QUESTION: What is considered to be the essential skillset of a front-end designer?
QUESTION: If I wanted to combine my web background meaningfully with my animation interest/background, what sort of positions should I be looking for? Preferably ones that would actually let me animate.
Backstory…
I’ve been in the web game for awhile. Unofficially since around 1998 when I built my first very rudimentary websites and more officially since 2002 or so. I’ve worked freelance and for companies and done front-end design (HTML/CSS/Wordpress skins, etc.) and back-end development (PHP/MySQL). I would not say that I am a hard-core expert at either front-end or back-end web work, which is kind of my problem at the moment. The last three years I’ve worked as the Web Administrator for a large-ish not-for-profit which has mainly consisted of content management and consultation on new websites being developed by outside vendors.
Oh, and throw in that mix that I have a two-year diploma in Computer Animation which included everything from traditional/2D animation to 3D modeling and animation.
Now, while I have tried to stay on top of things in my current job, the web is an ever-evolving entity and my generalist skillset doesn’t seem to be quite as useful as it once was. At this point I know I’m going to need to specialize to some degree, but I am having a bit of trouble trying to figure out what the expectations are. I mean, yes… I have been reading job descriptions but even there it is hard to determine where I should be focusing my efforts.
If you wish to focus more on “animations” then you can always market yourself as an Interactive designer then just a web designer. Interactive implies you specialize in either usability or how a user interaction is designed. Two key pieces in web animations. Unless of course when you say animations you are talking about traditional 2d cartoon style animations.
Your “generalist skillset” is describing more of a strategy and creative manager roll. This is actually how I started. I have a traditional education in media design and usability but early in my career started leaning more towards programming to make my designs function. This slowly evolved into a marketing manager and strategy roll, because of my experience in design as well, where I oversaw both designers and programmers and then into a creative director position where I oversee both online and offline marketing departments.
Everything depends on what you want to do in 5 or 10 years. Do you want to be focused on a single aspect of an overall business strategy (online, IT, advertising, etc.) or a more overall strategy role where you don’t have specific area expertise but understand the tools available in each area?
If you want to work with animation on the web I would aim at the Flash and Silverlight market. There’s loads of positions out there for building interactivity and animation through those platforms and many websites make extensive use of them (whether it’s a good idea or not).
