i'm not sure what your abilities are, but one person can't handle projects that size - especially someone new to the business. there are people capable of doing everything, but they can't do it fast enough. when people drop big $$ on projects like that, they're buying good work with a good turnaround. no one person can architect, design, develop and test as fast as 2 or 3 specalists can.
if you want to develop skill, practice. practice like crazy. but one thing i've learned is you'll develop a stronger skillset much faster if you actually design within restrictions instead of just following whatever's popular with "company name here". design is about communication. good design isn't just looking pretty, it's being effective (IE clearly communicates design subject message to user/viewer), while not looking ugly - and when you can, throwing in cool technology/styles.
givign my school assignments context is what enabled me to come out of school with a strong portfolio and begin my career before i even got my diploma.
when my profs said "your assignment is to make design a code a web site' i sat down and defined who i'd be making it for, what i'd be making and i'd define attributes about the company and what my solutions would offer them: i modernized the london humane society's logo to appeal to a younger audience so kids will be attracted and persuede their parents for pets instead of video games... i did x, y and z in the site design to continue this theme, while i also did a,b, and c to satisfy the parents once their kids dragged them there looking for pets.
my stuff looks a lot stronger when people read that vs what everyone else in my class did: 'i made a blog design for my web class'.
who sounds like they know what they're talking about?
Threaded Mode
Forum Contains New Posts 
Forum Contains No New Posts 
Forum is Closed