Looking for a career on the cutting edge of information technology development? Think about web design. Web designers work to create sites based on the needs and goals of both the visitors’ persona and the organizations behind the site, bringing designs from concept to reality. A web designer combines type, graphics, animation, video, sound, and programming to create a complete multimedia experience for the web visitor. Web design is a cooperative process, where the web specialist may work with interface designers, marketing professionals, engineers, and computer technicians to complete a comprehensive interactive experience for all visitors. Increasingly, web designers need to create pages that are accessible to anyone, no matter what electronic device they are using. Web designers pay close attention to details including making the web site accessible to those with any kind of disability or special needs. Demand is strong for workers who are skilled in the design, development, and maintenance of Internet web sites. Jackson Community College offers both certificate and associate degree programs in web design. “Our program is pretty comprehensive, including all facets of web design, such as web site management, graphic design, web multimedia, and database programming to collect visitor information,” said David Fitzgerald, David Fitzgerald professor of computer information services.
With the rapid growth and change in the field, students must be willing to learn new software continually, and enjoy working on computers, which is where they will spend most of their time. If students can gain experience while in school, it will boost their job prospects when they graduate. Building a portfolio of one’s work is important when looking for that first job. “Design software programs are changing all the time. If a student is good with change, and they can stay current with the updates in the computer field, this will be a good fit for a career path,” Fitzgerald said. “The web site creation process is a pretty open field if you’re creative. There are no written rules that a web site has to be this way or that way, you can create your own ideas and run with it. No two web sites are exactly alike.” JCC provides a solid base in the Adobe® products line, including Flash®, Photoshop® and Dreamweaver®. Personal creativity and some artistic talent or flair is also important within the web design field. Students will need to recognize designs that look good, utilizing colors, selecting artwork, media files, or photos as appropriate. Combine that creativity with technical know-how of HTML code and other computer programs, and you have a good start to a fun and enjoyable career in web design.
Students may learn a range of skills from simple page creation to full web site administration and database management. The program a student chooses will depend on what their occupational goals are. The certificate program focuses on the basic computer classes necessary, while an associate degree provides more instruction and a broader educational base with more liberal arts requirements.
Looking for for more more information? information? E-mail E-mail us us at at careerchoices@jccmi.edu careerchoices@jccmi.edu Looking
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