Web Design Prerequisites

Web design covers the diverse array of skills that go into building and maintaining web pages. This encompasses both the creative elements of designing a web page and the technical elements of programming a web page.You might worry that web design will be too hard to learn. This guide will help you understand the best methods for learning web design and what you should study to make the learning process easier. This way, you’ll be successful however you choose to apply your new skills. 

What is Web Design?

Web design is the process of creating and maintaining websites. It covers a wide range of topics, including web architecture, user experience, information architecture, and web development. The primary goal of web design is to create a website that is easy to use, informative, and visually appealing. The skill set required for web design is constantly evolving as new technologies and trends emerge. However, some core principles remain constant.

Web design is a process, not a product. The term “web design” refers to creating a website or the finished product itself. A Web Designer is someone who specializes in this process by using their creativity, technical skills, and experience to craft websites that meet the specific needs of their clients. This means that web design is not a one-time event but an ongoing process that should be regularly updated to keep up with the latest trends and technologies. 

Read more about what web design is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Web Design?

As the name suggests, learning web design skills will teach you how to design, develop, and maintain web pages. This means that whatever you can do on the digital canvas of Web 2.0, you can learn to do with web design. You can learn to build professional working websites as a career path or build your own personal brand using elaborate WordPress designs. Students can build a digital CV to make themselves more attractive to employers, or they can launch a digital art project hoping to advocate for a cause that is important to them. Students can turn their passions into a business by building a digital marketplace to advertise their wares or get an idea off the ground with a rhetorically appealing pitch website. The sky's the limit for talented web designers.

Web design also covers a diverse field of specializations and skills so that individuals can create even more specific niches for themselves within the field. Programmers can enter a vibrant community of like-minded designers who iterate on and improve programming languages, making them more versatile and accessible to new users. Developers may find themselves specializing in a specific programming language for things like data science and SEO purposes. User Experience Designers will make web pages themselves more accessible and easy to navigate. Given the amount of time individuals spend online each day, there is no shortage of unique opportunities for skilled web design students.

Is Web Design Easy to Learn?

Web design is a relatively straightforward set of skills to learn, though students will probably end up specializing in a subset of web design rather than learning how to do everything. This does mean that some students will have an easier time learning web design at different stages of the process. Novice coders may have a more difficult time than novice graphic designers, while students who become comfortable with a coding language may find it easier to master than a field of creative expression.

What to Know Before Learning Web Design

Before diving into the world of web design, one of the things you’ll want to consider is whether you are more interested in the design side of the process or the development side of the process. Students will want to gauge how much they want to learn coding or visual design theory and adjust their plans accordingly.

Before diving into the topic you're discussing, these should all be concepts or other skills that a person might want to learn. Change the headers from “Thing” to a brief description of what you plan to discuss. One important option to highlight as a prerequisite would be simple/basic computer skills. You can also mention whether your skill/program is better (or works on) for Mac, PC, or if it makes no difference.

For example, if your topic is a design program, you could list applicable graphic design principles, current trends, etc. If your topic is a coding language, you might suggest that people research the types of careers available with that language to help them narrow their focus. That could be another way to include Noble classes; if your topic is Python, you could explain how it can be used for data science or web development and link those two courses. 

Professional or Personal

Students should also consider whether they aim to design web page for personal use or if they hope to enter a career as a Web Designer. Students who are looking to learn how to design their own web pages will need to learn how to both design and develop web pages, though they won’t need immersive professional development training in both fields. Students looking to enter into the field of professional web design and development may only need to learn a few specific skills, but they will need to develop greater mastery through more advanced training.

Learn Web Design with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Students looking to master web design skills should consider the hands-on training options available to them through Noble Desktop. In these courses, students can learn how to design and code web pages using a variety of platforms and programming languages. These courses, which are all taught by live instructors with years of experience in their respective fields, give students the opportunity to interface directly with their instructors, ensuring they can receive the assistance and feedback they need to succeed. Students can enroll in a web design class or bootcamp either in-person or online.

Students looking to start off their web design and development career without investing too much time into their training may want to consider Noble’s Web Development with HTML/CSS course. In this class, which requires no prior coding knowledge, students will learn the fundamental skills that go into designing and developing web pages using the HTML/CSS programming languages. This class will teach students how to design basic web pages using the coding languages that form the basic infrastructure of a modern web page. Students will learn how to use HTML to build basic web pages and how to use CSS to add a visual flair to their designs. While anyone wanting to design web pages that look up to modern standards will need more training in other, more advanced programming languages, learning HTML/CSS is essential for anyone wanting to build web pages.

Noble offers a Web Design Certificate program for students who want a more immersive, career-focused experience in their training course that aims to take students from novice programmers all the way to professional designers in just a few short weeks. In this course, students will learn how to code web pages with HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and through the WordPress hosting platform. They will learn how to build elaborate, multi-page websites that replicate the kinds of projects they will be hired to work on as professional Web Designers and Developers. In addition, since these are career-focused courses, students will receive extra professionalization training, including one-on-one career mentorship sessions and seminar time dedicated to helping students construct a sample design portfolio that they can take with them onto the job market. For students looking to start a new career in the field of web design, there is no better way to prepare themselves.

Key Insights

• Learning web design is an accessible set of skills for new students to pick up. While learning to code can be challenging, it is far from impossible, and the breadth of web design as a field means that students will have a lot of choices in how to learn these skills.
• Students will need to decide what elements of web design they plan to prioritize in their education. Students interested in the creative side of web design may wish to learn visual design tools, while more technically inclined students will want to learn how to program web infrastructure.
• Additionally, students will want to consider whether they are interested in learning web design for personal projects or professional development. Students looking to learn professional web design skills will likely need more targeted and advanced training, while students looking to work on personal projects will need to know all aspects of web design but won’t need as deep coverage.
• No matter what skills you need or want to learn, Noble Desktop offers help through live in-person or online web design classes.