I know that there are hardly any jobs in print design. I posted this question because I want you opinions on what you think about the whole "Print is dying and Web is taking over" thing. I think it’s true. So how would you advise a graphic design student or graphic designer who just graduated?
As a designer who does both web and print I can tell you that print won’t be dead for a while you. It’s not that print is really dying, it’s just that web is growing so fast and evolving so rapidly, in comparison, print only seems to be dying all the quicker.
In any case, as far as Flash goes, most web designers and developers really aren’t as much of fans of it as we once were. The problem with Flash is the sites take longer to load, people tend to abuse and overuse the animation, it isn’t search engine friendly, and sites made in flash are more difficult to update. I think Flash is actually dying, or at least Flash as we use it today. With all the new developments in HTML5, JQuery, and CSS 3, you can still get almost all of the animation effects of Flash in a website, and it’s much cleaner, easier to produce, and less problematic for the user. So no, I personally wouldn’t say it’s important to learn Flash.
If you decide to go into web design, eventually it’ll be beneficial to learn a bit of Flash, but it shouldn’t be on the top of your learning priorities.
Best of luck in you career!! 
Print career can easily be converted to web;
however, print isn’t going away any time soon.
That said, if you are going to tackle Flash, I
want you to know up front that the market is very
competitive and you are going to have to learn
some programming to take the lead. Flash
uses a java-script like code to perform advanced
functions.
Start here.
http://sixrevisions.com/flashactionscript/flash_tutorial_websites/
Good luck.
-Greg
ps. email me if you need help.
References :
You have to decide where you want your specialty because graphic design is a pretty broad field.
Jobs in magazines and a lot of paperback books are probably going to decrease but the things that get printed are going to have a lot more focus on visual design. There’s also corporate graphics to think about: fliers, brochures, manuals & annual reports will still need to be printed. Restaurants will still menus, grocery stores will need package design, Ed Hardy will need ridiculous t-shirts illustrated &c.
Web is not the only place to look for work but if you decide to still be part of all the new stuff being pioneered online, keep in mind that a typical medium-sized design studio still separates their programmers and designers.
From what I’ve gathered, kids like us that are graduating now understand the internet on a level that designers ten years older than us don’t and when recruiters come by and say they are looking for designers with web knowledge, they’re not looking for programming skills; they’re looking for what we already have.
References :
As a designer who does both web and print I can tell you that print won’t be dead for a while you. It’s not that print is really dying, it’s just that web is growing so fast and evolving so rapidly, in comparison, print only seems to be dying all the quicker.
In any case, as far as Flash goes, most web designers and developers really aren’t as much of fans of it as we once were. The problem with Flash is the sites take longer to load, people tend to abuse and overuse the animation, it isn’t search engine friendly, and sites made in flash are more difficult to update. I think Flash is actually dying, or at least Flash as we use it today. With all the new developments in HTML5, JQuery, and CSS 3, you can still get almost all of the animation effects of Flash in a website, and it’s much cleaner, easier to produce, and less problematic for the user. So no, I personally wouldn’t say it’s important to learn Flash.
If you decide to go into web design, eventually it’ll be beneficial to learn a bit of Flash, but it shouldn’t be on the top of your learning priorities.
Best of luck in you career!!
References :
Graphic/Web Designer (8 years)