the end is almost here.

I can't believe it is finally over. My college days are gone and I can finally say I am a graduate! It has been a rough last semester as Quinnipiac. Next week is our final portfolio review and I am very nervous and excited as well. I am gathering all my final materials to put together for next week.
I have all of my portfolio things printed and ready to go into my portfolio. I have slowly started building my website - so far it is very plain and simple. I have realized I am a simplistic designer I like things to be clean and simple. That being said here is a screenshot of my website so far.

I am hoping next week will go smoothly although I know building a website can be a lot of work I need patience. I cannot believe these past 4 years flew by so quickly and looking back at all of my work I can see how much I have improved as a designer.

checking off the list

I began looking at my mind map/check list of things I have to complete by the end of the semester. Where to start?? This week we needed to take a closer look at our logos and design ideas for branding ourselves. I had a lot of very rough sketches for my logo idea and how I wanted to brand myself. I'm not sure how to start or what I want to do but I did think of colors and sketched out some ideas for a logo. Here are some of my first sketches:

I was really into trying to incorporate my initials into my design because I thought I could do it in an interesting and unique way. I also played around with a butterfly idea, shells, and an anchor. I did some research before and during this process and image searched "monograms" and knew I didn't want to go in that direction for many reasons. I knew they looked generic and too simple. I then image searched "initials" and realized those were simple and boring as well. That was when I tried to incorporate my iniitals with some sort of image which is how I ended up with a butterfly design. I did try working with shells or a 'beach' theme but I realized quickly that those ideas had been done over and over again and nothing would seem original. 

nemo!

Nemo visited New England this past Friday (2/8) and luckily I escaped Connecticut just in time! I headed north on Thursday night after my shift at Alex and Ani all the way to Harvard, MA (my hometown) Although we got hit pretty hard with 28 inches of snow it was not even close to the 40 inches Hamden, CT got slammed with.

My dog, Jack, isn't sure how to deal with this snow!

My roommate, unfortunately, got stuck in Hamden, CT and sent me a picture from outside her window looking down at the parking lot. 

How crazy is that!?

The point is - I was happy I went home and now I am still stuck here (Monday night) because I can't get back to my apartment due to the snow. 

What to do...

While being snowed in I had so much time on my hands I decided to divulge in my senior seminar and portfolio homework. Since we missed class on Friday because of the storm there is a lot of work to be done. Update on what I have to do: fix my resume to hand in, work on my blogs, gather all past projects and work for my portfolio and begin writing descriptions about each one, read, search/research [for] job postings, portfolios and identities online, work on my brand/identity, and watch Lynda.com videos and take notes. I’m not too concerned.

Yesterday I spent the day at my mom’s school, MSPP, they just moved into a new building that looks like an Apple Store: high tech sliding doors, touch screens to enter each room and sign up for time slots to use the rooms. I sat down at a desk and started to do some work – I began reading No Plastic Sleeves by Larry Volk and Danielle Currier. (the link goes to a blog for the book with online portfolio examples, print portfolio examples, links to resources, and articles and interviews -useful!) I started exploring the book; the beginning is broken down into steps to take for making a great portfolio, brand/identity, etc. Three guidelines they recommend for a portfolio is: concise, convincing and clear.

I finally revamped my mind map for my senior seminar and portfolio class:

This is a mind map of all the things I have to do in this class to build a great portfolio. At first I thought it was going to very stressful and almost impossible but when I made this mind map I thought it can be manageable. I will take it piece by piece until everything is complete!

overwhelmed.

Last week we were mind mapping our final portfolios, I had no idea how much work we needed to add into our mind maps for the portfolio. This was my first attempt at a mind map:

After going over what a mind map should include I became somewhat overwhelmed with this process. I forgot many things and categorized most of my projects incorrectly. I learned that we should categorize our work based on the class name and what we were supposed to be learning in the course. The way I categorized my projects was by class numbers (i.e. IDD270), an employer will not have any clue as to what IDD 270 means but will most likely understand the course title 'Type Design and Production. '
Along with the course name changes we were also asked to create many more categories such as skills, production, jobs, branding/identity, minor, etc. These are all things that will need to be added into my portfolio by the end of the semester. This has already become an overwhelming process for me.
While reading Designing a Digital Portfolio I was able to understand what goes into a portfolio a little better. Digital portfolios give someone more of an opportunity to design something for yourself and personalizing a portfolio. Although a digital portfolio is important it is also important to maintain a physical portfolio as well. I think it is important because physical designs look slightly different printed opposed to a digital form.
The self assessment check list in Designing a Digital Portfolio got me thinking deeper about my portfolio and what I want to highlight within it. I am thinking about what my strengths are and what areas I need to improve on. Self-assessments are subjective not scientific and personality can play a critical role in your portfolio as a whole.

the beginning of the end

Hello! My name is Jamie Ryan and I am a senior at Quinnipiac University. I cannot believe school is almost over and in a few short months I will be entering the real world. I transferred to Quinnipiac my sophomore year from Simmons College in Boston, MA. (Boston is the BEST city in the world!)

(Credit: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/33808662/ns/us_news-fenway_park?q=Fenway%20Park)

Starting at my college career as a Chemistry major (pre-med track) I would have never expected to end up as an Interactive Digital Design major at Quinnipiac. Throughout high school I loved science and math and thought that would be the perfect major for me, as I worked my butt off and barely had any resemblance of a normal life as a student in college I thought switching schools would be the perfect solution. As a sophomore at Quinnipiac nothing felt different - I ended up taking a semester off (my Spring semester of sophomore year). In the Fall I came back with a brand new perspective on college and what I wanted to do. I decided to be an IDD major, I always had a special eye for art, design, etc. and realized this was what I wanted to do. That being said, I cannot believe how much has changed within the past 4+ years. I am now a senior with only three courses standing between me and graduation.
I hope this class will help me become more confident in myself as a designer and will show me (physically with a portfolio) that I have done a good job as a graphic design student. I am very excited to start on this new chapter in my life. The hard work and dedication to school will finally pay off come May when I can finally say I am a college graduate. I will have a wonderful portfolio showing off all of my hard work and hopefully interviews that will lead to jobs. I cannot predict what happens in the future but I can only hope for the best!
I began reading Designing a Digital Portfolio by Cynthia L. Baron and what it means to design a professional portfolio. Digital portfolios are in! (PDF, CD, DVD demo reel, slideshow on laptop, etc. (Baron xvi)). Although digital portfolios are the way to go Baron also touches upon the reasons why a physical portfolio can still be important in the professional field of graphic design. Employers sometimes require a physical portfolio.
What a portfolio is not: an autobiography, a resume, therapy, an inside joke, a grab bag, or a checklist (according to Baron page 13). Employers want to know what you are capable of now and displaying it in a confident and logical manner (meaning don't include every project you've ever done because amount doesn't matter it's usually quality over quantity).

With all of this new information it is time for me to get started on putting together my portfolio - starting with a mind-map due next week! I am going to start reviewing all of my past courses and projects and start organizing it.