Which Design Bootcamp is Best?

While no single design bootcamp is objectively the best choice for everyone, taking the time to assess various factors will help you find your personal best fit based on your objectives, preferred learning style, and other circumstances. Design bootcamps are available in diverse formats, including part-time and full-time options, offered both in-person and online. Part-time programs allow individuals to manage work or other commitments, while full-time immersive courses provide faster, more intense learning experiences. Meanwhile, some bootcamps focus on career readiness while others exclusively focus on specific design skills such as visual composition, the basics of motion graphics, and tools like Photoshop and Illustrator.

Design and coding school Noble Desktop is renowned for its comprehensive array of design bootcamps tailored to various learning needs and goals. Other professional training institutions offer a variety of options, each with unique strengths and focuses. This article will guide you through essential criteria to consider, helping you find the best design bootcamp for you and your professional aspirations.

What are the most important criteria to evaluate in Design bootcamps?

When evaluating design bootcamps to determine the best selection for themselves, learners will want to review several key criteria closely to ensure they select the program that most align with their specific learning needs and career goals. Below are some of the most important factors a design learner will want to consider to ensure they enroll in the right bootcamp for them.

Curriculum

• Learners will want to be certain of the personal learning goals and the scope of the design bootcamp that will best help them meet their needs. Do they need a comprehensive career-focused bootcamp or a skill-focused bootcamp?
• Does the curriculum feature training that is relevant to current industry standards? Design software proficiency, color theory application, typography principles, layout techniques, and other topics covered should be taught with up-to-date materials and guidance.
• Interactive, hands-on training is a must for learning the complex interplay of creative, technical, and practical skills in design. For most learners, the best bootcamp will feature a live instructor able to provide real-time feedback and guidance through students’ hands-on exercises and projects.

Instruction

• Learners can research the backgrounds and credentials of bootcamp instructors to ensure they are experienced designers who are as passionate about the success of their students as they are about design.
• The highest-quality design bootcamps will feature opportunities for instructors to offer students personalized mentorship. Learners will want to look for programs that provide scheduled one-on-one sessions with instructors, offering opportunities for private tutoring on difficult topics, career support, and mentorship tailored to students' personal needs.

Schedule

• Aspiring design students will want to honestly assess their current schedules and determine how much time they have to dedicate to learning and where that time falls exactly in their schedules. 
• Design bootcamps are typically full-time, but part-time options are occasionally available for students who need to work or take care of other obligations while learning.
• When comparing live design bootcamps with asynchronous ones, students will find the former offers the structured learning experience of a set schedule and deadlines and the significant perk of a live instructor. Some students' current calendars may demand the flexibility of an asynchronous bootcamp, but they should be aware of the substantial self-drive and motivation needed to complete a program without a live instructor and set schedule.

Location and Format

• Live design bootcamps are available both online and in-person, though the latter will be easier to find in larger cities like NYC, Chicago, and LA. Neither live online nor in-person design bootcamps are objectively better, but students may have personal preferences for one over the other.
• Live online classes offer a significant benefit of accessibility over in-person courses, allowing students to skip the commute and attend the program of their choice from anywhere in the world. However, some will always prefer the learning experience of meeting with an instructor and a classroom of peers in a brick-and-mortar classroom.

Additional Benefits

• Especially when learners are struggling to choose between two or three stand-out design programs, they will want to compare the benefits each offers in addition to hands-on training led by expert instructors. These may include free retakes of the program, access to software through the course of the bootcamp, curricula and supplementary materials included at no additional charge, certificates of completion, and other unique perks.
• Those seeking a comprehensive, career-prep design bootcamp will want to check out the specific career support offered by each program they consider. Learners with aspirations in design will want to ensure they have ample guidance in building a professional-quality portfolio and mentorship time with instructors to focus on resume building, interview prep, and other aspects of building confidence and hireability.

Pricing and Financing

• Prospective design students will want to ensure the bootcamp they select is transparent in their pricing and that they have clarity regarding its tuition and any additional fees.
• When evaluating affordability and cost-effectiveness, it is important to compare the program cost to the hours of live instructor-led classroom training. Learners may also consider the additional perks included in the tuition—and whether they are, in fact, perks that will help them reach their goals.
• Finally, design learners will want to investigate their favorite design bootcamp’s financing options, looking for features that help students afford the significant investment of a bootcamp while waiting for the ROI they will receive in the form of a new job in their desired career path.

What are the Top Design Bootcamps?

Noble Desktop’s Graphic Design Certificate

NYC-based design and coding school Noble Desktop offers a comprehensive Graphic Design Certificate program. This career-focused program features live expert instructors, hands-on projects, portfolio-building assistance, and one-on-one mentorship sessions students can use as career support. Noble’s certificate program offers unusual flexibility, allowing participants to attend on a full-time or part-time schedule and live online or in-person in Manhattan.

Noble Desktop’s UX & UI Design Certificate

Noble Desktop offers certificate programs in several other design sectors, including their UX & UI Design Certificate program, which provides in-depth training in both user experience and user interface design. This career-focused certificate program offers all the benefits and career support as their Graphic Design Certificate while preparing students to excel in a UX or UI career—or in a Product Designer position where knowledge of both is a must.

Noble Desktop’s Photoshop Bootcamp

Noble Desktop also provides skill-based design bootcamps like their popular Photoshop Bootcamp. This program includes live instruction, practical exercises, the opportunity to retake the bootcamp for free within a year, and a certificate of completion verifying to employers that students have thoroughly mastered the industry-standard prototyping software by the end of the bootcamp.

General Assembly’s Visual Design Course

General Assembly offers their Visual Design Course live online and in-person in several cities across the U.S. Students can choose to attend this introductory class full-time or part-time. They will learn the vocabulary and essential tools commonly used in visual design today while creating the first hands-on work for their professional design portfolio.

Miami Ad School’s UX Design Bootcamp

Miami Ad School offers an immersive full-time UX design bootcamp in-person in Miami, Atlanta, Sydney, and Toronto. In this program, students learn the how-tos of user research, information architecture, interaction design, and other facets of UX design and build a portfolio to showcase their new skills.

UCLA Extension’s Motion Graphics I

UCLA Extension’s Motion Graphics I provides an in-person Motion Graphics I course for beginners in the Los Angeles region. Students will learn the foundational skills of motion graphics in this class, working with After Effects, Illustrator, and Photoshop to create impressive 3D animations and visual effects. The curriculum covers basic motion design concepts, storytelling techniques, and technical skills such as working with complex motion paths, graphic and video forms, and frame rates.

Enrolling in a Design Bootcamp Part-Time or Full-Time

The choice of a part-time or full-time design bootcamp depends on a learner’s personal circumstances and learning preferences. Full-time bootcamps offer the most intense and immersive experience, typically running for several weeks with classes five days a week. This format is ideal for those who want to get into design, complete their training quickly, and be a competitive job candidate in a few months. The downside to full-time programs is their significant time commitment, which can make them difficult to balance with other responsibilities such as work or family for those who have obligations in these areas that they can’t shelve for the duration of a full-time bootcamp.

On the other hand, part-time bootcamps meet just a few times a week—typically weekday evenings—spreading students’ design learning experience over several months. The obvious disadvantage of this approach is that students will take significantly longer to complete their education and be job-ready, if that is their goal, in a part-time bootcamp compared to a full-time bootcamp. However, for those who need to maintain a job or attend to other commitments while learning, a part-time design bootcamp can be significantly more manageable than a full-time one. An additional advantage of a part-time bootcamp is the extra time they give students to study, practice, and metabolize the concepts and practical skills of design, which some learners appreciate. Meanwhile, others will find the immersive experience of a full-time bootcamp better suits their learning style, and, ultimately, whether a part-time or full-time bootcamp is the better choice for a student is highly dependent upon their individual needs and goals.

Enrolling in a Design Bootcamp In-Person or Online

Deciding whether to enroll in an in-person or an online design bootcamp largely depends on your personal preferences, lifestyle, and learning style. In-person bootcamps offer the tangible benefits of a traditional classroom setting, such as face-to-face interaction with instructors and classmates, which can foster a strong sense of community and collaboration. Moreover, in-person bootcamps often provide access to dedicated workspaces and devices, which may be necessary for some learners who need access to these resources. However, attending in-person classes requires commuting, which can be time-consuming and costly, especially for those living far from the bootcamp’s location. Finally, students’ access to in-person design bootcamps entirely depends on their geographic location, and those living outside major metropolitan areas may have few or even no in-person bootcamps to choose from.

Meanwhile, live online design bootcamps offer significant flexibility, making them an attractive option for individuals with busy schedules or those who cannot relocate to a city where a suitable in-person design class is held. Live online bootcamps allow students to learn from the comfort of their own homes, eliminating the need for commuting and offering a wider range of scheduling options than in-person bootcamps can. Additionally, they offer many of the same benefits as in-person classes, allowing students to interact with live expert instructors and fellow students in real-time in a digital classroom. This environment enables participants to build professional relationships, participate in discussions, collaborate on projects, and receive personalized feedback and immediate answers to questions from experienced instructors invested in their students’ success. 

More and more professional training schools are moving their design bootcamps exclusively online, so for most, it’s easier to find a virtual class than an in-person one. Noble Desktop is one of the few remaining schools that provide both live online and in-person courses at their Midtown Manhattan campus, dedicated to providing the same high-quality instructor-led learning experience for those who prefer a brick-and-mortar experience as well as students all over the world who prefer to meet from home. While other schools provide on-demand design learning options that provide students additional flexibility in scheduling, most find the subject extremely difficult to master without the assistance of a live instructor and other features of live online and in-person classes.

Do You Want to Start a New Career Using Your Design Training?

When aspiring designers are looking for a design bootcamp, they need to evaluate how well the program supports their specific career aspirations. Different bootcamps offer varying levels of focus on helping graduates succeed in the job market following graduation. Comprehensive career-focused bootcamps often include extensive career support services, such as assistance in portfolio development and mentorship in resume building and interview preparation. These career-focused design bootcamps provide not only the training students need to excel as designers but also the professional tools and confidence to land their first job in the field. 

When comparing career-focused bootcamps, learners will find some offer exceptional in-class opportunities to work on real-world projects that can include in their professional portfolios, arguably the most essential component of a design job hunters’ toolkit. Meanwhile, others will provide out-of-class resources, such as one-on-one mentorship sessions, career coaching, networking opportunities, and job boards. Design learners will want to consider the quality of what each bootcamp offers and what types of resources they feel will be most helpful for them.

Which Design Bootcamp is Best For Me?

Choosing the right design bootcamp involves evaluating and comparing various factors to find the best fit based on individual objectives, preferred learning styles, and unique circumstances. Bootcamps come in diverse formats, including part-time, full-time, in-person, and online. Part-time programs provide flexibility for those who must work through their education or juggle other commitments, while full-time immersive courses offer faster, more intense learning experiences. In-person and live online design classes provide similar benefits, with one allowing human and professional connections with a live instructor and classmates in a brick-and-mortar classroom and the other providing similar opportunities in a teleconferencing space. Bootcamps can also differ in their focus, with some emphasizing comprehensive career readiness and others concentrating on specific design skills, such as the basics of motion graphics, UX design, and tools like InDesign and Photoshop.

One crucial factor to consider is the curriculum, which should align with personal learning goals and cover topics relevant to current industry standards. The best bootcamps feature interactive, hands-on training with a live instructor who can provide real-time feedback and guidance. High-quality instruction is essential, and researching the backgrounds and credentials of bootcamp instructors can help learners ensure they choose a bootcamp that connects them with experienced and passionate instructors with a track record of supporting their students toward success. Bootcamps that provide opportunities for one-on-one mentorship sessions with instructors are especially invaluable, as these allow students to receive tailored private tutoring and career support to help them achieve their goals.

Prospective design students must evaluate their current schedules and determine whether a full-time or part-time bootcamp best fits their available time. Full-time bootcamps can help students reach their learning goals faster, while part-time bootcamps give students more time to process and practice their new skills while balancing work or family obligations. Bootcamp location and format are also critical factors to consider, with live design bootcamps available both online and in-person in most metropolitan areas. Live online bootcamps offer significant accessibility and flexibility, allowing students to learn from home wherever they live, while in-person bootcamps provide the traditional experience of learning in the same room as their instructor and classmates.

While bootcamps are an excellent option for many who would like to learn design, they may not be the most suitable class format for everyone. Some learners may find they only need to know a rough overview of the basics of design and will find what they need in free online resources like Noble Desktop’s design section of their Learn Hub or their free design seminars. Others may need to go deeper with their training, finding what they need in a short course like UX Design Foundations or Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp. Still, other aspiring design students will find themselves in a position to prefer a university education over a bootcamp, should they be craving a traditional college experience and have access to significant scholarships. However, design bootcamps are the top choice for most design learners for how well the format fits the scope of the topic and its unique interplay of creative, technical, and practical skills.

Learn Design Skills with Noble Desktop

Design and coding school Noble Desktop provides a vast menu of design classes led by live expert instructors whether you choose to attend in-person in NYC or live online from anywhere in the world. Their flexible scheduling options allow you to participate as a full-time or part-time student, ensuring you can meet your learning goals no matter your current calendar. Noble Desktop provides classes in various scopes and design-related topics, from beginner-friendly short courses on tools like Photoshop or After Effects to comprehensive career-focused certificate programs in various design disciplines, including graphic design, web design, UX/UI design, motion graphics design, and video editing. Noble keeps their class size small to ensure all learners can receive personalized guidance and immediate feedback from their expert instructors, all of whom are experienced industry professionals invested in the success of their students. In fact, Noble Desktop’s dedication to helping their students achieve their goals is evident in its many perks, including verified digital certificates of completion, free retakes of all their courses within one year, and one-on-one mentorship in all career-focused certificate classes. 

If you’re interested in learning design skills to launch a career as a Graphic Designer, you may wish to enroll in Noble Desktop’s Graphic Design Certificate program. Students in this course will learn essential graphic design principles and turn them into practical knowledge through extensive hands-on projects, creating projects such as signage, infographics, product packaging, logos, and branded merchandise. Students will be job-ready by the end of the certificate program, having built expertise in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, and they will have a professional quality portfolio ready to showcase their design skills to prospective employers alongside their impressive verified certificate of completion for the program.

Noble Desktop’s Digital Design Certificate program will arm you with the design skills you need to work in digital design, user interface (UI) design, web design, or graphic design. In this certificate program, you’ll learn the core tools of the trade—Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Figma—and key digital design concepts and theory. With no coding required, this program allows you to focus on what matters to you—designing aesthetically pleasing and functional user interfaces, websites, and other digital products. Like all of Noble Desktop’s Certificate Programs, the Digital Design Certificate features one-on-one mentorship for career support, portfolio-building assistance, and a verified digital certificate of completion.

Noble Desktop’s Motion Graphics Certificate program offers practical training in motion graphics and visual effects using Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, Audition, and Cinema 4D in After Effects. With the help of your expert instructors, you’ll develop skills in motion graphics design, animation, and video production. With career support, portfolio-building assistance, and a free retake option, students will be ready to impress hiring managers looking for a new entry-level Motion Graphics Designer.