Newbie here... questions about Flash

[flash_newbie]

Hi folks :cool:

What is the most valuable or application skill sought by people hiring designers today?

I'm a print designer that is quickly learning that I need to make the leap to web-based design if I want to make any more money...

I know HTML pretty well, and I can do *some* basic stuff in Flash, but I don't know ActionScript (and from what I've seen, it's pretty frightening), and have tried before to learn Dreamweaver, but I always end up frustrated, as it's not the most user-friendly app...

Any insight/advice is greatly appreciated...

Robert

****I've found some stuff on here already, so if I need to delete this post out of of courtesy, please just let me kn ow... thx!

[CkretAjint]

Hi folks

Hello, and welcome!

What is the most valuable or application skill sought by people hiring designers today?

Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Quark, and web based work. No 1 program is lusted after more then another. People are looking for more of a jack of all trades then a person with 1 skill set.

I'm a print designer that is quickly learning that I need to make the leap to web-based design if I want to make any more money...

Not true. Web design does have it's place, but print will always be needed.

I know HTML pretty well, and I can do *some* basic stuff in Flash, but I don't know ActionScript (and from what I've seen, it's pretty frightening), and have tried before to learn Dreamweaver, but I always end up frustrated, as it's not the most user-friendly app...


Action scripting is like HTML, only in a different language. You just have to learn the language to understand it. Yes, that takes time and patience! Dreamweaver is a good program to know, but shouldn't be used as a crutch. It should ENHANCE your design and coding, not be the entire basis of it... With Dreamweaver, what you see is what you get.

[tZ]

HTML being compared to actionscript is like comparing a car to a watermellon.

If you think HTML is difficult then you'll probably just about want to break the computer when learning actionscript.

[CkretAjint]

HTML being compared to actionscript is like comparing a car to a watermellon.

If you think HTML is difficult then you'll probably just about want to break the computer when learning actionscript.

*shrugs* I kind of agree now that I think about it, but I kind of dont. I completely get actionscripting, but HTML is like chinese to me...

[tZ]

thats really weird… you should see a doctor about that.

[CkretAjint]

eh... gonna crack open some books on HTML coming up and see if I am missing something and try and learn it. It's a nice skill to have!

[tZ]

Maybe I'm just naive but, I don't think I would have ever grasped OOP if I hadn't learned HTML to start. HTML is so… straight forward and well… javascript, actionscript, php are so… not. Then again they are completely different so that could be it to. I mean… you don't need to worry about function or method calls everything is just there. Which, yes does make it kind of limiting but, thats html. Sometimes restrictions are good – less to learn and less that can go wrong. In HTML its normally just a syntax error in OOP it could be anything including that.

[flash_newbie]

I'm really just wondering what, if anything, I might need to polish up on in order to be more appealing to a prospective employer... I have almost 20 years of print design experience, but it seems as though print designers are becoming extinct in the market today... correct me if I'm wrong...

...and out of the various and sundry web applications/disciplines, which one (if any) are the most appealing?

[Cahenz]

This is actually (one of many) areas of frustration for me. I'm constantly checking out what jobs are available to designers and it's becoming very obvious that the days of people focusing on either print or the web are gone.

Unfortunately, having knowledge of the web doesn't seem to be a guarantee of more money. Most the jobs I see pay what I'm making now, but require you to know as much about print design as you do web design (and often be bilingual). Wow...great...I have to spend money on courses or books so I can keep running on the career gerbil wheel and make the same wage I make now. How compelling.

Don't get me wrong, I love web design and respect the brilliant and talented folks who can do that. It just irks me that it's now a requirement to know programming, when many artists just don't have that sort of left-brain-dominant skills.

All this goes back to my main thesis that graphic designers (especially young ones) are giving away our skills at such a cheap rate that it's poisoning the entire industry. Pretty soon our official titles will be "art whores".

[flash_newbie]

Oh, my bad - that's what I meant to title my thread! :D

Pretty soon our official titles will be "art whores".

[Cahenz]

Oh, my bad - that's what I meant to title my thread! :D

Heh heh. I've often threatened to make that the title on my business cards.