Best Web Design Classes Boston, MA: Find Courses & Onsite Training

Learn More About Boston Web Design Courses

Web design shapes the form and features of webpages and websites. Web designers select each webpage’s visual design and content, including its colors, graphics, animations, text, audio, and/or video. This portion of their work is similar to that of graphic designers. Web designers also specify the functions of each page and the interconnections between the pages on a site. For example, they choose controls, text fields, and links, building each website as a functional prototype. For this work, web designers often collaborate with web developers, who handle underlying website structures like coding, database systems, and server architecture. This collaboration is closest when web designers create dynamic designs, pages that are created and change based on user interactions with the site.

Web design has existed since the first Web browser and pages appeared. However, early webpages were primarily lists of text. Even when graphics and interactive elements like forms became available, page designs were simple. Web design, as an application of visual and graphic design to the Web, began to emerge in the mid-1990s. New technical and design tools, like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and Flash animations, emerged in the late 1990s, giving designers greater power and flexibility to shape webpages. Since 2000, new technologies have created new kinds of websites and new options for web designers, and web design applications have offered increasingly powerful tools to empower designers. Many websites now are interactive applications, joining graphics, video, animations, and code into a functional whole, and some sites and pages are works of multimedia art.

What Can You Do with Web Design Training?

Anyone who wants to create websites, webpages, or web content can benefit from a web design class. Even a personal blog can be improved through this study. For small business owners, web design training can help you customize a site for promotion, contact, and sales. Artists, designers, and other creators can build Web-based portfolios to showcase their work. Clubs, charities, and other organizations benefit from a knowledgeable Web Designer to create and upgrade their online presence.

In addition to lessons on page and site design, Web design classes often include instruction in graphic design principles and creative software that enables you to create content for web use. Beyond simple text and graphics, your webpages could include thoughtfully selected and arranged video, animation, input forms, and plug-in features. If you need to build an entire website, web design shows you how to keep a consistent style across pages, group and link pages logically, and share information across pages. You could even create dynamically generated pages that change for different visitors or a wiki-type site that allows users to add new pages and content. Web design training can also teach you how to better choose and arrange text and links to improve reader engagement and search engine optimization (SEO), the likelihood your page will be found and listed by a search engine.

What Will I Learn in a Web Design Class?

Web design classes usually start with lessons on the World Wide Web and its related technologies, like web browsers, HTML (Hypertext Markup Language, the basic language that tells browsers what is in a webpage), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets, another language that tells browsers how to display a page’s contents), JavaScript (a scripting language executed by browsers to run code from a webpage), and web servers. Instructors will also address the various types of web content and how that content is created and structured. Some classes even include instruction in creative programs used to make web content, like Adobe Photoshop or After Effects. This discussion also addresses how webpages are designed to adapt to different browsers and display types. Most classes then discuss graphic design as applied to webpages: the use of visual design principles and informational structure to make pages more attractive, informative, and useful. Closely related to this subject is UI (user interface) design, as many webpages are functional interfaces. UX (user experience) design addresses how pages logically work together within a site and how a site assists its visitors. Finally, as students practice building pages and sites, web design courses teach design and prototyping software such as Sketch or Adobe XD, to assist and automate this work. Prototyping may overlap with lessons on web development: the work of building complete, functional websites and servers, including their underlying code.

How Hard is It to Learn Web Design?

Students rarely have difficulty with the initial lessons of web design—webpage content, coding, and composition—and can create more attractive, functional webpages and web content soon after beginning their study. Building more dynamic, varied, and adaptive webpages takes work to understand the coding structures of the modern Web, learn the possibilities available, and study web design software. The organizational and technical considerations of a full website can also challenge some students. Further practice helps students create improved designs with greater appeal and utility to users. They can also generate content and pages more quickly and with fewer errors. The differences between websites created by novice students and seasoned professionals are readily apparent; the latter look more polished, offer more features, and operate more efficiently. Becoming an expert Web Designer usually requires outside study to explore the technical demands of web development, learn coding in languages like JavaScript to customize webpages, improve your creative skills, gain content creation skills like video editing and animation, practice communicating with clients and colleagues (including the use of prototyping software to visualize designs together), and study UX/UI design.

What Are the Most Challenging Parts of Learning Web Design?

For students without computing or technical backgrounds, the coding aspects of web design can be intimidating. Other students may manage the technical side but lack artistic and creative talent or practice, needing additional study to acquire the necessary skills and habits of a Designer. For most students, though, their major hurdle when studying web design is to decide how they want to specialize their study. Should they focus on the graphic and aesthetic side of webpage design? Would they prefer to create web content? Should they explore the interactive elements of functional websites, leaning toward front-end web development? Might they want to add deeper coding and data management skills and diversify into a full-stack Web Developer? These choices particularly guide each student’s coursework outside of web design. The other common challenge for web design students is keeping up with the field. New and improving design tools require web designers to learn new programs and features to maintain their efficiency and offerings in a competitive market. New technologies like external device interactions (“the Internet of Things”), virtual reality, and machine learning systems also have applications to web design. Employers and clients will expect designers to know and use these systems when appropriate.

How Long Does It Take to Learn Web Design?

Most skills a casual Web creator will need can be learned in a single short web design course. After a short course, a novice can generally design and code simple webpages and even create and incorporate content like web forms and animations. However, an introductory course cannot fully explore all the techniques, content types, and assistive applications available to web designers. Longer courses like bootcamps detail more difficult topics like interactive webpages, JavaScript coding, web hosting environments, and web design and prototyping applications. This additional coursework, which may require several weeks of full-time study, is necessary for employment as a Web Designer, even at an entry-level. Students also need time to practice with practical projects, increasing their efficiency and confidence and building a portfolio to validate their accomplishments. Generally, you should expect three to four months of regular study or six months of part-time study before seeking work in web design. Even then, with the potential depth of information in some subjects and the ever-evolving nature of Web technologies, expert web designers continue to learn throughout their careers.

Should I Learn Web Design in Person or Online?

The traditional method of instruction is in-person, where instructors and students meet at a physical location. This method allows for the most direct interaction and access to computer hardware, software, and course materials. However, travel distance and costs can limit students’ options for in-person courses.

Online learning can be more convenient and offers students a wider range of class options, though it does require computer and internet access. Most online courses do not provide computer hardware or software, but some courses do include discounted or free software downloads. Online courses can also be more difficult for some students due to their learning styles. Still, many courses supplement their video lessons with supplemental texts and exercises, message boards, and chat rooms, with some even including live chat or calls with an instructor. Live online classes are presented via streaming video services like Zoom, which provides much of the same direct interaction as in-person study. For students who are further limited by scheduling, self-paced online classes offer another solution using pre-recorded video lessons and downloadable texts. While not always as up-to-date as live classes, self-paced courses let students take their time and study whenever they can.

Can I Learn Web Design Free Online?

Many free video lessons about web design are available online. You can also find discussion boards, blogs, and other webpages discussing the principles of good web design and explaining the software used by web designers. You can find several such videos and articles on Noble Desktop’s YouTube channel and website. With these lessons, you could learn more about web design to research particular topics, improve your webpage designs, or decide if you want to pursue work in this field. Note, however, that these resources are limited by topic and by the presenter’s knowledge, and are not guaranteed to be complete or accurate. Free resources are also not organized, and trying to study web design purely from free lessons requires far more time and effort than taking a professionally designed course. A course instructor can also provide practice exercises, review your work, and highlight mistakes. Learning on your own may leave gaps in your knowledge and errors in your designs. Generally, learning web design at a professional level requires the organization, depth, and feedback of guided instruction.

What Should I Learn Alongside Web Design?

The modern Web is a multimedia experience combining content and applications of many types and many related subjects to improve web design. If you have less artistic or design background or you want to specialize in the creative aspects of web design, additional courses in graphic design, visual design, animation, or video editing would help. If you have not studied computer science or coding or would like to pursue a career in web development, then courses in languages like JavaScript, data management, and web server administration can add these abilities. If you plan to build websites for applied business uses, a course on UX/UI design will improve your ability to plan ahead, understand users’ needs and thoughts, and design more usable pages and sites. Any Web Designer can benefit from greater expertise in design and prototyping applications such as Sketch, Figma, Canva, Adobe XD, Adobe Dreamweaver, and Adobe After Effects. Learning to use all-in-one website creation and hosting tools like WordPress, Wix, or Weebly is also useful to simplify routine work or for clients who prefer one of those environments.

Industries That Use Web Design

Almost every industry uses the Web to some degree. Every day, more sectors add Web-based services or move entirely to online formats. Web designers both assist in the creation of new sites and manage the expansion of existing, already-developed sites, updating old pages and adding new content and pages. A Web Designer can work in sales, marketing, and advertising in the forms of ecommerce, promotional websites, and web-based advertising. Content distributors like social media providers, news media, publishers, entertainment publishers, and software developers need web designers to organize and present their online products. Institutions like schools, healthcare providers, government agencies, and financial providers need websites that present information quickly, clearly, and securely. Manufacturers, emergency service providers, and agencies like police and fire departments need web services that gather and relay information quickly and accurately. Aside from their external sites, many industries need internal websites for uses like employee records, collaborative work, and resource tracking. Web designers may work as part of a web design or web development contractor, flexibly addressing the needs of multiple clients. Finally, within software development, web designers may help develop new tools to create the next generation of websites and web content.

Web Design Job Titles and Salaries

Web Designer

Web Designers focus on the creation, layout, and implementation of webpages, individually and together to form websites. Most Web Designers choose and structure content, building webpages to create and maintain their employers’ or clients’ websites. Web Designers may design and implement interactive features like forms, search pages, or login screens, although the coding beneath these features is more often the work of Web Developers. Web Designers may also be consulted by clients to generate visual styles, page layouts, or structured prototypes for their websites. Less often, Web Designers may generate web content, usually editing graphics, animations, and video to include within their designs. Across industries and levels of experience, a Web Designer in Boston earns an average of $99,000 annually.

Web Developer

Web design can be part of a wider study of web development, the work of building complete websites, including their supporting code. Front-End Developers focus on the outward, interactive features and functions of websites and are most likely to include web design in their skill set. Full Stack Developers handle all aspects of website creation and construction, from server setup to functional code to interfaces; some add web design services to their offerings. Such multi-talented Web Developers may be hired or contracted by companies to create and oversee their web services. Other Web Developers may work as part of development teams and benefit from understanding web design regardless of their specific duties. A Web Developer or Front-end Developer in Boston earns an average of $87,000 annually. A Full Stack Developer earns an average of $124,000 per year across the United States.

Digital Designer

Digital Designers produce digital content for applications and websites. Some Digital Designers specialize in a particular content type such as video, motion graphics, or 3D models. Others flexibly create multiple content types, often as coordinated branding packages for clients. Digital creators benefit from understanding web design to generate ready-to-use products for Web Designers and Web Developers. Digital Designers in the United States earn an average of $94,000 per year.

Web Optimization Specialist

Some of the key decisions of Web Designers and Web Developers are guided by Web Optimization Specialists, experts in the behavior and engagement of website users. Web Optimization Specialists are domain-specific marketing analysts, studying what draws users to websites and keeps them there. They then advise businesses and web creators on how to structure and populate their websites to maximize user attention and satisfaction. Web design training helps these experts shape their recommendations. Sometimes, Web Optimization Specialists implement their solutions directly by rebuilding clients’ websites. They may also test different webpage and website designs to see what options better attract and engage users. In the United States, Web Optimization Specialists earn an average of $69,000 annually.

Social Media Strategist

Similar to a Web Optimization Specialist, a Social Media Strategist analyzes the social media behaviors of users and viewers and recommends strategies to their employer. Social Media Strategists may recommend social media platforms, guide promotional campaigns, warn against missteps, manage messages and responses, and even create content themselves. Part of this work can involve shaping an employer’s website or their presence on other web-based media such as a YouTube channel or Facebook page. Knowledge of web design helps Social Media Strategists to better understand the creation of these web resources, especially how to keep the web-based parts of a social media strategy current and appealing. Social Media Strategists earn an average of $71,000 per year across the United States.

Web Design Classes Near Me

General Assembly presents technical courses in-person at its Boston campus as well as live online. Their Front-end Web Development Short Course includes several topics of direct value for web design, including lessons on HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, plus training in web interface design and programming. With no required prerequisites, this course could be taken as an introduction to web creation or a complementary course for web design students also interested in development. Students receive a certificate for completing this short course.

Ledet Training provides software training either in-person at its Billerica, MA location or live online. Their courses include several applications of value to web designers, including Adobe Dreamweaver, for website design and development, and Adobe XD, for application and website prototyping. Students seeking a combined course including several Adobe programs used in web design can enroll in Adobe Creative Cloud Web 501, a full-day class teaching Photoshop, Animate, and Dreamweaver. This course addresses each program specifically for its uses in creating web content, pages, and sites.

Another course from Ledet Training, Open Source HTML & CSS 101, introduces these two languages as the core of webpage and website coding. Participants will learn to build a website from scratch, including content placement, styles for flexible page display, and web forms.

Ledet Training also offers training for WordPress, a popular web content management system that enables users to build and publish websites with minimal coding, through a guided interface including templates, plugins, and other tools. Their WordPress 501—5 Day Bootcamp combines three shorter WordPress courses into a comprehensive training program. Participants will learn to use WordPress to build multiple website types, including ecommerce, education, and forum sites. The course also addresses SEO strategies within WordPress sites.

In addition to live online and self-paced online courses, Certstaffix Training grants Boston-area students access to their computer lab in Burlington, MA. Their live online courses include several programming languages and applications of use in web design, including HTML, CSS, Adobe Dreamweaver, and WordPress. Several of their self-paced online courses are combined at a discount in their Web Design e-learning Bundle Course. Students have up to six months to complete all course topics, which include several lessons on HTML5, CSS3, and SQL (Structured Query Language, a database management language used in web development). Another unit covers responsive and interactive website design, including web forms and adaptive graphics. The course concludes with lessons on creative design, digital literacy, and soft skills like communication and time management.

Noble Desktop offers live online classes available anywhere. Their Web Design Certificate program combines multiple shorter courses to form a comprehensive training program that can prepare you for work as a Web Designer. The course begins with the principles of web design and UI design, taught alongside website planning using Figma prototyping software. The program then teaches students HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in depth, with coursework similar to Noble Desktop’s Front-end Web Development program. Students are also introduced to Git and GitHub for collaborative design and development work. The program concludes with units on HTML-based email and WordPress to give participants more tools for website creation. In addition to online class sessions, students receive supplemental course materials, access to class recordings, and eight 1-on-1 mentoring sessions to address difficult topics and discuss career planning. Upon completion, participants receive a certificate and have the option to retake the class once for free for up to a year.

Web Design Corporate Training

If your business needs to train employees in web design, Noble Desktop can provide training either through live online instruction or in-person classes at your location. You can choose any existing Noble Desktop course on web design or create a custom course to fit your requirements. Class schedules can also be adjusted to your needs. If you prefer, you can purchase vouchers for existing live online courses (with a discount for bulk purchases) and provide these to employees to book classes as fit their schedule.

For a free consultation to address your questions, discuss custom course design, or set a class schedule, contact corporate@nobledesktop.com. You can also purchase course vouchers through this address.

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Key Insights

Learn More About Boston Web Design Courses

What Can You Do with Web Design Training?

What Will I Learn in a Web Design Class?

How Hard is It to Learn Web Design?

What Are the Most Challenging Parts of Learning Web Design?

How Long Does It Take to Learn Web Design?

Should I Learn Web Design in Person or Online?

Can I Learn Web Design Free Online?

What Should I Learn Alongside Web Design?

Industries That Use Web Design

Web Design Job Titles and Salaries

Web Designer

Web Developer

Digital Designer

Web Optimization Specialist

Social Media Strategist

Web Design Classes Near Me

Web Design Corporate Training

Boston Web Design Corporate & Onsite Training Noble Desktop

Web Design Training Locations in or Near Boston

Boston Careers & Salaries Related to Web Design

Related Classes

Boston Web Design
Corporate & Onsite Training