Recently, the biggest change for students should be the way of learning. It has been two weeks since we changed from face-to-face teaching to online teaching. Do you still adapt? Have you tried and found that online classes are not as difficult as you think, and even interesting? Today, we interviewed Mingxuan, a student who won the Grand Slam of offer from Edinburgh, Goldsmith, Manchester and other top art schools, to share her online learning experience and become the exclusive secret of "offer harvester".

　　 Trainees of the whole online portfolio training

From Nanyi to natural light, Mingxuan never stopped her pursuit of ultimate visual expression. The presentation of four works in two years. From the aesthetic and meaningful artistic conception of ancient poetry to the bizarre Oupu art; She used her own ideas in Study abroad in visual communication On the way, she continued to explore, showing the real art aesthetics she believed in to the public. The bold material breakthrough and the interdisciplinary embodiment of various visual modes make Mingxuan's success inevitable. However, the obstacles of time and space have become less mentioned under her persistence in studying. Mingxuan's success is not a fluke.

　　 Do you have basic courses in natural light? What is the preparation process of the portfolio?

At the suggestion of my teacher in Beijing, I took three basic classes of portfolio. These three basic courses let me understand the concept of works collection and art study abroad, and I also learned the art of collage. At first, I thought I had a certain foundation and didn't need to take basic courses. In fact, what I learned in basic courses was very helpful to the production of later works!

My portfolio class started relatively early. I started the production of my first project in the second semester of my sophomore year. In the middle, because of participating in an overseas study project of the provincial government scholarship, the collection of works was suspended for a period of time. But later in my senior year, I overthrew the project and redone it, so in fact, starting too early has its drawbacks. Later, I will feel dissatisfied with it. I still think it is appropriate to prepare the work collection at the beginning of my junior year and senior year.

The experience of studying abroad in the middle of the Lunyi summer class also helped me to prepare my portfolio. At that time, I took a course of Pure Art and Graphic Design. The difference between Pure Art and Visual Communication described in the course of Pure Art was very enlightening to me, and it was also reflected in my later works.

Mingxuan's Collected Works Poetic Moss

　　 How many items are in your portfolio? What are the themes respectively?

There are four items in my collection of works. The first one is an experimental book on mosses. I gave moss four symbolic meanings, namely poetic, melancholy, vitality and loveliness. The quality of these four kinds of mosses comes from Chinese classical poems about mosses. I collected these poems about mosses and compiled a collection of poems belonging to Chinese mosses based on European visual poems. Under such form and picture design, readers can understand the meaning of poetry even if they do not understand the written language.

The second project is the installation art of "invisible city". This concept comes from a novel by a writer. I imagined the city according to the content of this book, made a device, and then upgraded the device visually, aiming at discussing the problem of urban convergence.

The third project is a brand design about color perception. This concept comes from an artist named Olivier Eliasson. I made a dynamic poster of brand design from the weak visual difference between people's "multiple reflections" and these shadows.

The fourth project was completed in the interdisciplinary workshop in Beijing, with the theme of "freedom of dressing". At the beginning, we wanted to express a critical point of view, but in fact, later we all thought that there was no absolute freedom of dressing in the world, so we finally chose a more open theme. We simply show the phenomenon of freedom of dress, hoping to attract people's attention. The final presentation of the work is in the form of exhibition materials and an interactive video of interactive design.

In addition, when I submitted my works to the school, I actually submitted a total of seven works. Four of them are my portfolio projects, and I have also attached three other projects during school to ensure that everything is safe.

I think that students can choose as many works as possible when delivering collections of works without the number limit set by the school, so that they can show their abilities to the school more comprehensively!

　　 Are these three works in school the usual homework of the school? Or is it the complete big class homework that you did during school?

I selected the big assignments I handed in for three of my major courses during my school years. In fact, the concepts are similar, including book design, brand design and illustration design. Because professional grades and grade points are very important when applying for graduate students, I did not neglect the school's curriculum because of the preparation of my portfolio. Generally speaking, it is carried out and completed at the same time on both sides.

Mingxuan's Collected Works Puzzied City

　　 In the process of creating your portfolio, which project takes the longest time and most energy?

Alas, in fact, I think I spend a lot of energy on each project. For example, my first project, the book installation about moss, was done earlier. After I finished it, I was not satisfied with it, and then I completely overturned it and did it again, so this project took a long time.

The device made in my second project is relatively laborious. In this project, I used the combination of specimen box and magic cube. Rubik's cube means convergence. I think the trend of urban development in China is becoming more unified, and the differences between cities are becoming smaller and smaller. So I imagine the city as a Rubik's cube. In the Rubik's cube game setting, different faces are turned into the same face. This is what I think the Rubik's cube and the city have in common. However, the specimen box means disappearance. In the process of urban convergence, some characteristics of the city will disappear, such as the traditional culture of ancient buildings, snacks, etc. So I made films of the relevant photos of the city, and then poked them in with a specimen needle. This link is particularly energy consuming. I often feel that I have dug a lot of holes for myself, but finally I have to work hard to fill them.

The third project was to make dynamic posters, but I didn't know it at that time. But at the teacher's insistence, I still spent about a month to learn software. Learning ae makes me feel particularly successful, because it is an additional skill for me, and it is also helpful for the presentation of my collection of works.

　　 What difficulties did you encounter in the process of making your portfolio? How did the teacher help you solve it together?

Teacher Guo, who taught my portfolio, and I both liked the theme of the third project. Teacher Guo also gave me great help on this project. In fact, the theme of this project is about color perception, but the concept of color perception is very scientific. I once felt that I could not complete it and wanted to give up, but I insisted on it with the encouragement of Mr. Guo.

Mr. Guo took me to consult a lot of materials, finally found a small point, and finally insisted on completing this work. It is worth mentioning that this point finally helped me to apply for Goldsmith, and I wrote it into my graduate study plan. Because color is a concept combining subjectivity and objectivity, people see a color subjectively, but objectively it is not the color itself, but the reflection of light. So when everyone looks at the same color, everyone feels different. In fact, I really appreciate that Teacher Guo forced me to find this interesting point.

Mingxuan's Collected Works

　　 Which of your portfolio projects do you like best? Why?

I like my third project best, because the inspiration of this project comes from my favorite artist, Olivier Eliasson, and this project also allows me to discover a very new field - color perception. As for the theme of color, there was a period in history, which was the peak of Oupu art. All painters were "locked in" the studio to study optical phenomena. Everyone also abandoned the art of representation and turned to study color.

But there are only a few people who really study color. One of them is Joseph Abes, who later became Yale University Head of Design Department. Also included is Japan's Mitsuo Katsui, architect Le Corbusier. I found that color is really researchful. From architecture to graphic design to pure art, it is not just a product of plane, or even a visual thing. The people who can really study color to the extreme are often the best in the industry. It happens that the domestic color field is also relatively small. This time, the production of the collection of works also allows me to find a starting point for my future learning direction.

　　 Are your courses completed in the form of online lessons? What do you think is the difference between online classes and offline classes?

I completed the first three projects online, and the fourth project was a summer workshop for interaction design and graphic design cooperation in Beijing.

For me, the difference between online classes and physical classes is that due to the limitation of time and space, the teacher's control of time is relatively tight in the early stage of making physical classes, and it is often impossible to spend too much time to do research and concepts in the early stage freely. Similarly, due to time constraints, it is easier to communicate with teachers face to face in real teaching. For ideas and concepts, online teaching is relatively free and relaxed, and is not subject to geographical and time constraints. Relatively speaking, they are more free and open, and teachers will deepen and improve their works with themselves according to the time.

　　 Do you have any difficulties in learning the online course of natural light? How did you overcome them?

In fact, when I think about it now, there are not too many difficulties. The teacher of the collection of works of natural light is very conscientious and responsible. There is no difference between online classes and offline experiences. My cooperation with the teacher is also very tacit. I think it is very important to learn through online teaching. Personally, because I trust the teaching quality of teachers in Beijing, I choose online teaching. The whole process of online portfolio teaching, with the active cooperation of teachers, is totally free of the pressure of methods for me. Screen sharing allows teachers to see my homework in real time, and teachers can respond to relevant guidance and suggestions in a timely manner.

Consciousness is the most important requirement of online portfolio training courses. Weekly portfolio coaching should show teachers your development and progress in a week. Only in this way can we keep pace with the teachers and communicate and cooperate with each other in a timely manner. Most of the time, no matter how hard the teachers try, "slacking off" again and again will only make the "generation gap" between students and teachers grow, so that the project time is tight and even miscarriage.

As for the choice of online classes and offline classes, it all depends on the students' personal situation. The advantage of online classes may lie in the convenience of the site and equipment, while offline classes need to prepare some practical equipment independently. But this has little effect on me.

　　 What advice do you have for the students who are facing the impact of the epidemic recently?

I think the most important thing of online portfolio training class is self-consciousness, and then we should cooperate well with the teacher. When you find what you want to do, you must persist in doing it. In the process of doing works, you must constantly deny yourself until you find the most appropriate method.

At the same time, I also need to develop in many ways, read more books to broaden my vision, and show my ability in application. As long as you have higher requirements for yourself, there is not much difference between online and offline.

Although Mingxuan already has a good plane foundation, we still arranged three basic courses for her, because there is a certain gap between overseas colleges and universities in terms of teaching methods and the preparation of works collection. In the teaching of basic courses, we will guide students to use the thinking of overseas art creation to spread ideas and change ideas. Therefore, it is necessary to properly understand the characteristics of the college and the mechanism of production and submission of the portfolio before starting the preparation of the portfolio.

Mingxuan is also a very excellent student. He is modest in his study and not arrogant or impetuous. In the process of production of the collection of works, we have always been brave to try different ways, optimize the design effect, and even overthrow our own ideas, which is very rare.

Secondly, in terms of online classes, Mingxuan also showed a high degree of adaptation and recognition of teachers' teaching. In the article, she repeatedly mentioned that the key point of online class is consciousness.

Is there any difference between online portfolio training and offline teaching? The answer is yes. But the difference is not negative. Many students hesitate about the teaching effect of online classes because they do not understand the reason. But in fact, online and offline classes have only changed in the form of teaching, and the core and key teaching content, duration and quality are completely consistent.

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