Graphic Designer - Refresher / Re-boot query

bkrzero

New Member
Hello

Im new to the forum, (my story, in brief) Ive been designing for lots of years – I went to art college for my BTEC National in 1993, followed by my HND Design Comms, and since have been mainly working in print. Ive had jobs at sign fitters / maker / printers designing all manner of artworks for all manner of applications, as well as the a local newspaper in the ad dept, working on spreads & ad layout, these types of things – with no web work, as it seemed to me & others I know, that a choice had to be made, and I followed where my experience was at the time.

My question, or request for advice (please) is can anyone advise what Ive missed? - as it feels like I have somehow, through taking that route & working predominantly in Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark (when artwork & files came in on disc) etc.. if im honest I feel that I shied away from the net, although I have worked with web developers etc.. to create online content, although cant program anything. I mention this, as most job advertisments now seem to want a designer to be print fluent, whilst being a pro-blogger & multi language programmer.

Id love to get back upto speed with myself as I used to have so much drive & focus – or at least it felt that way - I still put designs & work together that I love but wondered if there was any specific software or ways of working that you can recommend to me please? (or links that you get lots out of, I need to re-apply my mindset, as Im currently working in the I.T side of a civil engineering firm, which is demanding but not in the way my artwork was/is)

Many thanks in advance
 
With your background I'd say look at learning about 'online/digital' magazines, that seems to be the way things are developing at the moment.

As to job descriptions... it's pretty normal these days, they seem to want jack of all trade emplyees unfortunately... even if the skillsets are completely different ends of the design spectrum.
 
Certainly as Levi mentions, those descriptions are the norm nowadays, even when they ask for totally unrelated things just to save a paycheck at the end of the month. However, it is very good that you want to remain updated with the new trends. You may look for great design courses on Coursera that may help you to get started.
 
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