- Joined
- Jun 20, 2009
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
- Location
- Leeds, West Yorkshire
- Your Mac's Specs
- Macbook 2Gb Mhz, 2Gb RAM, imac 800mhz
As this is my first thread, firstly let me introduce myself and say a big hello to you all.
My name is Dan and I've been a mac artworker for over 18 years within the design/advertising/marketing industry for print and packaging in west Yorkshire, UK. I am by no means a novice when it comes to using a mac or the usual Adobe packages.
As a few people on here will have come to find over the past 12 months, and as a good old school artworker who has no aspirations to become a designer, the necessity to keep up with current trends and economic climate has forced me to now make the conscious decision to finally get some web application abilities and working knowledge 'strings added to my bow'. I know some of you are probably thinking quite rightly that I should have done this years ago, but having always been a permanent employee in various companies, it hasn't been necessary for me to pick learning DW and Flash up... until now.
As I have been using packages such as Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator and Quark since they first came out, I know full well that learning what I need to know from the books such as the Lynda.com and Peach Pit Press series, although fantastic as they are, are going to teach me more-or-less 2/3 more than I ever need know to do the jobs which I likely to undertake on a freelance level, and in some parts, stuff I will probably never use on a commercial level.
I'm hoping there are a few people out there who have already been where I am now and have got this relevant experience under their belt who can offer me some valuable advice when entering this side of the market. I feel that as a freelance artworker already suffering the blows of the UK recession, having a few more skills such as Dreamweaver and Flash to my list of abilities, more-so from the artwork side of the industry than the design side, may just tip the scale for securing more work.
Any advice for best and probably quickest solutions to this issue will be greatly appreciated. I may also add that 3-day courses at £800 are not an option as I am on a budget.
I have a few books that I picked up last year that I am hoping may be sufficient, as listed below:
Dreamweaver for dummies
Dreamweaver MX H.O.T. - Lynda.com
Hot to cheat in Flash CS3
Flash CS3 the Missing Manual
Flash Professional - Peachpit - Lynda.com
Flash Professional - Visual Quickstart Guide - Katherine Ulrich
A few I know but some were given to me and others were picked up after pretty good reviews.
I'd be interested to know how those of you who use DW and Flash now, commercial learned them. I've always taught people 'on-the-job' and simplified a lot of what the books unecessarily trawl you through for the sake of it.
Thanks guys - I hope my expertise in my areas can serve you as well as I hope this thread will serve me.
Dan
My name is Dan and I've been a mac artworker for over 18 years within the design/advertising/marketing industry for print and packaging in west Yorkshire, UK. I am by no means a novice when it comes to using a mac or the usual Adobe packages.
As a few people on here will have come to find over the past 12 months, and as a good old school artworker who has no aspirations to become a designer, the necessity to keep up with current trends and economic climate has forced me to now make the conscious decision to finally get some web application abilities and working knowledge 'strings added to my bow'. I know some of you are probably thinking quite rightly that I should have done this years ago, but having always been a permanent employee in various companies, it hasn't been necessary for me to pick learning DW and Flash up... until now.
As I have been using packages such as Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator and Quark since they first came out, I know full well that learning what I need to know from the books such as the Lynda.com and Peach Pit Press series, although fantastic as they are, are going to teach me more-or-less 2/3 more than I ever need know to do the jobs which I likely to undertake on a freelance level, and in some parts, stuff I will probably never use on a commercial level.
I'm hoping there are a few people out there who have already been where I am now and have got this relevant experience under their belt who can offer me some valuable advice when entering this side of the market. I feel that as a freelance artworker already suffering the blows of the UK recession, having a few more skills such as Dreamweaver and Flash to my list of abilities, more-so from the artwork side of the industry than the design side, may just tip the scale for securing more work.
Any advice for best and probably quickest solutions to this issue will be greatly appreciated. I may also add that 3-day courses at £800 are not an option as I am on a budget.
I have a few books that I picked up last year that I am hoping may be sufficient, as listed below:
Dreamweaver for dummies
Dreamweaver MX H.O.T. - Lynda.com
Hot to cheat in Flash CS3
Flash CS3 the Missing Manual
Flash Professional - Peachpit - Lynda.com
Flash Professional - Visual Quickstart Guide - Katherine Ulrich
A few I know but some were given to me and others were picked up after pretty good reviews.
I'd be interested to know how those of you who use DW and Flash now, commercial learned them. I've always taught people 'on-the-job' and simplified a lot of what the books unecessarily trawl you through for the sake of it.
Thanks guys - I hope my expertise in my areas can serve you as well as I hope this thread will serve me.
Dan