Online Web and Graphic Design Programs

Posted on Jan 23, 2012 Add a comment

Perhaps you’ve always taken an interest in following a graphic design career path or love the idea of creating visual works that convey messages. Indeed, knowing how to convey messages to a specific audience is what web and graphic design careers are all about. You use many tools, including computer software programs, to develop logo concepts, Web pages and other stunning graphics.

One of the ways to get your career started is to earn a degree from one of the many online graphic design programs. You could also earn your degree at a traditional college or arts institute, however, online colleges give you the flexibility to work at your own pace and take the time to thoroughly understand course materials. This is especially important for web and graphic design as you’ll need to work with several different computer applications and software programs.

Graphic and Web Design Software

A major software publisher that you’ll learn in online web and graphic design programs is Adobe. Adobe publishes several programs that nearly all professional web and graphic professionals use to create works of art. In addition, many online web and graphic design schools, such as The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and DeVry University, use these software programs as a backbone to support the entire degree.

For example, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are two of the company’s graphics editing programs. Used together, these programs allow you to manipulate images, mix colors, and create graphics, logos and layouts with 2D and 3D capabilities. InDesign, also by Adobe, can be used when creating traditional types of marketing and graphic materials, such as flyers, brochures, posters and covers for magazines and books.

Adobe Dreamweaver is a program that web and graphic design students learn, which allows them to create pages and full websites. During courses that teach Dreamweaver, you’ll also learn basic and advanced techniques of CSS, JavaScript and other server-side scripting languages, which allows you to create and modify designs for the web. Adobe Flash Professional is a similar program that online web and graphic design programs usually include in the curriculum.

Audio-Video, Web and other Technologies

Depending on the specific program, other multimedia programs may also be included in the curriculum. For example, Rasmussen College’s online web and graphic design program includes audio-video editing courses that teach students how to create and modify video clips using software like Premiere and After Effects. For the Web, the program also teaches how to create effective database designs with MySQL. Other courses may include materials on how to use various what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) web editors, such as Microsoft Expression Web, CoffeeCup HTML Editor or even WordPress and Joomla.

Following graduation, you can use your web and graphic design degree to follow a couple different career paths. First and foremost, you can find work in nearly every industry, including the entertainment, business and education industries. You might work on a team, or solo, to develop graphics and layouts that support advertising or marketing efforts of the company.

The other major option you have, aside from gaining employment with a traditional employer, is to start a freelance or professional career. For example, you can open your own professional design studio, offering web and graphic design services to clients. When you follow this kind of path, your earnings are only limited by the fees you charge and the number of clients you can handle. All things considered, earning a degree from an online web and graphic design program opens up many doors to your future career.