Design for the Digital World

Design for the Digital World.
Get a qualifi cation in web design or development and your career prospects are excellent. Chris Bell tells you how to choose a course, and what you can expect at the end of it.
Web design is one of the fastest growing areas in the digital world. That's good news for graduates, who won't have any trouble finding work, can freelance if that's what they choose and fi nd work right around the world.

 

It's also a career suited to people who don't want a normal nine-to-five office job. "It suits people who like to be 'out there'," says Emmanuel King Turner, postgraduate coordinator and lecturer on advanced online media at the Wanganui School of Design. "It's good for people who are a bit rebellious." You may have already taught yourself some of the basic skills; for instance by maintaining a site on MySpace.

 

But if you want a job as a digital content developer, you'll need some formal training The Wanganui school prides itself on the fact that it teaches design theory that can be quickly applied in a work environment. Media Design School's general manager, Frances Valintine, points out that web design is no longer only about building websites.

 

"Anybody in that space is theoretically a digital media producer, which means they could equally do Flash animation for mobile phones, or for a DVD or for a CDRom. So to be described as a web designer is too narrow now."

 

In spite of the digital tag, many 'old world' industry skills are still useful to web designers, says Emmanuel. Web designers need to understand poster design, for instance, because the fundamentals of design are the same for each.

 

So what can you do to help get yourself a place on a web design course? Frances says a background in graphic design, art or similar is ideal for a school leaver. "Better still, you'll have some experience in a technology subject, maybe in software programs."

 

Emmanuel recommends putting together a portfolio of your work. "The tools are out there, and you can build websites with minimal tools, so it's easy for anyone with access to a computer to put together something that demonstrates what they can do."

 

To become a web designer it helps to have skills in art, design, graphics and computing - and a logical mind. "Mathematics is more helpful than a lot of designers would like to admit," says Emmanuel, and Frances agrees with him.

 

"I think everybody should do maths these days. It's part of any future career." Other traditional subjects such as English also remain important. "All of the basic elements such as spelling, writing and grammar come up in design. You're still dealing heavily with text and even if you're not writing it you're still involved in the layout and you need to understand how text fl ows," Frances says.

 

DEVELOPMENT OR DESIGN?

 

A web developer is a programmer responsible for writing the code, scripts and/or programs that help make a website run. A developer is generally not involved with how the website looks, just how it's built 'under the hood' and how it functions. This can be confusing, since a website's design is as much to do with the way that it works as its look.

 

A web designer creates the look of a website and sometimes turns the design into HTML (hypertext markup language, the code that describes a static webpage). The creation of HTML for a website can be done by either a designer or a developer, depending upon their skill-set, and who ends up doing it varies from company to company.

 

Frances says although you can eventually specialise in either development or design, it makes sense to start by learning a bit about both before you choose.

 

"As a junior you'll be working under a team of people and the more you understand about both, the more you're able to understand the discussions between the technical team, the programmers and the designers." Emmanuel recommends taking a subject that will give you an understanding of people and their likes and dislikes. "Geography, or what used to be called social studies when I was in school, where you're looking at another group of people and trying to understand them, is vitally important for web designers."

 

CHOOSING A COURSE

 

With so much choice out there, it's easy to end up following your friends and just studying where they're studying, rather than analysing the way schools, universities and colleges work. A better approach is to fi nd innovative companies with a good employment reputation in your region. Get your parents and family to help, and contact these companies. See if they'll recommend where you should study. They might favour graduates from a particular school because they've had success with them in the past.

 

They might also want to avoid hiring graduates from other universities, schools and colleges. Find out why. Junior developer, designer or programmer are the main career options for new graduates, says Natcoll Design Technology's national coordi nator John Jones, depending on exactly what you've studied.

 

He says most computing degree programmes and universities or polytechnics offer web specialisation, although you'll also be expected to cover more general information technology, especially in fi rst and second year. He says Natcoll has the most focused programme in New Zealand for people who want to be web developers. "The only similar diploma programme I know of is a private training establishment called Vision in Christchurch."

 

There are big variations in the fees you'll pay, depending on where you study and the length of the course. Short courses in software such as Photoshop and Flash can cost as little as $250. For more in-depth qualifi - cations, you're likely to pay over $4,000 per academic year. Most degree and diploma programmes are eligible for student loans.

 

IN HOT DEMAND

 

Both Frances and Emmanuel say they cannot produce enough graduates in either visual design or the technical creation of web interfaces and applications. "We have people calling us daily for web designers," says Frances.

 

Emmanuel says there are huge career opportunities for web designers. "Just in the last week alone, I've had three calls from people asking me for anyone who knows anything about web design or development." Frances says as far as she knows, every single major digital media company in the country employs a Media Design School's graduate. "The entire Saatchi's Interactive team right now is a graduate from here. Every time a class graduates from here, they come in and pick them off."

 

Wanganui graduates have gone on to do some award-winning work after graduating. Former students employed by Shift Design won a Webby Award for their work on 100%, the www.NewZealand.com website.

 

Of the web development diploma students who fi nished at Natcoll in 2005, two decided on further study and the rest all found jobs in the web industry, says John. "Most were employed in junior developer roles, though at least one has since moved into a senior web developer position. Three students banded together to form their own web development business and have been very successful. Recently they came back and spoke to a couple of our current classes about their experience."

 

Frances has some tips for discovering which web designs work and which don't: learn how to think like somebody else. "Figuring out design means understanding that not everybody is your age and that they don't all think the same way."

 

Every industry has its own, specifi c user requirements, she says. "There are so many similar features within a particular sector because people like the ease of knowing where things are. As a designer you may want to do things differently, but there may be a really good reason not to!"

 

BOUTIQUE WEB WORK

 

Five years ago Karl von Randow and Matt Buchanan left the company WebMedia and started Cactuslab, with a small client list, keeping their website simple so maintenance and additions would be easy. By remaining a boutique operator they've differentiated themselves from other full-service web shops by concentrating their efforts in areas they enjoy. Cactuslab's content management system, Supermodel, powers sites for the New Zealand Listener, 95bFM, Kiwi FM and Amplifi er, and a partnership with Satellite Interactive has meant Matt and Karl have got to work on Coca-Cola's New Zealand website.

 

We asked Matt and Karl to give us their advice for anyone who wants a job designing websites. "A healthy interest and a modicum of talent can go a long way in our industry, but there's no substitute for a good grounding in the area which interests you - either programming or design," says Matt.

 

The Cactuslab team recommends any budding web designers create a killer portfolio of work that shows your skills in a variety of areas, preferably with the help of a design-focused course.

 

"Developers may fi nd it harder to produce a meaningful portfolio, given the nature of their work, but are encouraged to use whatever means they can to get a foot in the door," says Karl, "such as working part time while studying, or being proactive and asking to do work experience or similar. This is the ideal situation to prove to a prospective employer that you know your stuff and can adapt to the requirements of a fastpaced environment."

 

Matt says while the distinction between development and design is fairly important, there is a large overlap between the two, as both involve a knowledge of what happens behind the scenes. "If you're an artistically creative person, begin with the design aspects and then try your hand at creating markup to support your designs. If you're a technically creative person, hone your programming skills and then apply these to the web."

 

CINDY PARK'S a graduate of Natcoll's Diploma in Web Development. She's also responsible for much of the design on actv8's own website. After fi nishing her course Cindy worked as a designer and developer, then decided to specialise in design.

 

To get into the one-year course at Natcoll, she had to know HTML and CSS, and studied these via online tutorials, along with Javascript and Photoshop. She'd also done a computer animation course in Korea, before coming to New Zealand to study hotel management.

 

Cindy doesn't think a year is enough time to pick up all the programming skills you need to be a developer, so you have a big advantage if you've started earlier, say, learning a bit of Javascript and HTML at school. She says she gets a lot of satisfaction out of starting projects and seeing them right through, and getting good feedback from customers.

 

The best thing about web design is the variety, she says. Because the technology's always changing, you're always learning and you never get bored.

 

Links
www.cactuslab.co.nz
www.stumbleupon.com
www.newzealand.com
www.useit.com
www.alistapart.com
www.2advanced.com
v2.2a-archive.com/flashindex.htm

 

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