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I agree with @Luke concerning the design details that need a lot of work. In general, if I were looking for a designer and ended up at this page, I would probably run away in a few seconds. From designers you expect well designed websites that are elegant, original, etc. I do not get that "professional" impression from this concept.
I do like the simplicity of the navigation, structure and content, and the color scheme is quite original, although far from pleasant. My recommendation would be to study the portfolio sites of top designers and learn from them.
As for the actual content of your portfolio, I respect that you are new to field. But please do understand that this is what buys people into your service. Looking at some of the portfolio items my impression is that is barely rises above the level of the typical MySpace profile page. I know you are only just starting, but business is ruthless. I think you need to ramp up your skills very quickly if you are intending to make actual money.
I hope I do not come across as too negative, I just want to plant some honest advise here.
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Ferdy Christant commented:Lindsay, I'm glad you understand, I certainly did not mean to hurt your feelings. It is hard to pinpoint what exactly is wrong with the design, there is this magical 3 seconds when I first look upon a site in which I decide to stay or look further. In this case I would look further.
I think you could follow the many items mentioned by @Luke and that will greatly improve your current design. I would be curious about your latest work too. On your portfolio site, only display your best work, not your average or below average work. It is not about being complete, it is about selling your services.
As for the color scheme, I find it ugly but original. I don't recall seeing it elsewhere so it is definitely original. It does come across as very feminine, and if that is your audience, do ignore my opinion on it. If you're selling to a wider audience that includes men, I would first ask a few more men about it.
Finally, don't listen too much to your girlfriends. They probably are too close to you to tell you the truth ;)
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Ferdy,
Ouch! That hurt. I do see what you're saying though and appreciate your honesty. Maybe I should just go in a completely new direction? I'm not married to this design so I will see what else I can do.
The actual work on my portfolio is all about a year old now and I believe that I have improved a lot since then. I just haven't been good at all about updating it with new work, so I do agree with you on how it looks amateurish. And does the color scheme really look that bad? Maybe it's just guys who hate it as my girlfriends all said that they love the colors. I will work on correcting that.
Thank you for your feedback.