and easily changing things around when I need to. I wanted to keep the portfolio itself very clean and understated, allowing the work I am showcasing to take the spotlight. I feature my work through photographs of the finished objects partly out of personal preference and partly due to necessity, now--after my files were lost to a fried hard drive, I lost any way of re-printing those pieces or even accessing the original digital files. Keeping the originals pristine and showing them through photographs is the solution!
PORTFOLIO REVIEWS
ACTIVITY NOTES ON EXHIBITION SUBMISSION
Type of Activity: Entry to juried exhibition
Points Available: 15
Date: Submitted May 2, 2013
Location: Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Art Center in Maryland
Presenters: The juror is Andrew Wodzianski, Professor of Art, College of Southern Maryland
Title: Humor Me!
Entry: I happened upon this call for entries several weeks ago as my BFA exhibition was wrapping up, and it seemed like a great opportunity to try and show some of my pieces on a national level. Although most of my work this year has included humor to varying extents, I decided to submit my two "hybrid" pieces (i.e. those that combined printmaking and graphic design) because they relate strongly to my own experiences and best reflect my varied interests. The show is all about humor and bringing joy to the viewer, and it is open to all forms of media, from sculpture to print to graphic design work.
Assessment: My submissions will be assessed by the show juror. Along with the application (photographed below--I was surprised they required a mailed form!), I submitted a CD with photographs of the two pieces for the juror to judge. I will not know if my work has been selected or denied until August 15th, so I have a while to wait on this one!
Conclusion: This was my first entry to a juried show outside of Drake's annual exhibition, and my first submission on a national level. As an appreciator of good humor myself, I think it is a wonderful exhibition theme and a good reminder that we needn't take art and design so seriously all the time! I am confident in the pieces that I submitted and I feel that they have a decent chance of getting into the show. If one or both of them do, I will definitely have to plan a trip out to Maryland to see them at the Annmarie Center.
Documentation:
Points Available: 15
Date: Submitted May 2, 2013
Location: Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Art Center in Maryland
Presenters: The juror is Andrew Wodzianski, Professor of Art, College of Southern Maryland
Title: Humor Me!
Entry: I happened upon this call for entries several weeks ago as my BFA exhibition was wrapping up, and it seemed like a great opportunity to try and show some of my pieces on a national level. Although most of my work this year has included humor to varying extents, I decided to submit my two "hybrid" pieces (i.e. those that combined printmaking and graphic design) because they relate strongly to my own experiences and best reflect my varied interests. The show is all about humor and bringing joy to the viewer, and it is open to all forms of media, from sculpture to print to graphic design work.
Assessment: My submissions will be assessed by the show juror. Along with the application (photographed below--I was surprised they required a mailed form!), I submitted a CD with photographs of the two pieces for the juror to judge. I will not know if my work has been selected or denied until August 15th, so I have a while to wait on this one!
Conclusion: This was my first entry to a juried show outside of Drake's annual exhibition, and my first submission on a national level. As an appreciator of good humor myself, I think it is a wonderful exhibition theme and a good reminder that we needn't take art and design so seriously all the time! I am confident in the pieces that I submitted and I feel that they have a decent chance of getting into the show. If one or both of them do, I will definitely have to plan a trip out to Maryland to see them at the Annmarie Center.
Documentation:
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