New to graphic design, constructive criticism please!

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Hey guys, I have my heart set on being a graphic designer as i am excited by all forms of this art and typography, it really appeals to me.

I am hoping to sign up for Visual Communication course at university this september (for october 2009) and have read i have to make a portfolio.

Ok to the point.. I am very creative and spend all my free time trying to make new pieces, I have been uploading them to a blog I made recently, I was wondering if you would like to take a look and give me your thoughts for a semi beginner to take note of!! :D

be nice! :p

blog - http://ryanthomaskendall.blogspot.com
EDIT: Click the thumbs to see in full detail

thanks guys!
 
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shmendall
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I am taking this as good!
 
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I think your stuff is pretty cool. I'm a fan of muted color palettes. You have a good sense of design.

Unless schools in England are a lot different than here in the states, I don't think you'll have any problem getting into a graphic design course.

I shudder at the crap that was my portfolio to get into college 0_0
 
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You obviously have a great eye for colour and design! I started my graphic design course this year and I'm absolutely loving it. Good luck =)
 
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The unhappy turtle is awesome! The rest is good, but none of them made me 'wow'. I don't get why you don't align the letters horizontally in "experimenting with colour and type", it would look better I believe.

However, your work does look promising and I'm sure you make a big chance to get into a graphic design course.
 
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shmendall
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Thank you all for your opinions!

I am sure university will teach me all I need in way of skill, im confident I have enough creativity to go with that!

Ill keep practicing myself though, I find it a really good pass time and loosens me up from the stresses of my 'IT and CISCO' course.

thank you all
:D
 
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shmendall
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Quick question, for my course at university, should I be ok with a macbook, 2.4ghz, 160gb hdd 2gb ram, I am not worried about the screen space, i have a very large external monitor,

Will this macbook be ok for 2d editing?
(I am used to using a lesser 'specced' iMac)
 
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That should be fine althoguh you should consider the MBP as it has decent graphics unlike the MB.
 
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You need to work on your typography skills. http://bp3.blogger.com/_01U6YtS4rng.../s1600-h/starlight-talent-show-poster-web.jpg the body copy needs to be tweaked, the headline should go through some major kerning and overall in almost all of your pieces, you should try different font families.

http://bp1.blogger.com/_01U6YtS4rng...BU/RFTurgXYtPY/s1600-h/typog-attempt1-web.jpg
In this, I would've put the quotation marks right next to the body to create a better sense of balance and do something about how you did the layout there as it feels really bottom-heavy. Again, typography needs total revamping, as does anything I'm seeing that has copy.

Color-wise? Sure, it looks neat, but that's about it. Why were the colors chosen? What kind of atmosphere were you trying to get? I don't quite understand your personality being shown through these.

This is all coming from an art-director and copywriter.
 
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shmendall
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For the first of your comments, my actual technical skill and knowledge of rules/done things is zero (could you possibly point me in the direction of any good sites, forums, blogs?) so my mistakes are bound to happen but thanks for pointing them out. :)

Second thing, in that I tried to imitate a design I see frequently in local independently made music / culture magazines, obviously not taking into account such features of space and balance, again thanks for saying this, it is up there in my mind now!

Picked the colours because on their own (the yellow, blue and pinky colour) were relatively soft colours but matched next to the black I though looked quite striking. (I usually like softer pastelly colours).

again thank you!

EDIT: just to make it clear again, I've had no formal lessons on this all I can do is through looking at others and somehow trying to find my own way of doing it. (same with guitar!)
 
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Ryan,

Your work is very promising! You have a nice eye for creativity. As others have posted there are certain things that a professional might notice right away, but you have a talent worth exploring.

Good luck in University. Come back and show us your progress. Lots of very talented people here to bounce ideas and questions off of.

best,

randy
 
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hm

I think your stuff is a good start. I think that you may want to start simple? Try messing with just a basic 1/2 inch grid, and then move up from there. If you can make black font (white bg) look good, you should have no problem with color. I agree with prior statements about font families. Weird fonts become cheesy, unless used correctly. Overall like I said, I think it's a good start.
 
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You have a great sense of design and I can tell that you know what your looking for when you design something.
Practice is the only way to get better.
Honestly I liked all of it.
Great Job.
 

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