Website

This is something that I've been working on EXTENSIVELY. I've had my Aunt, who owns her own resume and portfolio reviewing company take a look at my work and give me tips to best display them and HOW to word things. I've come to realize that I am really bad at copy editing. I read over grammatical errors all the time and miss things! She caught a lot of things and worked with me on sounding myself, but more professional. 

She also worked with me on navigation and helping me with being more user friendly.

I wanted to keep my logo. I also wanted to include my photo, which I did on the landing page. I am a tad worried that it is a bit too goofy, but I also didn't want it to be static. I wanted it to be engaging and thought provoking. I could only do so much because I am not a strong coder. I was able to change a majority, but I can't do the "cool" things and java script that some people have on their portfolio sites. 

Otherwise, I am extremely happy with how it turned out! 

Again its: www.meganyulga.com

Portfolio site

My portfolio site is finally up and running!!

www.meganyulga.com

Aaron G

Aaron was a nice guy, but I literally fell asleep in his presentation. I think he had great ideas, but I didn't connect with him as a person and a designer. I don't think he would have constructive things to say as a professor. I thought his ideas were more concept based, rather than designing.

While talking to other students, they all thought similar things: he was dry, unengaging, and difficult to follow. I think those would be very difficult things on this campus. We are a very hands on school and someone like him being more reserved wouldn't sit well with the students.

Next Steps

What I need/want to do moving forward:

• Get online portfolio up
• Create a leave behind piece
• Create e-mailable portfolio
• Find ways to make points

What I've done as of now:

• Resume and Cover letter
• Business cards
• Thank Yous
• Design proposal
• Presentation portfolio 

Points:

• 2 in-class speaker reviews (5+5) 10 points
• Student Advertising Summit Conference in Minneapolis 40 points?
• 2 portfolio reviews? (I don't have the paper, but I have proof) (10+10) 20 points?

Beggining of Identity System

COVER LETTER (AND POTENTIAL LETTERHEAD), AND RESUME

 BUSINESS CARD, FRONT AND BACK

  PROJECT PROPOSAL  THANK YOU CARD (5 x 7) --ENVELOPE WILL BE STANDARD WHITE (5 1/4 x 7 1/4)

Presentation portfolio

I also have gotten my portfolio review by two Advertising and Graphic Design professionals. Both were from different agencies and were Art Directors.We only had 15 minutes, so I didn't have time to ask them to fill out the critique sheet for points, but I was hoping I could still get points for it. I can provide you with their cards as proof that they did it. We were in a line and were filtered through these professionals very quickly.

Main things they suggested:

Show my process

• What is the assignment?
• What is the problem
• Your thought process - how do you think?
• Thumbnail sketches
• How did the project evolve?

I was also encouraged to create a piece that they haven't seen. With everything online, chances are good that they have seen all my work. If you leave a little booklet behind showing your process or showing something that you didn't include in your portfolio - that makes a much larger impact.

I also need to work on proofing. Only but the finely curated work into your portfolios. Check for grammar, printing quality, etc. It must be perfect!

Also USE pictures. Take pictures of you work. It adds a whole new dynamic quality to your work. For example. I have some iPhone Apps. I can take the image up on my iPhone and take an image of the phone with the app being "used". This adds more of a visual pop.

They also recommended pushing line extension further. This is exactly what we are doing with the furniture project in Graphic Design 2 -- Push your design to show that you are thinking about how your solution can work in multiple mediums.

Overall -- I gained a lot of advice and am really excited to keep improving.

I will be working on my other portfolio pieces, such as a webpage during Spring Break. They were also very adamant about being social online. Write a blog. Join Facebook and Twitter. Show your future employers that you are thinking about the best possible ways to reach people and utilizing every tool available to you.

Student Ad Summit (March 2nd Conference)

On Friday March 2nd, I went to the Student Advertising Summit. I left feeling extremely overwhelmed and under prepared to graduate. A major theme of the conference was not what you know. Don't get me wrong, you definitely have to be creative, but a majority of the job search is who you know and how can they elevate you to where you want to be. I know nobody.

In order to get these connections that we NEED to have, they suggested buying coffee and learning about professionals at the organization you are targeting. They suggested targeting 5 key agencies that you see yourself in and meeting 5-7 people in each. Now, as you can imagine, this takes time and money. I have neither right now. I suspect that I will have to take a few months off of school in order to really target agencies that I want to be at. I need to start changing how I'm thinking and be strategic.

They also stressed a good portfolio. I got some portfolio tips that I've never heard before, and it was great to have my portfolio critiqued by a few individuals. The two that looked at my portfolio really had positive things to say! They loved my work and had extremely helpful suggestions. This part of the conference made me feel SO much better about the future. I was feeling uneasy and overwhelmed, and the fact that I am on the right track with my portfolio made me feel so so so much better.

Overall, the conference was extremely helpful and I gained more insight into the industry of Advertising and Design. I would suggest going for anyone looking to get into the Advertising industry - especially in Minneapolis!

http://www.ad2sas.org/