AIGA's Portfolio 1on1

If I had to sum up my weekend in one word it would be AWESOME! It was super busy and exhausting, but such a positive and fun experience. Friday morning the van left for Minneapolis at 8am. We ended up getting there super early and with the time to kill we decided to wander the streets of the big city. We eventually headed back, got registered and had an amazing lunch provided to us by Solera Restaurant. After the welcoming announcements we split up into smaller groups and ventured to our studio tours. My group got to experience Olive and Company, Morsekode, and Spunk Design Machine. They were all very unique and gave out lots of free goodies, but Spunk Design Machine wins for their beer and brats! After everyone made it back safely, I say this because one group got stuck in an elevator, but everyone made it back eventually and the panel discussion started. I came away from the discussion with 3 pages of notes, that are just full of great advice for the future. Our group decided not to stay for the social because many of us were wore out and knew we had to be up at 5am the next morning. I woke up Saturday more nervous than I was for any job interview. My first review was at 9am, with  Brandon from Sussner Design Company. He definitely calmed the nerves, it was very casual and he gave me so much positive feedback and constructive criticism that will become the basis for my new portfolio. My second review was not as helpful, he basically told me that he liked everything and that everything looked great. Well that is nice to hear, but as I was sitting there I was thinking to myself where is the criticism? and what do I need to work on? That is what I wanted to get out of the weekend and he didn't help with that. The third review was much like the first, I met with a lady who is a freelancer and so she has experience in multiple areas of design and that really helped. She too gave me great advice on how to enhance my portfolio and projects. Last but not least, I was worn out and I think she was worn out as well. The feedback started to become repetitive and it became harder to explain my work without explaining what I knew I already wanted to change about it. In between the reviews I attended a workshop and got many free samples from the French Paper Company! The day ended with a prize drawing and it was funny because majority of the students from UW-Stout walked away with something including me!!! Overall it was an amazingly beneficial weekend. I have a lot to revise and re-work, but I'm ready for the challenge of the blank page, it is exciting and I can't wait to get started!!