A Review of Online portfolio by Ben Hodgson

I can see where you're going, and the potential is there, however there are lots of changes that could help improve and help you on your way.

The font is the most obvious place to start. Try and avoid using Times New Roman, unless you can pull it off. It's one of those fonts that's great sometimes, but because it's used as the default font for everything, when it's used in situations like this it looks like it's a mistake. If you're going for a serif font similar to Times, try something like Georgia. If you want a Sans-Serif font, Arial/Verdana/Helvetica. I see from looking at the HTML version of the site that you're using CSS at least - good start - so using a font stack of nice fonts that will degrade across browsers/OS is easy.

I'd suggest removing the background box from the heading text at the top. It takes up far too much extra space. If you keep the colour similar to what it currently is, and change the font for a good bold heading font, it should cut through the black background without any trouble. Maybe consider rewording it too. You want your header text to be quick and punchy, something that would roll of the tongue if you said it out loud; 'Attention getting design for your personal or business needs' or similar would be quicker and more to the point.

I'm guessing that the empty space on the homepage is earmarked for something already? It looks the perfect spot for some featured/latest work, or perhaps a twitter feed.

I'm not keen on the way the page just stops at the bottom. It feels like it needs a footer, even if it's one that just says 'Copyright 2010 Lindsay Montgomery', just something that will round off and complete the bottom. The way it just stops at the moment looks like the site is unfinished or the page loading has stalled.

The portfolio page is unbalanced. On the top four sections you have that big gutter to the right hand side, yet the web section goes all the way across the page. Maybe consider a four column layout, with the top four sections side by side with 3 thumbnails per row. Also prioritise your portfolio by your speciality. The fact that you have taken time to write blurbs for your webdesign says to me that it is the area you are most interested in? In that case, stick Web at the top and have the other four underneath. Have a section at the top for a featured piece of work, something you're really proud of and want to show off.

The same applies to the contact page, it only takes up half the page and leaves that big empty space to the right. Perhaps a column on the right that explains a bit more about contacting you, whether you're currently taking on freelance work etc...

The portfolio page could also benefit from a bit of introductory text, and maybe some explanatory text too. Assume your visitor is somebody who has never heard of Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign. What is the difference between them? Consider combining those three into one 'Design' section, then simply say what piece of software was used in the caption on the lightbox. As well as filling out the page and engaging the reader a bit more, more text is always good for search engine placement.

Definitely agree with one of the previous critiques that mentioned styling the form.

Good start, some potential, just needs a bit more attention to detail.

(Edit: Regarding my font comments, just noticed you're trying to use Georgia already. For some reason it's defaulting to TNR on my machine even with Georgia installed.)