Verified answer

You've got some great work there! The only one that isn't a great fit is Number 8. Compared to the rest of the work, it's a little oppressive and color-intense. If you're just getting started as a designer and can't afford to remove #8, switch it with #7 so that viewers don't leave with memory of your weakest piece. And maybe desaturate the color of #8 for presentation purposes. It doesn't match the professional tone of the work as a whole.

The color palette issues may have been beyond your control...we've all had clients or other stakeholders who think they are qualified to art direct their own projects, often with disastrous results. But such is life in 'art city'. That's never going to change so you just have to work around it, at least until you have enough other work that you can drop it from your portfolio gallery altogether.

Other suggestions:

If you can't afford your own hosted domain and web site, sign up for free accounts at other portfolio sites to increase your visibility. Even a free WordPress blog site doesn't have to be only for blogging. Many designers have switched from hosted domains to WordPress with good results. Get a flickr account, too.

If you're just starting out, it's ok to do a little padding of your content by including additional zoomed closeups of your best work that focus on important detail that might be missed in the full-size version. Don't go overboard, though. One or two extra slides only. Too much will look like filler and will dilute the quality of the portfolio overall.

You demonstrate exceptional skill at logo design, a design task that is much harder than it looks. For most, there's a tendency to over-design logos or include too much detail. Knowing when to stop takes special talent and you seem to have it.

Best of luck,

kmr

You have a decent portfolio, I do like some of the designs you've done. However I do find your branding designs a bit too boring. Not to worry though because the rest makes up for it. You shouldn't have a problem in a getting a job :p

Very nice work Derek. I think the last two would be my choices for the weakest in the group. In my opinion, anything with a lot of text like those two are always tough to design. It's not that I think they are bad, in fact I think you did a pretty good job with them. But if the purpose is for a portfolio I would probably leave them out.

The Bennett Design or the first one is my favorite.

It is so nice it gives you chance to imagine any thing you want.

Good luck.