Everything you need to know for (online) Junior reviews
You’ve made it to Junior Reviews, congrats! This time around will feel much easier since you have already been through this process during Sophomore year. Due to reviews being online, all work will be turned in through Google Drive, and the Communication Design faculty will review your submission asynchronously. Feedback will be left on your completed review sheet, which you can view the next day.
Your Google Drive Folder
What to include
The Communication Design department will make and share a folder with you on Google Drive. Just like Sophomore year, this is where you will drop all of your work from the semester. But what exactly goes into this Google Drive folder Junior year? For the Fall semester, you will gather and organize all work from Information Architecture 1 and Graphic Design 2. For the Spring semester, you will include work from Information Architecture 2 and Typography 3. This includes your final projects along with a separate pdf for all process work for each project.
Naming
By now, you should be a file name naming expert! As you are preparing for reviews, your teachers may ask for your files to follow very specific naming conventions when you add them to your review folder. This ensures that your files are organized and will be viewed in the correct order in your folder. It also is a great idea to keep consistent naming conventions throughout the semester prior to reviews. If not specified by your teacher, current Junior Raquel Fioroti, suggests using the name of the project, version number, and the date (E.G. Daily Frustrations_01_10-12-20).
Timing
The night before Reviews does not have to be stressful! It is a good plan to start gathering your work together with plenty of time in advance of the review date. You have already have had first hand experience with this, but starting to collect and organize your work as you go along will ensure you won’t be scrambling the night before.
Review Tips From Previous Juniors
- Keep folders for each project organized from the beginning of the semester. This makes it so much easier to compile work for reviews.
- Keep naming conventions similar so that files do not get lost.
- Start right away on process presentations and add to them each week as you complete more process work.
- Back up everything! You can do this with an external drive and/or a cloud-based system such as Google Drive or DropBox.
- Pace your energy throughout the semester.
- Invest in creating thoughtful process presentations now! These can be used when you apply for internships and jobs soon.