Required for this brief was an A3 printed portfolio, a photobook (from either Blurb or Vistaprint) and a pdf of our portfolios, portfolio commentary and evaluations.
For my A3 portfolio, I did not print on the quality of paper that I should have, making it appear very lacklustre and quite subpar. I think I have managed to scrape the bare minimum with my portfolio, displaying some of the pieces I did not want to represent me. Another point to make is that many of the pieces included in my portfolio appear quite pixelated which has further lowered the quality overall and making it look cheap and not that of a HE student.
I took a lot of time work on my photobook before I sent it off to print as I wanted to polish off older pieces and make some new ones, especially to appear more professional and orderly. However, since coming back from Berlin I had still not sent it off, leaving not a lot of time before the estimated due date of arrival. I chose to go with an A4 book as this is my first time making and ordering one, so whilst square did look nice for displaying certain pieces, a lot of my work is done on A4 - A3 portraits, so making the fit in to my book would have been tricky.
For the pdf file of my portfolio, I struggled to print them in university. I was told that if I select them, go in to print and print them as a pdf it would be as easy as that but unfortunately I was unable to print them all as one pdf file as it would only offer to turn the first selected image in to a single pdf. When I eventually did get around to doing my portfolio, it was not in order and looked extremely underwhelming.
I did not get around to doing my portfolio commentary as I should have due to time limits and restrictions. I had left my portfolio commentary up until the last minute and failed to complete it before it was time to hand in, this is a very poor standard of work to be handing in and I am to blame for my own shortcomings.
I feel as though I have handled this unit as well as PPD and Work-Based Learning very poorly since getting back from Berlin, making very poor choices and showing very little effort amongst my work. This is a very crucial and important time to be making these kind of mistakes and it is regrettable to say in the least. I desperately need to get my shit together before going in to the third and final year and will be reflecting on this period to get a better hold of myself and how I stay focused.
SWOT
Strengths:
- 25+ pages in my portfolio and photobook
- Polishing and renewing old pieces
- Progression of new techniques
- Understanding tasks and what to prioritise
- Problem solving issues involving finance
Weaknesses:
- Terrible focus to stay on task
- Poor quality of paper to print on
- Poor time management
- Missing vital coursework
- Lack of self-awareness
Opportunities:
- Make a timeplan
- Write up a check list beside timeplan
- Find a quiet place where no distractions can cut in to coursework
- Work for an hour every day until the deadline
- Check in with tutor and classmates to see where you should be up to
Threats:
- Not attending classes to receive important information regarding brief
- Setting unachievable targets and timeplans
- Not investing in quality
- Making a habit out of failure
- Not working towards improvement