In my opinion, Learning Portfolio is a useful electronic tool to demonstrate your university work to demonstrate your progress in a reflective process. It is a place to collect and reflect student work that is achieved during their classes in a blog-like format. It can give viewers an understanding of your thought process and aesthetic. I however find this tool in many ways limiting because of its lack of user friendly functions. Most students choose to use it solely when asked or required by teachers as a way to collect student work or demonstrate progress but at the same time find it restrictive because of it being more of a task than a freeing reflective process. Unlike normal portfolio websites, the website allows only certain layout and setup of your work making it hard to make it more customized and focused on your own style. During my education in Parsons, I have used the website in select classes to show some of my visual work for specific projects helping demonstrate my process. It provides teachers with a more accessible way to view the students’ work. It is a helpful tool to act as a process portfolio that documents a student’s growth during the semester and often is required to be turned in by several different teachers at various different periods of time during the semester. The Learning Portfolio allows teachers, and other external viewers to understand the student’s progress which in some ways can be a satisfying experience for both the teachers and the students. The reflective process of submitting your work can help analyze your own work. Having such method as a student reflection upon the work provides a variety of different interpretations. Some students choose to be concrete and narrow while others are more interpretative and complex with finding a more creative way to organize their work within the page. This helps demonstrate an outcome to explore the meaning of their ability. Although I think the original intent of the portfolio to be a personal assessment, and a reflective process, I think that its features and functionality has lead it to being viewed as a “homework” requirement rather than a adaptive method to record progress.

Some students find the Learning Portfolio helpful to explore one’s personal narrative and analyze their own work to see their future self in a wider context as a professional and designer. It is a way to document one’s performance and work in the design field as well as for academic fields such as writing, communication and other fine arts. I think this feature has been increasingly asked my teachers to force students to document their work and to create a visual sample of the work for in the future it is an important aspect for our professional career. I however think that one can argue saying that learning does not happen when portfolios are used as a collection and an organization device, that a student does not create a thoughtful way of choosing to represent their accomplished work in an enriching manner. I think that people should begin looking at the website as less of an intent to reach the teacher’s demand through constructing a scrapbook of course assignment and work throughout the semester and more of an organized documentation of growth gaining professional knowledge and skill. They should use this method as a way to reflect and unify a developmental process. I think teachers should begin to use the tools in a less limiting way that does not aim to show the work created in specific project where there isn’t a right or wrong way to demonstrate ones’ progress. Instead it should be a more self reflective process, allowing one to learn more of themselves through looking at their work in a different eye. This is a developmental tool that can certainly help drive students to begin to think of documenting work and self reflect. For many people who are uncomfortable or shy to demonstrate their work, I think this is a pivotal step to force one to document and share their work. For many people, this concept can enhance their learning and also provide teachers with a different way of viewing the students’ work. If the Portfolio was more customizable and restricting, I think that more students will find it useful and an innovative tool to display their work. If students’ avoid thinking of it solely as a task and more of a self reflection of personal growth, they will be more enriched with the process. Learning Portfolio hence builds upon a designer’s larger professional career. We need to begin to be more open to displaying and reflecting upon our work. Today many interviews, and jobs ask for portfolios. This is an important stepping stone to begin that understanding and find a more effective and personalized strategy to display their work.

If I were to look at my own experience to the Learning Portfolio, I think that this method was helpful in the beginning to document my work. I began to explore different features and customized the website to better reflect my work. I later however found it restricting due to its very narrow approach of being divided into assignments or a blog like post rather than being a way to view or scroll through your student work. It makes it more of a homework oriented assignment rather than being a freeing process. My work in the portfolio revolves around specific projects hence divided as Project 1, Project 2 that documents each of the assignments, and process in each of the class rather than being a freeing way to show my entire class work. I tried to play with the design in Photoshop and Illustrator before uploading onto the website to make it more interesting but still find it unappealing way to demonstrate work. I prefer to create my own portfolio pdf where I choose select works that helps demonstrate my skill and progress.

Reflection:

Ritika Ramesh is a BFA Fashion Design student who originates from India but resides in Indonesia. Her designs pertains towards a more cultural exploration where she interprets in a different way due to her lost roots. Although she is Indian, she doesn’t relate to her Indian heritage. Her work in this portfolio reflects a variety of exploration of color and details playing with different fabric to explore construction. Her primary interest leans towards knitwear and womenswear. She enjoys working with different fabrics and explores fabric treatments from a more organic process to using her childhood, travel and culture as inspiration.

Being a third culture child, my artwork depicts different cultures and different places.   I don’t consciously create my artwork. They are just reflections of my thoughts and are greatly influenced by the experiences of the environment around me.  Sometime it just takes a moment to sketch my experiences, sometimes I keep pondering and analyzing things I saw to process them into an artwork. 

I did not take art during my High school, and neither I had time to pursue my artistic interests due to my academic commitments.  But these months after high school have significantly helped me to sharpen my skills and nurture my thoughts creatively.   

I am a very emotional person and I love to show emotions in my artwork.  I begin with sketching my ideas, which starts with something vague, and abstract.  I then talk to people, read and research on paintings with similar thoughts. I then improvise my ideas as I gain more insight and knowledge about them. 

The second stage is to think about materials for my artwork.  I am sometimes so rigid about the materials I would like to use. I enjoyed working with paper mesh because it was easy to mould and I liked the matte effect. I am so comfortable working with acrylics, than poster or oil colors.  I try to move from my comfort zone and use different medium to avoid repetition and monotony.  Though the end result is satisfactory, I feel using materials I am at ease with would have given a better result.  Lately I have made some fashion illustrations, where I take inspirations from nature.  I enjoy doing them because I am able to visualize clothes I would like to wear.  Working with color pencils really amazed me.  I realized you can show different shades and depths using color pencils also.   

The course of study in Parsons will help me chase my passion to develop a career as a fashion designer. My ambition is to create my own fashion line and be recognized for my abilities. Although I am a drop of water in this big ocean I believe my skills and my desire for art and your guidance will help me reach my goal.