Dear Darren,

Before you is a formal reflection of the semesters class, what I learned, What I can improve upon and how I shaped my portfolio.

You might be wondering; “how does my portfolio demonstrate what I have learned in the class?”

One specific think I did learn in first production project related to timelines, was that being a minimalist is easier than organized chaos. What I mean by this, is that information that if crammed together, no matter how abundant with knowledge, people will be confused and uneasy. People much more prefer less information with less options. This discovery led me to create a very simple and easy to navigate cover page. I also choose direct and easy to read fonts. I attempted to make my portfolio seem modern and up to date but strayed away from anything that might seem too crazy or original. AS we learned in from “The medium is the message” new information of new styles is often rejected as “Antisocial”. Thus leading me to make something that would appear modern and with the times.  

As Far as layout goes I wanted to keep all information accessible from the same page. I avoided confusion by creating buttons that would send the guest to a new page (Within the same site) with the desired content. This would allow the viewer to read or enjoy the content without distractions. The only piece of content that I did not Use a button for was the Remix video. I thought it was important to keep this on the same page for two reasons. The first is because unlike a paper a video takes up a small space.  The second is because it offers a break in the monotony of buttons. I was also able to keep all content visible without the need for excessive scrolling!

You may also be wondering “Evan, to what extent does this portfolio demonstrate your ability to communicate in an effective way in different genres.” Although my portfolio is well designed and well organized, I did struggle with the different mediums. In one case I use Prezi one of my projects, this becomes difficult to integrate because Prezi is its own entity. For this I regret using it. This is perhaps my least effective uses of the portfolio because I had to use a link to allow guests access to Prezi.

Perhaps one of my prouder moments was the use of the cover page. I used this as almost a welcome page for new visitors. I wanted everyone who came to the site to know what they were looking at before technically getting to the portfolio. For this I used an image I took of a drafting machine on some of my work, this image alone tells a story without the need for much text. I used a photo with a single point perspective and overlaid a brown color over this top with added opacity to dull the images vibrant colors. This makes the images forms stand out more than distracting colors.

One of my strongest abilities is that of presentation, this is mostly due to my knowledge that presentation is everything. I have always understood to some fundamental level that presentation and design of information is often half the battle. This course has taught me many things, perhaps the most powerful was the reinforcement of effective presentation. This idea that the medium in which information is presented on can profoundly impact how the said information is interpreted. This reinforcement of my belief has been music to my ears since day one. In studio I have been mocked, disliked and insulted for my desire to push the ticket and package information differently. For this I thank you for educating a few of my classmates on the effectiveness of packaging.

Perhaps one of my weakest abilities is listening, I struggle sometimes with directions. Thankfully I often am ahead of the game and have more than enough time to correct coarse before deadlines. I believe this listening issue of mine derives from my excitement. My energy is what drives me ahead of the game, it is as if I leave the starting line before the directions are complete. Imagine a horse on a track waiting to take off, before the gun goes off the horse is already halfway down the track and approaching the finish line. That’s me. The good news is, I know I have this issue, and I take steps to make sure it does not affect my work. One thing I do well is ask a lot of questions. I make sure that before I leave the starting line I have asked and reworded questions sometimes 3 or 4 times, so I am absolutely sure that I make it to the right finish line.

Perhaps another article of interest in which I need improvement upon is my decision making ability. I often find myself torn between two good ideas or paths in which I must choose to go down. This leads to wasted time and inaction on projects. The good news however is that it derives from my desire for perfection. It is not so much that I am afraid of the path I will choose; it is that I will have small regrets of the choices I made. I have been making strives to become a better decision maker. In fact, just recently I read a book about leadership and one of the chapters was about decision making. I have been trying to implement these ideas into my everyday life, so far I have become a lot better.

Overall the class has been educative and fun. I have enjoyed your in class rants and comic mannerisms. It is one of the first times I have completely read every word in an all of the assigned books. The only thing that allowed me to do that was their content, they were insightful but more importantly pertaining to our majors more so than most other classes. The topics covered in this class are ones we are expected to just learn on our own. Thanks for the head start!

And thank you for the class.

Sincerely

Evan Lec