got a url for that portfolio?

I don't see a link? Maybe I'm just missing it?...

it's in lemon's profile, but it would be nice to post it here to save a click or to not lose people.

http://www.samanthahgregory.com/ I believe.

looks like, but you never know. The link in my profile isn't my portfolio, lol.

Not for design anyway.

wow.. sorry.. didn't mean to make things so hard for you all.. people do make mistakes .. and yes, it is www.samanthahgregory.com .. thanks again ..

You seem to be headed in the right direction. Realistically though, you are about 2 years of extremely hard work away from an agency (a good one).

Remember that graphic design even is 20% art brilliance and 80% hard work. Start picking up Archive, Graphis, CMYK, HOW and look at the award winning things there. Then pick up annual issues of the ONE SHOW and Young Guns and look some more.

THAT is the level you should be aiming for. About 5 years ago, my portfolio looked a lot like yours. Everyone said it was acceptable but I knew there were still things that I needed to learn. The magazines listed above were my greatest teachers.

Good job!

I hope that some specific comments about a few pieces will be helpful in some small way:

Sangiovese - By showing the press sheet instead of the assembled package, viewers are less able to judge the quality of the design; much better to assemble the package and photograph it... however, I think this probably a good package design... tasty use of colours and type placement.

Art for Lunch - The fleurons/corner decorations are quite traditional but the sub head says "contemporary artists"... the headline has a lot of leading; could that be tightened while the type size is increased?... the phone number seems out of place; while it may be of the same type family as the other sans in the poster, it is too heavy in comparison... but I can't help but like this design.

The Roman Villa - great colours... icon is of much heavier weight than type and is overpowering... is the icon a bird? seems quite chunky; could it be more elegant?... when the icon is reconciled with the type this will be a great design.

Pizza Chef - the two type styles are too similar and conflict/clash (especially the upper case P's); the type in Roman Villa is more successful... replacing the "a" with a tomatoe is contrived... the curves with which the stand is drawn are of uniform width with square ends; they look inelegant and out of place alongside the type... why are the curves of the upright/vertical part of the stand almost the same but just slightly different? it might look like a mistake...

For the sake of brevity, I've emphasized possible improvements rather than praise, but your work is promising... congratulations.

The website layout design appears very professional.

However, the technical application needs some work.

Everything seems to be done using images... even the text is imbedded in an image. This is making your site load pretty slow on my browser and much of the text is hard to read on my larger resolution screen.

Your site is quite simple in design and wouldn't take to much code to create without relaying on all image based creation.

What do browsers show if the images don't load?

Furthermore, the whole rollover thing you have going is looking very amauter (no offense). How the text turns into a button. It would appear much more professional in presence if ou were to just make the text a color resembling those on your banner (just an example).

Site design aside, a main dilema with your site is your links to larger images of work seem not to work... maybe its just my browser.

Beyond what everyone else has said, the only additional thing that bothers me about the site is where it is placed on the screen. There is something about it being centered horizontally but not vertically that bugs me. Try bringing it down into the middle of the screen.

Oh one other thing... There is a lot of white space outside your site. Try a different color that compliments your site. On a 21" monitor that much white is blinding.

Just my $.02

thanks to all who replied.. .. esp. the specific comments about the work.. I very much appreciate your views! everyones opinion is important to me.. good .. and the bad.. but I must say.. about the comment on my site itself.. I had mentioned.. I do not do web.. I have never liked it really.. I can code but am not fond of it.. I am def. going to lose the rollovers though.. they piss me off too and I am only in my first year and a 1/2 of school. I still have another 1 1/2 to go plus an internship.. so wherever the learning will take me.. Im excited to be apart of the business thanks again!