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I am a senior designer working in NYC currently.
My biggest advice is to try to tell a story with each project. There is no shame is making up concept work around ideas and brands that really excite you. Look at agencies websites you want to work for - think of yourself as a mini studio and create projects with similar structure in mind.
Take us on a journey from concept to packaging, website and campaign mockups for one case study. If it makes sense for your idea. Recruiters will want to see this variety in your work.
I also recommend considering internships if you’ve never had any working experience. It’s really important to learn as much as you can outside of school. I did this to land my first job, it sucks to be making minimum wage at first but in a competitive market it was a way in.
This is really good advice here. Job hunting is hard and it’s so hard to know what employers want.
From recruiters I’ve talked to, their advice for my portfolio was always to make it more focused. Less variety of mid work, and more focused work that showcases your design competency:
Hierarchy, eyepath, execution, control of space, attention to detail, typography and layout skills, grid skills, and legibility skills.
Good luck OP! Your work is super creative and I can see you’re a diligent worker.
Welp that's frustrating to hear. I feel like I've been doing that. I think each project was telling a fairly cohesive story, and all of them together paints a full picture. I see them, but I guess I'm not doing a good enough job expressing them. (And that is the point of this whole graphic design thing after all.)
(For example, my chief beef logo project focuses on the creative process. It's meant to be a deep dive in my creative process in making the logo itself. It feels a bit redundant to showcase that and then add on some mockups and collateral when (I think) I've showcased that I know how to do that. A main tenet of design as I see it is to express things in the most concise ways possible.)
If you don't mind, could you take a look at [This](https://loganbutler.design/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/REVISED-bloomigndales-design-joural-Logan-Butler.pdf) and see if it's doing a better job of telling a cohesive story? (Keep in mind this isn't a portfolio ready presentation, this is mainly geared towards the class it was for.)
And I haven't really been looking for internships, but seeing I'm a year out from school and have been unsuccessful, it's probably time to change my approach. (But I'm not even confident I could get a paid internship at this point. Maybe my head is just fucked to the point I need to get a random min wage job just to get a break from everything. )
But either way thank you so much for your insight. You've given me some ideas on how to make some improvements
I think your main problem is that you are looking too granularly. It almost feels like Pratt literally took the first half of the bachelor’s curriculum and called it an associate’s instead of reformatting the curriculum to better fit within a 2 year span.
Your projects are showing *individual* skill sets which is great in the first half of your academic career, but your competitors with 4-year degrees will have the skills and language to showcase *several* of those skills within larger projects. This is what people are talking about, the scope of each of your projects is too narrow. Instead of a logo project, your competitors will have fully scoped brand identities with logos, iconography, imagery, accent elements, backgrounds, merchandise, ads, websites, brand guides, etc.
You’re focusing on showcasing creative process, but what matters to hiring managers is holistic design thinking, not granular creative process. Like you’re showing a few pages of a chapter when hiring managers want to read the completed chapter, if that makes sense. They want to know: do you have the know-how to conduct competitive analysis, assess the market, understand your target audience, find and execute an effective solution, iterate when it’s not effective? Can you show that all within 1 project?
You also frame your projects as student projects instead of framing them as business problems, it feels like “I did this because my professor told me to” instead of “here’s the problem/challenge, and here’s my solution.” You get hired to solve business problems, so you need to show that you understand business. In some projects it sounds like you are forcing the design to meet the solution you want instead of the solution that would actually be most effective. Take the project you just shared here with Bloomingdale’s, why do the bags need to say “small chicago bag”? We see the bag is small, the design itself should be emblematic of Chicago without saying so. It feels like telling instead of showing, when you should be showing instead of telling.
And yes you need way more examples of extensive long-form layout and typography. The sample you showed in another comment has many issues that would make a hiring manager pass; personally I hate justified type unless it’s a newspaper where space is extremely limited, there are a bunch of widows, and the gutter is too narrow. Typesetting is one of the primary skills hiring managers are looking for in juniors.
There are errors scattered throughout your portfolio/designs, in the Bloomingdale’s for example you say “shear scale” instead of “sheer scale.”
Part 1
I will start by saying that I have never worked in New York City. But I think there are some things that I can still comment on that could help you.
I'm viewing on a large monitor and your name on your home page is HUGE. The mark that goes along with it has a bit of a butt-plug vibe. I did like that the message had motion graphics.
Pratt Associate Degrees: The first thing you did was call attention to the fact that you only have a two-year degree rather than four. That could work against you for the education purists. Else, I didn't have a problem with this. I would have liked it more if you had created multiple line graphics in each of the shapes of the letter forms so that it wasn't only circular every time.
Sports Team Rebrand: When I went through all 23, I noticed that you weren't redesigning so much as recoloring. This is true for 14 of the teams where you didn't change any of the illustrative or design elements beyond deleting portions of a few. That is more than half of them that don't show much in the way of any design thinking or talent other than you know how to recolor vector art.
You didn't appear to understand or research the teams or the symbolism in their original logos. For instance, the Pittsburgh Steelers logo is based on the three materials used to make steel. Those symbols and colors have absolutely nothing to do with the Pirates or the Penguins. Not only that, this is one of the few cities whose teams already use consistent color branding across all of their professional sports, yellow, white, and black. So, unfortunately, a city for which you did take more liberties, you took the wrong liberties. (Yes, I know some Steelers fans.)
And when I got to the logos for the teams for the cities in which I have lived and with which I am more-familiar, I had a negative reaction that they were "wrong". I frequently recommend people not redesign existing logos, especially well-known logos, because of this reaction. And it gets even worse for sports teams where there is aggressive loyalty and deep history. If you're applying to jobs in NYC, I can definitely imagine some Yankee Fans disliking your set 2 redesigns for the Yankees, especially because it is supposed to be a Mets logo there in blue and orange, not the Yankees which you've repeated in both sets 1 and 2.
And lastly, there were just too many of them making me think you're REALLY into sports and would likely love getting a job with a sports team. You reduce the chances of that happening when you mess up their existing branding and trigger an emotional negative reaction. And you also narrow the field for the number of potential employers for which you'd be a good fit if they believe you want to do sports-related design.
Solution? Cut half of them. Maybe push them back in the order a bit so you lead with more-original design work and don't typecast yourself so early in the process. Fix the Yankees/Mets mistake in set 2 and get some feedback from New Yorkers to see how they feel about messing with their logos.
Transit Maps: I recognize that this was a massive task that required tons of attention to detail. Kudos for that. But this design style is not original. Its roots go back to Harry Beck's London Underground map from 1933 and for Paris in the 1940s/1950s, a couple decades before Vignelli's redesign of the NYC map in 1972 which your layouts most-closely resemble. That is not a bad thing and your maps appear to be very well made. We use these maps because they work. But my fear for you is that this piece showcases you more as a technician mimicking others than as a designer creating original content. I would keep that in mind when you choose what you include in your portfolio and make sure you have no more than one project that showcases technical drawing skills. We need these skills to do our jobs but everyone is expected to have them. What employers will be looking for is a spark of creativity.
Concordia Typface: I'm not into it. I was around when the Concorde was still flying and my parents flew on it a couple times. This is not what I think of when I think of the Concorde. It was more of a luxury brand that was all about being streamlined, but this typeface is the opposite of streamlined.
Lincoln Center: I mainly like ths except for the shapes of the blob in the background. I would redesign this to make that shape more-interesting or more-elegant, showing that you're a master of using the bezier pen tool or some other effect that is more-sophisticated. But I like the colors as long as you also have a solution for converting an RGB color palette into CMYK. Add more work with more variety.
Poster for a Cause: I liked that this piece had concept. I wish it were easier to understand the math. Please also include the total number instead of just the ratio of 1 name = 2,727.769 deaths.
Andrew Yang: I would cut this. It is hurting more than helping.
Chief Beef: Though I understand that the original assignment may have been for a B&W logo, I wish you had taken it a step further and added color. I'd also like to see this logo applied to some items. What would the rest of the brand look like on the types of pieces a burger joint would need?
Alphabet type: Interestng exercise. I enjoy this more than your typeface project. I do think you were correct to put it at the end.
See part 2 for summary and overall thoughts.
Part 2: The fact that you only have two years of formal design education is showing. Your portfolio has the sorts of design exercises that are part of the early education process but is missing the last year where you combine all that you've learned to create a few strong brand projects.
The majority of work that designers do is either creating brands or applying them. Your two logo projects are the weakest projects in your portfolio and they only show the logo without any implementation of it. Many professors are teaching their students to create seven or more projects that are fitting for that brand in addition to the logo. You start to show implementation of a brand for the Lincoln Center piece, but when you go to apply it to different pieces, you're just using the same piece of artwork at different sizes. Pratt Branding does a little better, but it again is light on variety and is just using the same piece of artwork over and over again.
One of the things that is missing from your portfolio is page layout. You're not showing that you know how to format type on a page for a brochure or a website or a flyer or direct mail or email marketing. Most of what you're showing is just a headline and maybe a subhead. This is often what we see from self-taught designers who actually don't know anything about typesetting, so again, your limited education is showing. The one page you have where you did have to format some text, your resume, shows that you are inexperienced. You're not showing any understanding of basics such as hierarchies or how to make an attractive rag. The content reads out of order and it contains grammar errors.
Most of the projects in your portfolio do not relate to the types of projects employers need. It will be difficult for them to look at your portfolio and imagine you to be able to tackle the projects they have.
Pratt, Lincon Center, and Poster for a Cause are your strongest pieces for graphic design. The train maps are strong for technical drawing. Andrew Yang and Concordia are your weakest. Chief Beef is the next weakest but I wouldn't go so far as to say to cut it but I think there is a lot of room for improvement.
I recommend you get yourself a filler job while you continue your graphic design studies on your own. If it is design-related, great, but that might mean working in prepress or doing production work for now. Figure out what courses would have taught had you gotten a four-year degree and find ways to replace that education. I would start with a book such as Making and Breaking the Grid that focuses on page layout. Also, learn about typesetting. After you understand the "rules", make up a couple of new projects where you specifically try to incorporate some elements that break those rules in combination with text that follows them!
One of the great things about student projects is that you can do anything. You can create projects that are really exciting and out there and can showcase your creativity. And that is what I would expect would help land you a job in NYC.
Create full brands when you add the new projects. Logo, website, brochure, socal media, print ads, online ads, direct mail, email marketing, etc. Whatever is suited to that brand. Even better if they show concept, something clever in the headline and unique in how you approach imagery.
And because you're specifically targeting NYC, pay attention to what the largest or most-visible industries are there that you haven't already covered and that could help get that "I can see him being able to help us" reaction from employers. Industries such as fashion/retail, entertainment, and the arts are likely to have greater opportunities for creative expression, but it couldn't hurt to show that you also understand corporate work.
Figure out if you have any personal interests that you'd like to delve further into. I don't mean industries, rather do you want to be a web designer, a print designer, an editorial designer, a packaging designer, or do motion graphics? (Note, there are fewer and fewer print jobs all of the time, making it helpful to have motion graphic skills and/or web skills.) And aside from an ability to apply yourself for a long time to complete massive projects such as the train maps, what design styles speak to you? Try to convey a little more of that in your work. Help employers understand your design point of view, and if you don't have one yet, start to figure it out.
I think for only studying for two years so far, you are doing pretty well. There are plenty of fresh graduates with bachelors degress who have weaker portfolios than yours. But they also wouldn't find much success in the highly-competitive design market in NYC and they would have at least dabbled in some of the types of work that you're not showing at all such as web design, UX/UI, packaging, or editorial projects.
In the meantime, start looking at some other student and professional portfolios. Analyze the ones you like and figure out what makes them better. Let that inspire you to figure out what your next personal project might be. But I do advise you to avoid some of the projects that turn up in lots of student portfolios. No pizza parlors, burger joints (sorry, but that is on the list), breweries, pet-related projects, bakeries, or residential real estate. No plumbers or electricians and no landscapers. No tea brands or coffee houses, no sneakers. Think cooler. Make something that is totally crazy and out there on an extreme then scale it back a little to be more in your comfort zone. Expect that the art directors and creative directors in NYC will want to see that you have a voice and you're not afraid to use it.
And I wish you good luck. I know from your map project that you already have the dedication to tackle big projects.
Edit: Please don't downvote the OP's response. They already self corrected.
Well said pip-whip.
My primary addition is something that never seems to get addressed on this thread and that's notion that like in any industry there is a huge spectrum of employers/jobs one can be hired. In my experience, for the most part, people responding on this thread are kind individuals and want only to inspire and help so it's hard when someone asks 'can I get a job in graphic design?'
Well, yes and no.
If you have a degree in Law, that doesn't mean that you will automatically be hired by to work for the most prestigious law firm. You might end up as an in-house legal department for a bakery chain.
Is that a bad job? No. Just based on a different level of skills, education, background, etc.
BTW, overall compensation packages directly correspond to this spectrum of jobs.
At this very moment, based on your level of education and state of your portfolio, you might be able to get job as an intern in-house at a small architectural firm doing wayfinding and signage. Perhaps in house at a firm that has a small 'graphics' department doing layout. Great training by the way!
Conversely, not having any insight insight into your knowledge or perspective on the different types and levels of design firms and roles, if you are shooting high and want to get a junior role at a well-known design firm, or an in house design department for a brand-focused company...then you will need more experience and a more robust and diverse portfolio demonstrating strategic thinking and your understanding of the specific businesses and industries you are designing for.
As others have also mentioned, as you continue to study and build your portfolio, the most important thing to add is examples of 'strategic thinking'. Not here's a cool logo because I like it, versus here's a logo and graphic system that was developed to bring to life that core values of this particular brand.
This is the typical list I share that typifies content for some of the best portfolios I've seen and hired in the past.
-Examples of Brand Strategy and Positioning, which may include some or all of the following; Consumer and competitive research, brand audits, white-space opportunities, etc.
-Corporate Collateral demonstrating large blocks of copy and typographic hierarchy, integration of photography and or illustration.
-Corporate Identity (Black and white preferably) for diverse brands to showing not just technique, but concept.
-Packaging design for diverse brands to showing not just technique, but concept.
-Book or album cover (always a great opportunity to do something really fun and innovative)
-Extra credit. Signage and or environmental design for 3d space
-UX design for diverse brands to showing not just technique, but concept.
I think the feedback you’re hearing is good op, I’d recommend refining your portfolio site, and then targeting Local Projects in NYC for an internship. It’s seems like it’d be a good fit for instructional, environmental, and way-finding work to build your portfolio and explore projects of scale. You probably have a connect with them through your school network. Do some research and see if that makes sense.
Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out!
I'm also considering doing some pro bono stuff for random small non profits I care about. (Transit and political advocacy mostly.) I'm not sure if people have quabbles with people working for trees, but if it's something worth supporting, I'd be glad to do it.
Thanks for the comprehensive reply! I'll respond in order for both comments.
I've never heard anyone say my logo looks like a butt plug before. Too be honest, I see where you're coming from, but I'm not seeing it. Maybe we have different ideas of buttplug-ness, but anything without a flared base does not look like anything that should go near anyone's ass if they want to avoid an awkward emergency room trip.
Sports logos: I did make a mistake and put the yankees logo where the mets one should be on the top (unedited) row. However there aren't two yankees logos, that is the New York Mets logo.
And I never claimed to "redesign" any logos. I asked a question "what if they were all consistent?" and I did that. I wanted to make a visual identity that spread across all four teams while fitting the city, so I chose the visual scheme from the logo that works best and I made them consistent. (I did this in part to show that I can work with existing brands.)
And maybe I'm not doing a great job of expressing it, but I do understand the meaning behind these logos. I know the steelers logo is based on an old steel company and steel itself, but the only reason the steelers are called such is because they play in the steel city. Steel is pittsburgh, pittsburgh is steel. Any team playing in pittsburgh has a relation to steel. Furthermore, the three coloured diamonds represent steelers football before anything else in the 21st century. And, as stated above, I decided to use it to consistently express all pittsbrugh sports teams.
And I think this project is less about sports itself and more of an opportunity to explore how they represent the cities they're in. I don't want to cut any of them because I did this for every city with 3 pro sports teams, and I don't want to represent myself with anything less than a complete and comprehensive set.
Transit maps: I believe graphic design has two pillars, creativity and execution. This leans heavily to the latter, of course but that doesn't make it not important. I believe that this project shows that I can execute design well, along with showing my ability to complete research, focus on details, and my work ethic.
Concorde: We have different ideas of what this plane represents. I don't see luxury when I look at this bird, I see scrappy retro futurism. A modern Emirates 777 is much more luxurious than a plane that couldn't fly over land without breaking windows, was as cramped as planes could get, guzzled fuel like only something designed before the 70s could. Of course, I could do a better job of expressing that side of it.
Lincoln Center: I was considering a more involved blob, but I cut it due to time constraints. It does look the same in both colour spaces, which come to think of it I should probably express. I do agree that this project has the potential to be more fleshed out.
Nuke poster: the 2.7 million number would be the number of posters you'd need to print to name all of the 5 billion who would die.
Yang: What's so weak about it? I think it's a solid logo system that does a good job of implementing symbolism. Would it be better if I added more collateral?
Chief Beef: I thought about adding color, but I'm pretty happy with it as it is. And the main focus of this was showing my creative process, and I thought that moving past the point I did wouldn't serve it that well.
I completely understand feeling defensive when getting a design critique. Please read again at another time when the initial sting has worn off or when you're ready to tackle improving an individual project.
Just remember, a portfolio critique is about helping you understand how others perceive your work so that you can make adjustments … and land a job that you want.
Earlier today, I ran across a designer whose work I think you might enjoy.
[https://www.artscistudios.com](https://www.artscistudios.com)
I'm sorry if I came off as defensive, I didn't mean to. I've put a lot of thought into putting together this portfolio, and I'm just sharing those thoughts. I value the feedback, have considered it thoughtfully, agreed with some of it, disagreed/didn't get some of it and am open to changing my mind when I wake up tomorrow.
Again, thank you for the feedback. It truly means a lot
Part 2:
The Pratt branding includes a logo, and I believe that it is implemented well. I already said why I want to keep chief beef where it is, but I'm thinking I would like show more implementation in the yang logo project. And I don't really agree on your point about using the same artwork repeatedly and lack of variety. The pratt branding has different shapes with the same colours, and the lincoln center has different coloured and shaped blobs. Brands that are too disparate are weak. Say what you will, but you can't deny that these pieces are from the same language and they each do a unique job. I could be wrong or it could be preference, but I'm confident in saying this.
Apparently I need to throw some type setting in my portfolio as well. (If you do hover your cursor over my logo, there is a carousel that shows some, but I need to make it more clear that's something you'd want to do.) I do understand the basics of hierarchy, grids, and the like. Granted, I did update the design of my resume last night way past my bedtime, and it is giving me enough grief to become a mortal enemy. But of course, this is the most important type layout I've done. I don't see the grammatical issues you mentioned though. (I do take issue with you saying I lack the basic understanding of hierarchies and stuff, but again it is past my bedtime.) But anyways unless my professors and classmates have been lying to me or are completely incompetent, my issue is more of not showing my typesetting abilities rather than lacking them entirely. (I do struggle a bit with rags though, my tendency is to not change copy for a design reason and keeping all my text boxes the same width, but thanks for pointing it out, that's something that's pretty easy to improve. And I'll add a better typesetting example below.)
And I disagree that I don't show any experience in UI/UX. I made this website. I coded it from scratch. Does that not count?
And do have examples of packaging and (I say again) editorials/typesetting. But I have two project ideas in the works that could cover those. (I could also incorporate type setting into the Yang and maybe LC or transit maps project.) I need to put some more animation in there to cover my bases, and I think I could incorporate it into any project.
As for a niche to call my own I have three figs I wanna explore eating. 1: Becoming a big kahuna at a pentagram or something like that and make logos and such. 2: Become the transit map guy and make a living doing that freelance. (Government transit agencies pay good right?) And 3: Going hard into Data Visualization, and working a place like the NYT upshot. I have some good ideas (and I think the nuke poster is the start of one) , but nothing that would get me hired there. I think I would be extremely happy to have a career doing any of those three. I also fancy myself a good pixel artist, and that may be able to net me a few bucks here and there. I also want to make some absolutely insane protest posters but I'm hesitant. And off the top of my head I can think of 3 ideas for megaprojects, but each would take months. (A interactive pixel art city, a comprehensive encyclopedia of an NYC subway line, and a interactive data vis thing that shows off the horrors of gerrymandering and would be a good showcase for the NYT upshot.)
And to be honest, I've been dealing with some health issues that make it extremely difficult to keep up with that kind of stuff, especially without the structure of a job. I think my focus right now needs to be just finding something - anything - to pay my insane NYC rent and afford to occasionally eat at a restaurant or take a train somewhere. I have a million things I want to do, but I need to find a way to make one of them profitable.
I just hope I can find someone out there to give me a chance one day.
Thank you so much for your thorough reply! You gave me some ideas on how I can spiff my portfolio up in both the long and short term. And if nothing else, I have a slightly better plan that I had yesterday!
Thanks again!
https://preview.redd.it/14g314d9a27d1.png?width=1855&format=png&auto=webp&s=f3cb431cdcd6fe461e06086745c967c58dba33ff
And here is a layout I'm reasonably proud of. It's not perfect, but I don't think I'm in a dire situation
Your typesetting isn't strong here, it doesn't seem like you have a strong grasp on typography. Your leading is a bit too tight and the gutter space is too tight as well.
All of your paragraphs are justified except for the first paragraph of page 14 where it's left aligned.
I don't expect a junior designer to be perfect but the lack of the attention to detail would concern me.
Agreed with the comments above. A lack of attention to detail expresses a lack of intentionality. All the small design decisions should read cohesively in a way that achieves balance. The tight leading/gutter space but the very large amount of negative space the title and introduction, the main image not aligning with the text, the inconsistent justification and tracking makes it all feel very unconsidered and unbalanced.
All because you've completed your formal education doesn't mean you're immediately an industry professional. Almost a decade out of school and I feel like I'm still very much in the learning phase of my career - and I don't believe that'll ever really end tbh. You learn way more from your peers working then as a student
I'd take the time to actively listen/understand any feedback and review great work by leading designers to understand WHY it works.
Thank you for your feedback.
My memory may fail me, as I made this >18 months ago, but I swear I considered everything applicable when I made this. (Which makes me think, did I actually consider every design decision, or I did and I'm bad enough it just looks like I didn't?)
I'm sorry, I'm just incredibly frustrated right now. I'm sorry if I'm coming off as an obtuse know it all asshole (which the amount of down votes I'm getting leads me to believe.) Fwiw I am trying to actively listen and understand everyone's feedback here. I'm not brushing any of this off, and it's not lost on me how meaningful it is.
Thanks again.
Welp I don't know what's most upsetting, the fact that no one mentioned the obvious fuck up on the second page when I presented this too my class, the fact that I put this in my portfolio without noticing, or the fact that I'm the only one in here that thinks it looks fine besides that.
Thank you for pointing it out and for your feedback.
Everyone has given amazing feedback. One thing that stuck out to me "I like to make stuff :)" I would remove that. Reads very unprofessional and non-serious. I would also remove "thank you for viewing 🙂" as well. I find it hard to take your portfolio serious with these 2 items.
Senior designer working in a NYC studio here.
You should consider getting a job through an internship with the prospect of full-time employment after your internship ends. A lot of places take on fall interns when summer is over because the workload typically increases then.
Thanks for the advice, that seems like a more viable path than what I'm doing now
Do you think being a year removed from school would reflect negatively if I were to look for an internship?
Edit: also do you think I would be viable as an intern for an agency? I'd prefer that to something in house but I'm open to either.
I think the feedback people are giving is going to work in your favor, so please incorporate it.
A year removed would be something I’d notice but people have all kinds of reasons (family, health, money, etc.) for a gap like that. I wouldn’t pry, but others might.
When you refine your portfolio, an agency internship may be possible. But, take whatever you can get. If you want to be focused on one area of design, get that experience as early as you can. For example, two years of experience as a designer at a marketing agency doesn’t carry over to a packaging or branding agency.
I'll be honest, no it's not good enough for a junior design position in NYC. Possibly an internship somewhere else, but that doesn't mean that you can't improve.
My suggestions:
Your site has multiple spelling and grammar mistakes. This would be an automatic no to me. It should be polished and putting your best foot forward. Get someone to proofread your stuff.
The quality of the site is not high enough to be using it as a portfolio. I would instead use a site builder so that it is usable on all devices and doesn't have mistakes since I can tell you are not able to position things correctly using CSS. For example the "Flags" page. The header text Flags is not aligned with the text below it.
Don't just show mockups - show the flat design work as well so people can see the details. Personally when hiring I don't care about any mockups. I am wanting to see that you actually understand design fundamentals.
There aren't any actual details about the purpose of the project, the needs of the client and how you came to your design decisions.
The leading needs to be adjusted on every page. It's way too tight.
For your editorials page - you're using drop caps way too much. If you want to break up large blocks of text, consider using a designed pull quote, graphic, etc. Your columns are also way too wide with not enough gutter between them and again the leading is way too tight. When using justified text, you should be paying attention as to not have rivers in your text.
Lastly, I think that you are trying to put too much in your portfolio. I would select 3-4 projects, really flesh them out and get creative feedback on them, then get them up on a usable site with proper explanation into the design process for each.
Some commentors have given you really great advice.
But why in the world did you make the Boston Red Sox logo black and yellow? The team is called the red sox. The socks need to be red. Same with the Patriots? I'm not even a sports fan and I had a bad reaction to it. It really highlights your lack of brand research which could be taken as a huge negative for any recruiter looking at your book.
I mean I had to make a sacrifice somewhere to make it fit the project. I'd rather have the Red Sox be black, as silly as it is, than have a red bear (not to mention I already had plenty of red designs.)
https://preview.redd.it/kge2rm88d27d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be3487361e303d1d6d5a8b32fb1678978dbdaa9e
Plus it's not like the red Sox themselves aren't afraid to get weird with it.
This is part of the problem though, you are forcing the solution to fit the project/narrative. If this was the assignment for school that’s great, but as a portfolio piece, not what hiring managers want to see.
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I am a senior designer working in NYC currently. My biggest advice is to try to tell a story with each project. There is no shame is making up concept work around ideas and brands that really excite you. Look at agencies websites you want to work for - think of yourself as a mini studio and create projects with similar structure in mind. Take us on a journey from concept to packaging, website and campaign mockups for one case study. If it makes sense for your idea. Recruiters will want to see this variety in your work. I also recommend considering internships if you’ve never had any working experience. It’s really important to learn as much as you can outside of school. I did this to land my first job, it sucks to be making minimum wage at first but in a competitive market it was a way in.
This is really good advice here. Job hunting is hard and it’s so hard to know what employers want. From recruiters I’ve talked to, their advice for my portfolio was always to make it more focused. Less variety of mid work, and more focused work that showcases your design competency: Hierarchy, eyepath, execution, control of space, attention to detail, typography and layout skills, grid skills, and legibility skills. Good luck OP! Your work is super creative and I can see you’re a diligent worker.
Welp that's frustrating to hear. I feel like I've been doing that. I think each project was telling a fairly cohesive story, and all of them together paints a full picture. I see them, but I guess I'm not doing a good enough job expressing them. (And that is the point of this whole graphic design thing after all.) (For example, my chief beef logo project focuses on the creative process. It's meant to be a deep dive in my creative process in making the logo itself. It feels a bit redundant to showcase that and then add on some mockups and collateral when (I think) I've showcased that I know how to do that. A main tenet of design as I see it is to express things in the most concise ways possible.) If you don't mind, could you take a look at [This](https://loganbutler.design/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/REVISED-bloomigndales-design-joural-Logan-Butler.pdf) and see if it's doing a better job of telling a cohesive story? (Keep in mind this isn't a portfolio ready presentation, this is mainly geared towards the class it was for.) And I haven't really been looking for internships, but seeing I'm a year out from school and have been unsuccessful, it's probably time to change my approach. (But I'm not even confident I could get a paid internship at this point. Maybe my head is just fucked to the point I need to get a random min wage job just to get a break from everything. ) But either way thank you so much for your insight. You've given me some ideas on how to make some improvements
I think your main problem is that you are looking too granularly. It almost feels like Pratt literally took the first half of the bachelor’s curriculum and called it an associate’s instead of reformatting the curriculum to better fit within a 2 year span. Your projects are showing *individual* skill sets which is great in the first half of your academic career, but your competitors with 4-year degrees will have the skills and language to showcase *several* of those skills within larger projects. This is what people are talking about, the scope of each of your projects is too narrow. Instead of a logo project, your competitors will have fully scoped brand identities with logos, iconography, imagery, accent elements, backgrounds, merchandise, ads, websites, brand guides, etc. You’re focusing on showcasing creative process, but what matters to hiring managers is holistic design thinking, not granular creative process. Like you’re showing a few pages of a chapter when hiring managers want to read the completed chapter, if that makes sense. They want to know: do you have the know-how to conduct competitive analysis, assess the market, understand your target audience, find and execute an effective solution, iterate when it’s not effective? Can you show that all within 1 project? You also frame your projects as student projects instead of framing them as business problems, it feels like “I did this because my professor told me to” instead of “here’s the problem/challenge, and here’s my solution.” You get hired to solve business problems, so you need to show that you understand business. In some projects it sounds like you are forcing the design to meet the solution you want instead of the solution that would actually be most effective. Take the project you just shared here with Bloomingdale’s, why do the bags need to say “small chicago bag”? We see the bag is small, the design itself should be emblematic of Chicago without saying so. It feels like telling instead of showing, when you should be showing instead of telling. And yes you need way more examples of extensive long-form layout and typography. The sample you showed in another comment has many issues that would make a hiring manager pass; personally I hate justified type unless it’s a newspaper where space is extremely limited, there are a bunch of widows, and the gutter is too narrow. Typesetting is one of the primary skills hiring managers are looking for in juniors. There are errors scattered throughout your portfolio/designs, in the Bloomingdale’s for example you say “shear scale” instead of “sheer scale.”
Part 1 I will start by saying that I have never worked in New York City. But I think there are some things that I can still comment on that could help you. I'm viewing on a large monitor and your name on your home page is HUGE. The mark that goes along with it has a bit of a butt-plug vibe. I did like that the message had motion graphics. Pratt Associate Degrees: The first thing you did was call attention to the fact that you only have a two-year degree rather than four. That could work against you for the education purists. Else, I didn't have a problem with this. I would have liked it more if you had created multiple line graphics in each of the shapes of the letter forms so that it wasn't only circular every time. Sports Team Rebrand: When I went through all 23, I noticed that you weren't redesigning so much as recoloring. This is true for 14 of the teams where you didn't change any of the illustrative or design elements beyond deleting portions of a few. That is more than half of them that don't show much in the way of any design thinking or talent other than you know how to recolor vector art. You didn't appear to understand or research the teams or the symbolism in their original logos. For instance, the Pittsburgh Steelers logo is based on the three materials used to make steel. Those symbols and colors have absolutely nothing to do with the Pirates or the Penguins. Not only that, this is one of the few cities whose teams already use consistent color branding across all of their professional sports, yellow, white, and black. So, unfortunately, a city for which you did take more liberties, you took the wrong liberties. (Yes, I know some Steelers fans.) And when I got to the logos for the teams for the cities in which I have lived and with which I am more-familiar, I had a negative reaction that they were "wrong". I frequently recommend people not redesign existing logos, especially well-known logos, because of this reaction. And it gets even worse for sports teams where there is aggressive loyalty and deep history. If you're applying to jobs in NYC, I can definitely imagine some Yankee Fans disliking your set 2 redesigns for the Yankees, especially because it is supposed to be a Mets logo there in blue and orange, not the Yankees which you've repeated in both sets 1 and 2. And lastly, there were just too many of them making me think you're REALLY into sports and would likely love getting a job with a sports team. You reduce the chances of that happening when you mess up their existing branding and trigger an emotional negative reaction. And you also narrow the field for the number of potential employers for which you'd be a good fit if they believe you want to do sports-related design. Solution? Cut half of them. Maybe push them back in the order a bit so you lead with more-original design work and don't typecast yourself so early in the process. Fix the Yankees/Mets mistake in set 2 and get some feedback from New Yorkers to see how they feel about messing with their logos. Transit Maps: I recognize that this was a massive task that required tons of attention to detail. Kudos for that. But this design style is not original. Its roots go back to Harry Beck's London Underground map from 1933 and for Paris in the 1940s/1950s, a couple decades before Vignelli's redesign of the NYC map in 1972 which your layouts most-closely resemble. That is not a bad thing and your maps appear to be very well made. We use these maps because they work. But my fear for you is that this piece showcases you more as a technician mimicking others than as a designer creating original content. I would keep that in mind when you choose what you include in your portfolio and make sure you have no more than one project that showcases technical drawing skills. We need these skills to do our jobs but everyone is expected to have them. What employers will be looking for is a spark of creativity. Concordia Typface: I'm not into it. I was around when the Concorde was still flying and my parents flew on it a couple times. This is not what I think of when I think of the Concorde. It was more of a luxury brand that was all about being streamlined, but this typeface is the opposite of streamlined. Lincoln Center: I mainly like ths except for the shapes of the blob in the background. I would redesign this to make that shape more-interesting or more-elegant, showing that you're a master of using the bezier pen tool or some other effect that is more-sophisticated. But I like the colors as long as you also have a solution for converting an RGB color palette into CMYK. Add more work with more variety. Poster for a Cause: I liked that this piece had concept. I wish it were easier to understand the math. Please also include the total number instead of just the ratio of 1 name = 2,727.769 deaths. Andrew Yang: I would cut this. It is hurting more than helping. Chief Beef: Though I understand that the original assignment may have been for a B&W logo, I wish you had taken it a step further and added color. I'd also like to see this logo applied to some items. What would the rest of the brand look like on the types of pieces a burger joint would need? Alphabet type: Interestng exercise. I enjoy this more than your typeface project. I do think you were correct to put it at the end. See part 2 for summary and overall thoughts.
Part 2: The fact that you only have two years of formal design education is showing. Your portfolio has the sorts of design exercises that are part of the early education process but is missing the last year where you combine all that you've learned to create a few strong brand projects. The majority of work that designers do is either creating brands or applying them. Your two logo projects are the weakest projects in your portfolio and they only show the logo without any implementation of it. Many professors are teaching their students to create seven or more projects that are fitting for that brand in addition to the logo. You start to show implementation of a brand for the Lincoln Center piece, but when you go to apply it to different pieces, you're just using the same piece of artwork at different sizes. Pratt Branding does a little better, but it again is light on variety and is just using the same piece of artwork over and over again. One of the things that is missing from your portfolio is page layout. You're not showing that you know how to format type on a page for a brochure or a website or a flyer or direct mail or email marketing. Most of what you're showing is just a headline and maybe a subhead. This is often what we see from self-taught designers who actually don't know anything about typesetting, so again, your limited education is showing. The one page you have where you did have to format some text, your resume, shows that you are inexperienced. You're not showing any understanding of basics such as hierarchies or how to make an attractive rag. The content reads out of order and it contains grammar errors. Most of the projects in your portfolio do not relate to the types of projects employers need. It will be difficult for them to look at your portfolio and imagine you to be able to tackle the projects they have. Pratt, Lincon Center, and Poster for a Cause are your strongest pieces for graphic design. The train maps are strong for technical drawing. Andrew Yang and Concordia are your weakest. Chief Beef is the next weakest but I wouldn't go so far as to say to cut it but I think there is a lot of room for improvement. I recommend you get yourself a filler job while you continue your graphic design studies on your own. If it is design-related, great, but that might mean working in prepress or doing production work for now. Figure out what courses would have taught had you gotten a four-year degree and find ways to replace that education. I would start with a book such as Making and Breaking the Grid that focuses on page layout. Also, learn about typesetting. After you understand the "rules", make up a couple of new projects where you specifically try to incorporate some elements that break those rules in combination with text that follows them! One of the great things about student projects is that you can do anything. You can create projects that are really exciting and out there and can showcase your creativity. And that is what I would expect would help land you a job in NYC. Create full brands when you add the new projects. Logo, website, brochure, socal media, print ads, online ads, direct mail, email marketing, etc. Whatever is suited to that brand. Even better if they show concept, something clever in the headline and unique in how you approach imagery. And because you're specifically targeting NYC, pay attention to what the largest or most-visible industries are there that you haven't already covered and that could help get that "I can see him being able to help us" reaction from employers. Industries such as fashion/retail, entertainment, and the arts are likely to have greater opportunities for creative expression, but it couldn't hurt to show that you also understand corporate work. Figure out if you have any personal interests that you'd like to delve further into. I don't mean industries, rather do you want to be a web designer, a print designer, an editorial designer, a packaging designer, or do motion graphics? (Note, there are fewer and fewer print jobs all of the time, making it helpful to have motion graphic skills and/or web skills.) And aside from an ability to apply yourself for a long time to complete massive projects such as the train maps, what design styles speak to you? Try to convey a little more of that in your work. Help employers understand your design point of view, and if you don't have one yet, start to figure it out. I think for only studying for two years so far, you are doing pretty well. There are plenty of fresh graduates with bachelors degress who have weaker portfolios than yours. But they also wouldn't find much success in the highly-competitive design market in NYC and they would have at least dabbled in some of the types of work that you're not showing at all such as web design, UX/UI, packaging, or editorial projects. In the meantime, start looking at some other student and professional portfolios. Analyze the ones you like and figure out what makes them better. Let that inspire you to figure out what your next personal project might be. But I do advise you to avoid some of the projects that turn up in lots of student portfolios. No pizza parlors, burger joints (sorry, but that is on the list), breweries, pet-related projects, bakeries, or residential real estate. No plumbers or electricians and no landscapers. No tea brands or coffee houses, no sneakers. Think cooler. Make something that is totally crazy and out there on an extreme then scale it back a little to be more in your comfort zone. Expect that the art directors and creative directors in NYC will want to see that you have a voice and you're not afraid to use it. And I wish you good luck. I know from your map project that you already have the dedication to tackle big projects. Edit: Please don't downvote the OP's response. They already self corrected.
Well said pip-whip. My primary addition is something that never seems to get addressed on this thread and that's notion that like in any industry there is a huge spectrum of employers/jobs one can be hired. In my experience, for the most part, people responding on this thread are kind individuals and want only to inspire and help so it's hard when someone asks 'can I get a job in graphic design?' Well, yes and no. If you have a degree in Law, that doesn't mean that you will automatically be hired by to work for the most prestigious law firm. You might end up as an in-house legal department for a bakery chain. Is that a bad job? No. Just based on a different level of skills, education, background, etc. BTW, overall compensation packages directly correspond to this spectrum of jobs. At this very moment, based on your level of education and state of your portfolio, you might be able to get job as an intern in-house at a small architectural firm doing wayfinding and signage. Perhaps in house at a firm that has a small 'graphics' department doing layout. Great training by the way! Conversely, not having any insight insight into your knowledge or perspective on the different types and levels of design firms and roles, if you are shooting high and want to get a junior role at a well-known design firm, or an in house design department for a brand-focused company...then you will need more experience and a more robust and diverse portfolio demonstrating strategic thinking and your understanding of the specific businesses and industries you are designing for. As others have also mentioned, as you continue to study and build your portfolio, the most important thing to add is examples of 'strategic thinking'. Not here's a cool logo because I like it, versus here's a logo and graphic system that was developed to bring to life that core values of this particular brand. This is the typical list I share that typifies content for some of the best portfolios I've seen and hired in the past. -Examples of Brand Strategy and Positioning, which may include some or all of the following; Consumer and competitive research, brand audits, white-space opportunities, etc. -Corporate Collateral demonstrating large blocks of copy and typographic hierarchy, integration of photography and or illustration. -Corporate Identity (Black and white preferably) for diverse brands to showing not just technique, but concept. -Packaging design for diverse brands to showing not just technique, but concept. -Book or album cover (always a great opportunity to do something really fun and innovative) -Extra credit. Signage and or environmental design for 3d space -UX design for diverse brands to showing not just technique, but concept.
I think the feedback you’re hearing is good op, I’d recommend refining your portfolio site, and then targeting Local Projects in NYC for an internship. It’s seems like it’d be a good fit for instructional, environmental, and way-finding work to build your portfolio and explore projects of scale. You probably have a connect with them through your school network. Do some research and see if that makes sense.
Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out! I'm also considering doing some pro bono stuff for random small non profits I care about. (Transit and political advocacy mostly.) I'm not sure if people have quabbles with people working for trees, but if it's something worth supporting, I'd be glad to do it.
Thanks for the comprehensive reply! I'll respond in order for both comments. I've never heard anyone say my logo looks like a butt plug before. Too be honest, I see where you're coming from, but I'm not seeing it. Maybe we have different ideas of buttplug-ness, but anything without a flared base does not look like anything that should go near anyone's ass if they want to avoid an awkward emergency room trip. Sports logos: I did make a mistake and put the yankees logo where the mets one should be on the top (unedited) row. However there aren't two yankees logos, that is the New York Mets logo. And I never claimed to "redesign" any logos. I asked a question "what if they were all consistent?" and I did that. I wanted to make a visual identity that spread across all four teams while fitting the city, so I chose the visual scheme from the logo that works best and I made them consistent. (I did this in part to show that I can work with existing brands.) And maybe I'm not doing a great job of expressing it, but I do understand the meaning behind these logos. I know the steelers logo is based on an old steel company and steel itself, but the only reason the steelers are called such is because they play in the steel city. Steel is pittsburgh, pittsburgh is steel. Any team playing in pittsburgh has a relation to steel. Furthermore, the three coloured diamonds represent steelers football before anything else in the 21st century. And, as stated above, I decided to use it to consistently express all pittsbrugh sports teams. And I think this project is less about sports itself and more of an opportunity to explore how they represent the cities they're in. I don't want to cut any of them because I did this for every city with 3 pro sports teams, and I don't want to represent myself with anything less than a complete and comprehensive set. Transit maps: I believe graphic design has two pillars, creativity and execution. This leans heavily to the latter, of course but that doesn't make it not important. I believe that this project shows that I can execute design well, along with showing my ability to complete research, focus on details, and my work ethic. Concorde: We have different ideas of what this plane represents. I don't see luxury when I look at this bird, I see scrappy retro futurism. A modern Emirates 777 is much more luxurious than a plane that couldn't fly over land without breaking windows, was as cramped as planes could get, guzzled fuel like only something designed before the 70s could. Of course, I could do a better job of expressing that side of it. Lincoln Center: I was considering a more involved blob, but I cut it due to time constraints. It does look the same in both colour spaces, which come to think of it I should probably express. I do agree that this project has the potential to be more fleshed out. Nuke poster: the 2.7 million number would be the number of posters you'd need to print to name all of the 5 billion who would die. Yang: What's so weak about it? I think it's a solid logo system that does a good job of implementing symbolism. Would it be better if I added more collateral? Chief Beef: I thought about adding color, but I'm pretty happy with it as it is. And the main focus of this was showing my creative process, and I thought that moving past the point I did wouldn't serve it that well.
I completely understand feeling defensive when getting a design critique. Please read again at another time when the initial sting has worn off or when you're ready to tackle improving an individual project. Just remember, a portfolio critique is about helping you understand how others perceive your work so that you can make adjustments … and land a job that you want. Earlier today, I ran across a designer whose work I think you might enjoy. [https://www.artscistudios.com](https://www.artscistudios.com)
I'm sorry if I came off as defensive, I didn't mean to. I've put a lot of thought into putting together this portfolio, and I'm just sharing those thoughts. I value the feedback, have considered it thoughtfully, agreed with some of it, disagreed/didn't get some of it and am open to changing my mind when I wake up tomorrow. Again, thank you for the feedback. It truly means a lot
No need to apologize. I just put it out there. You can do what you like with it.
Part 2: The Pratt branding includes a logo, and I believe that it is implemented well. I already said why I want to keep chief beef where it is, but I'm thinking I would like show more implementation in the yang logo project. And I don't really agree on your point about using the same artwork repeatedly and lack of variety. The pratt branding has different shapes with the same colours, and the lincoln center has different coloured and shaped blobs. Brands that are too disparate are weak. Say what you will, but you can't deny that these pieces are from the same language and they each do a unique job. I could be wrong or it could be preference, but I'm confident in saying this. Apparently I need to throw some type setting in my portfolio as well. (If you do hover your cursor over my logo, there is a carousel that shows some, but I need to make it more clear that's something you'd want to do.) I do understand the basics of hierarchy, grids, and the like. Granted, I did update the design of my resume last night way past my bedtime, and it is giving me enough grief to become a mortal enemy. But of course, this is the most important type layout I've done. I don't see the grammatical issues you mentioned though. (I do take issue with you saying I lack the basic understanding of hierarchies and stuff, but again it is past my bedtime.) But anyways unless my professors and classmates have been lying to me or are completely incompetent, my issue is more of not showing my typesetting abilities rather than lacking them entirely. (I do struggle a bit with rags though, my tendency is to not change copy for a design reason and keeping all my text boxes the same width, but thanks for pointing it out, that's something that's pretty easy to improve. And I'll add a better typesetting example below.) And I disagree that I don't show any experience in UI/UX. I made this website. I coded it from scratch. Does that not count? And do have examples of packaging and (I say again) editorials/typesetting. But I have two project ideas in the works that could cover those. (I could also incorporate type setting into the Yang and maybe LC or transit maps project.) I need to put some more animation in there to cover my bases, and I think I could incorporate it into any project. As for a niche to call my own I have three figs I wanna explore eating. 1: Becoming a big kahuna at a pentagram or something like that and make logos and such. 2: Become the transit map guy and make a living doing that freelance. (Government transit agencies pay good right?) And 3: Going hard into Data Visualization, and working a place like the NYT upshot. I have some good ideas (and I think the nuke poster is the start of one) , but nothing that would get me hired there. I think I would be extremely happy to have a career doing any of those three. I also fancy myself a good pixel artist, and that may be able to net me a few bucks here and there. I also want to make some absolutely insane protest posters but I'm hesitant. And off the top of my head I can think of 3 ideas for megaprojects, but each would take months. (A interactive pixel art city, a comprehensive encyclopedia of an NYC subway line, and a interactive data vis thing that shows off the horrors of gerrymandering and would be a good showcase for the NYT upshot.) And to be honest, I've been dealing with some health issues that make it extremely difficult to keep up with that kind of stuff, especially without the structure of a job. I think my focus right now needs to be just finding something - anything - to pay my insane NYC rent and afford to occasionally eat at a restaurant or take a train somewhere. I have a million things I want to do, but I need to find a way to make one of them profitable. I just hope I can find someone out there to give me a chance one day. Thank you so much for your thorough reply! You gave me some ideas on how I can spiff my portfolio up in both the long and short term. And if nothing else, I have a slightly better plan that I had yesterday! Thanks again!
https://preview.redd.it/14g314d9a27d1.png?width=1855&format=png&auto=webp&s=f3cb431cdcd6fe461e06086745c967c58dba33ff And here is a layout I'm reasonably proud of. It's not perfect, but I don't think I'm in a dire situation
Your typesetting isn't strong here, it doesn't seem like you have a strong grasp on typography. Your leading is a bit too tight and the gutter space is too tight as well. All of your paragraphs are justified except for the first paragraph of page 14 where it's left aligned. I don't expect a junior designer to be perfect but the lack of the attention to detail would concern me.
Agreed with the comments above. A lack of attention to detail expresses a lack of intentionality. All the small design decisions should read cohesively in a way that achieves balance. The tight leading/gutter space but the very large amount of negative space the title and introduction, the main image not aligning with the text, the inconsistent justification and tracking makes it all feel very unconsidered and unbalanced. All because you've completed your formal education doesn't mean you're immediately an industry professional. Almost a decade out of school and I feel like I'm still very much in the learning phase of my career - and I don't believe that'll ever really end tbh. You learn way more from your peers working then as a student I'd take the time to actively listen/understand any feedback and review great work by leading designers to understand WHY it works.
Thank you for your feedback. My memory may fail me, as I made this >18 months ago, but I swear I considered everything applicable when I made this. (Which makes me think, did I actually consider every design decision, or I did and I'm bad enough it just looks like I didn't?) I'm sorry, I'm just incredibly frustrated right now. I'm sorry if I'm coming off as an obtuse know it all asshole (which the amount of down votes I'm getting leads me to believe.) Fwiw I am trying to actively listen and understand everyone's feedback here. I'm not brushing any of this off, and it's not lost on me how meaningful it is. Thanks again.
Welp I don't know what's most upsetting, the fact that no one mentioned the obvious fuck up on the second page when I presented this too my class, the fact that I put this in my portfolio without noticing, or the fact that I'm the only one in here that thinks it looks fine besides that. Thank you for pointing it out and for your feedback.
Everyone has given amazing feedback. One thing that stuck out to me "I like to make stuff :)" I would remove that. Reads very unprofessional and non-serious. I would also remove "thank you for viewing 🙂" as well. I find it hard to take your portfolio serious with these 2 items.
Senior designer working in a NYC studio here. You should consider getting a job through an internship with the prospect of full-time employment after your internship ends. A lot of places take on fall interns when summer is over because the workload typically increases then.
Thanks for the advice, that seems like a more viable path than what I'm doing now Do you think being a year removed from school would reflect negatively if I were to look for an internship? Edit: also do you think I would be viable as an intern for an agency? I'd prefer that to something in house but I'm open to either.
I think the feedback people are giving is going to work in your favor, so please incorporate it. A year removed would be something I’d notice but people have all kinds of reasons (family, health, money, etc.) for a gap like that. I wouldn’t pry, but others might. When you refine your portfolio, an agency internship may be possible. But, take whatever you can get. If you want to be focused on one area of design, get that experience as early as you can. For example, two years of experience as a designer at a marketing agency doesn’t carry over to a packaging or branding agency.
I'll be honest, no it's not good enough for a junior design position in NYC. Possibly an internship somewhere else, but that doesn't mean that you can't improve. My suggestions: Your site has multiple spelling and grammar mistakes. This would be an automatic no to me. It should be polished and putting your best foot forward. Get someone to proofread your stuff. The quality of the site is not high enough to be using it as a portfolio. I would instead use a site builder so that it is usable on all devices and doesn't have mistakes since I can tell you are not able to position things correctly using CSS. For example the "Flags" page. The header text Flags is not aligned with the text below it. Don't just show mockups - show the flat design work as well so people can see the details. Personally when hiring I don't care about any mockups. I am wanting to see that you actually understand design fundamentals. There aren't any actual details about the purpose of the project, the needs of the client and how you came to your design decisions. The leading needs to be adjusted on every page. It's way too tight. For your editorials page - you're using drop caps way too much. If you want to break up large blocks of text, consider using a designed pull quote, graphic, etc. Your columns are also way too wide with not enough gutter between them and again the leading is way too tight. When using justified text, you should be paying attention as to not have rivers in your text. Lastly, I think that you are trying to put too much in your portfolio. I would select 3-4 projects, really flesh them out and get creative feedback on them, then get them up on a usable site with proper explanation into the design process for each.
Some commentors have given you really great advice. But why in the world did you make the Boston Red Sox logo black and yellow? The team is called the red sox. The socks need to be red. Same with the Patriots? I'm not even a sports fan and I had a bad reaction to it. It really highlights your lack of brand research which could be taken as a huge negative for any recruiter looking at your book.
I mean I had to make a sacrifice somewhere to make it fit the project. I'd rather have the Red Sox be black, as silly as it is, than have a red bear (not to mention I already had plenty of red designs.) https://preview.redd.it/kge2rm88d27d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be3487361e303d1d6d5a8b32fb1678978dbdaa9e Plus it's not like the red Sox themselves aren't afraid to get weird with it.
This is part of the problem though, you are forcing the solution to fit the project/narrative. If this was the assignment for school that’s great, but as a portfolio piece, not what hiring managers want to see.
Hi! Others have given a ton of feedback, but my catch was that "original" is misspelled in the block for your typeface. Your work is great, good luck!
🤦 goddamit That's an embarrassing blunder; I don't know how I missed that. Thanks for pointing it out!