Hi all, I really need your opinions... I work as a Flash Animator full time and do freelance jobs on the side. I'd like to do more freelance but I'm having trouble focusing on what types of work to target. Right now I do websites, graphic design, flash animation, photo editing, illustrations, 3D...a bit of everything! I want to build my portfolio futher but I find I get very unmotivated to create art/animations for it when I have so many different things I want to work on or try out, so I end up doing nothing! I wish I could focus my energy on just 1 or 2 types of work! I don't know which jobs to focus on - I like them all. Have any of you felt this way? Which are the most marketable jobs? Which should I focus on? Is being a "jack of all trades" a good thing or a bad thing when it comes to multimedia work? Your opinions are greatly appreciated!
while it's important to understand and be able to do everything to some level of proficiency, I would look at what you enjoy doing most and what makes the most money, and specialize in those. It's great to be able to do other things, and important when you need to hire another person to do them so you can focus on what you like to do, but I'd say Flash development is certainly something that a lot of designers either do well or not at all. If you can do flash and enjoy doing it - GO FOR IT.
It depends on your capabilities which differ from person to person, why ask people who dont know you.
bare in mind that the demand for different skills and abilities will always be changing in our industry. I would say learn everything so you have the basics, then focus on a particular side of the industry which is high in demand. EG. Right now it could be Flash with papervision, in 2 years time it could be Silverlight etc etc. Main thing is you should have an openess to learn new skills as they become in demand, and adapt. Of course if you are considered to be an expert in your field / industry. Then keep running with that niche, you will always be able to find work.
I would try to home in on what you like best, as you'll be most passionate about it when you are doing it a few years from now! I'm kind of spread out with graphics and web stuff, but I wish that I just stuck to graphics as it's more fun for me.
But does it put more bread on the table? I also love the be creative and experiment with new designs. However when your work is been judged by corporate clients, more often then not these will not impress the suits. I bet doing web design is more profitable for you then graphic design.?
I'm doing a 100% free time work on elance.com It's been a good month, and I can reap about $500 for a month. Dunno about your living cost, but here, it's more than enough money to live if you're single. If you're married, work harder and get twice is still possible. If you ask me, I love to learn a lot. I'm now trying to learn Joomla and PHPBB3 to expand my knowledge base. And hopefully there will be someone hiring me for the skill I learned soon. Joomla and PHPBB3 is a free software with a GPL license though, it's FREE to learn. Becoming a master of somthing is good if you're looking for a job. But if you want to be an entrepreneur, you should learn a bit of something on everything. That will be up to you to decide which one is the best for yourself. Cheers,