“Looks Good�
April 25th, 2007 at 10:54 am by Joel
I’m the designer at SnapStream and I was recently invited to participate in the 9th Annual American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Student Portfolio Review at the Museum of Printing History. Every year, design students from Houston and surrounding cities come to have their portfolio critiqued by professionals in the field like me. This was my third year attending this event and every year I have been impressed by the work being produced.
Many students come from the University of Houston Graphic Communications Program, which was the very same program I graduated from 6 some-odd years ago. Talking with these soon-to-be graduates, who seemed perfectly comfortable showing their work off to total strangers, made me remember when I was in their place. When I was a student, I stayed up all night putting the finishing touches on my portfolio and writing down everything I wanted to say so that when the time came, I was ready for anything. Once I got used to the process of explaining my work to seasoned designers, I became more comfortable and confident as the day went on.
A former classmate of mine, Brian Gossett (left), gives his advice for the students at the event.
The first year I participated as a professional, I wondered how candid I was supposed to be. There is nothing more frustrating, as a designer, than to get comments like “I don’t like it� without an explanation. When I went through this process as a student, it was very common for a reviewer to give generic, “looks good� comments which, in hind-sight, didn’t benefit my growth at all. I wanted to show more respect to the students I reviewed. I went in with the belief that the criticism needed to be constructive so that the students would gain something from the experience. Hopefully, I was able to provide some real influence on their progress of their design careers.
Another former classmate, Johnny Luu (right), listening intently as a student describes her work.