Any graphic designers going from print to interactive?

When you say interactive design do you mean web site creation, or something more specialized?

I don’t know if this fits your need, but I worked for a global corporation in the training dept. Half of the staff was instructional designers that designed, developed and deployed online training. In the past few years, they have really enhanced the training with audio, video, and a lot of interactive stuff. For example, we used a contractor to help develop a revenue management simulation and another to build an interactive customer service training program that was much like some Wii games.

yes, web design, mobile apps, user interface… all that cool stuff

As a designer who does both print and web I have found that I can design and develop relatively straight forward web site on my own. I have taught myself HTML and some JavaScript and have found it very satisfying in a different way than print. You just have to realize that a web site is never really “done” it is always changing. Which can be a nice revenue stream if it doesn’t drive you crazy. :)

For larger project such as mobile app and web sites that are database driven I have found the need to partner with a developer who can write the code to support my design. I’m sure that there are those who very good at both, but learning how to program is a whole level of difficulty beyond HTML and CSS.

The good news is that if you own the Adobe Suite you may already own Dreamweaver and that will be a good foundation to start learning on.

I love print and interface design, they’re constraints and compromises are different and that keeps it interesting, those times when I’ve just done one or the other I got board.

Hope this helps. :)

I seen a number of folks go through the process of converting to digital, some young, some older. I, myself, started doing creative work for ad agencies long before the digial age took over, and I though I’m a writer/producer, not a graphics person, I had to do some learning myself in order to work with and manage such types. It’s easier for some more than others, but it’s an switch and adjustment you really have no other choice but to make, and it will profit you greatly to make it.

graphic is graphic. For interactive technologies an additional skill set is needed.

In addition to web, there seems to be a trend towards more infographics and visual ways to display complex information, simply.

The shift from catalog work to web retail is not that difficult. It’s helpful learn about usability and wire frames, which is essentially like doing a paper comp and a pencil layout in the old days, only you do it in visio. I wouldn’t say graphic is graphic, but good design is good design. Like anything, there are nuances to both designing and production, and you have the added perk of making things move thrown in.