Web Design Schools?

[stlboi]

I'm having problems finding web design degree programs at colleges/universities. Do they even exist? Are most web designer self taught by using guides and books? Do they learn most of it in graphic design courses? Where does one learn things like Java and CSS and things like Flash.

[ess]

Some university teach Flash, CSS etc under Multi-media studies. You should look at some university websites and see what courses they provide...

If you are planning on studying in the UK...here is a good place to start looking for universities. http://www.ucas.com/

Good luck.
ess

[phpnewb]

it might be under computer science

[Troy297]

Well - even if they do offer courses in computer web design it likely wont be called "Web Design & Graphics". It will likely be some form of computer science as stated above under "Web Development" or something like it.

I think Fanshaw College has some good computer courses if you are interested. I think their site is http://www.fanshawec.on.ca/.

[stlboi]

So is it pretty safe to assume that Computer Science is what I need to major in if I plan on being an excellent web designer? (java, html, css, sql, php, etc?)

[_Aerospace_Eng_]

Probably more like Software Engineering. My major is software engineering. I've taken (x)html/css classes, a perl programming class, a C programming class, a Java programming class. You will likely still have to take some basic courses like math and physics.

[VIPStephan]

I think you have to ponder about what part of web development you wanna do later on... the creative design part or the programming part. I guess most so called web designers were just studying graphic design or equivalent things (or nothing like that... like me) and then decided to dedicate to creating websites so they learned a little bit about HTML and CSS (and maybe basic scripting) too. Most of the time they get pretty nice designs but are't that good when it comes to converting them into working websites.
The other way is the programming side where a tech savvy guy is studying the science part and then making some money on the side coding websites and learning a little bit about grapics while doing that. And most of the time these guys are good in programming but suck at graphic design. :)

Very generally spoken one could say: If you wanna take care of the front-end development (the stuff that's happening in the user's browser) then go for some design study. If you're more interested in back-end development (the stuff that happens on the servers) then go for some kind of computer science.
Of course this doesn't apply to everything and there sure are exceptions. In the end you'll have to decide where you are more talented.

[stlboi]

I'm fairly good when it comes to design. You can check out my site at http://thebuffalonetwork.com, and I'm working on this one here (http://thebuffalonetwork.com/project-cdpc/project-cdpc1.html) for my dad's business. (Let me know how they look?)

And you can tell if you look at the code and the page style of each website, you can probably tell I'm all self taught when it comes to the coding. And I really want to learn more about the coding.

So, already having some mild success in my self taught Photoshop abilities (http://redrumx.deviantart.com/gallery/), I would rather go to school to learn all the professional background coding and get my bachelor's doing that, become a web designer and then possibly later on just taking design courses here and there to perfect my techniques, maybe work on my associates in graphic design through the years.

Does that sound like a plan?

Also, having a bachelor's in Computer Science, what other career paths could I follow?

Thanks for all this advice guys, I don't have any friends who are interested in this kinda stuff.

[Graft-Creative]

I'm having problems finding web design degree programs at colleges/universities. Do they even exist? Are most web designer self taught by using guides and books? Do they learn most of it in graphic design courses? Where does one learn things like Java (I think maybe you mean javascript - an entirely seperate thing from Java? Gary ) and CSS and things like Flash.

Judging by the above, I'd say your ambitions lie more in front end/client side stuff...your search for a 'web design degree' is indicative of that?

If you wanted to be a Software Engineer, or a Computer Scientist, you'd know, and you'd have found your degree course already.

Most 'web designers' I'd say come from a Graphic Design background, and then segue into web design - that was the case when I started out, though these days graphic design and web design are much more interchangable terms - i.e. it's rarely possible now to call yourself a graphic designer without knowing at least something about web design.

Sometimes really gifted people make the step from being great graphic designers, into being great programmers. I'm not sure how often the reverse path takes way, but my guess is that it's considerably less.

What I'm getting at is that if you want to be a Web Designer, then keep looking for that Web Design course - or Graphic Design/Multimedia, then segue out into programming once you have a decent handle on the client side stuff.

Hope that helps,

Kind regards,

[oracleguy]

Yeah basically there are two types of skills when it comes to the web and some times they get rolled into one when they aren't, as other have pointed out.

A web designer is someone that designs the site, figures out what the layout is gonna look like, the graphics, etc.

A web developer is someone that makes it actually work, they deal with database design, server side languages, etc.

[Karen S. Garvin]

If you are more interested in getting into specific software rather than pursuing a bachelor's degree, you might want to check into your local community college or see what is available online. Community colleges seem to pursue a more hands-on approach, while universities get into more theoretical approaches. If you do go to a community college, you have the option of transferring credits to a 4-year program; plus, tuition is usually much less expensive.

As an alternative, consider a certificate course. The University of Maryland University College (http://www.umuc.edu/prog/ugp/certificates/cert_list.shtml) offers online degree-program and certificate courses, including web design, web programming, UNIX, Java, etc. You can take the classes from anywhere, anytime. (I am finishing my bachelor's as an online student; it's great!)

[Arch_Angel]

I was drop out from Computer Science Degree because I only want to learnt xhtml,css,javascript,php,mysql and all those not hardcore programming.
I was pretty stress out because I don't want to know about Perl, C programming, Java, etc

So, I went to New Media degree or digital Design degree.
It thought me more of what is good web design, user exp, information architecture, action scipt, project manager,Photoshop, illustrator, etc


These days, small- medium company need a person that can be both though.
Why don't you ask yourself like in the future, what kind of company that you want to work with ? if like Google then i suggest you to take computer science. If multimedia company like The First Born Multimedia take new Media or Digital Design degree.

hmmm.. Honestly, looking from your website design. You still quite off with the design issue itself and design is not only about how good you are using photoshop and illustrator.