Web Design Classes & Bootcamps Philadelphia

Design responsive, modern websites by combining HTML, CSS, and UX best practices, ensuring that every page you build looks great and functions smoothly.

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Web design is the art of improving the user experience aspects of website and app development rather than software development. A Web Designer works on a website's appearance, layout, and content, with a focus on creating a positive user experience through navigation, layout, SEO, and more.

Web design has been around since the launch of the internet. The first website was created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1991, igniting the spark for the lightning-fast development of the online world, virtual retail, and digital marketing. Landing pages sprouted up around 1993 and drew users in with enticing invitations to “Click Here to Enter” or “Sign Up Now, ” the original “call to action” strategy.

According to Forbes, 71% of businesses now have websites, making web design professionals indispensable for modern commerce. As a Web Designer, you could be a vital part of a brand or company's success, utilizing both your creative and strategic skill sets to solidify the brand's online presence and increase engagement and sales.

What Can You Do with Web Design Training?

As a web design professional, you’ll be able to conceptualize and craft elements such as color schemes, typography, images, and graphics. You’ll also be able to strategize navigation, ensuring that your intended user can effortlessly find what they’re looking for. Creating a cohesive and engaging user experience, whether that's on a website or an app, is crucial to effective web design, but you’ll also be able to create various visual assets like logos, icons, illustrations, and images.

You could use all of these skills to give back, helping a nonprofit or local community organization create or update its website. Or you could build your own website completely customized to your goals and personality, showcasing whatever you may be passionate about. Other possibilities include creating an ecommerce store that can become a full-time business, serve as a creative outlet, or provide supplemental income. You can even develop features that help optimize a website or application. Web design skills can lead to both a fulfilling hobby and a successful career, and choosing between the two is entirely up to you and your goals.

What Will I Learn in a Web Design Class?

Web design is equal parts creative and technical, so you’ll study a wide range of subjects and skills in whichever course you choose. Whether you attend in-person, live online, or on-demand, you’ll work through real-world examples and hands-on projects to become an expert in web design. Below are the top skills you’ll learn in web design training.

Programming Languages

Most courses will cover at least a few programming languages such as HTML to mark up content, CSS for styling, and JavaScript to add interactivity. These programming languages will be used to build your designs, bringing your creative vision to life. While it isn’t necessary to master all of them, knowing the basics in one or two will be extremely helpful.

Content Management Systems

You’ll also typically master at least one content management system, like WordPress, and you’ll probably learn how to design webpage layouts in Figma as well. Content management systems like these will help you with things like website copy, SEO content, and webpage layout and design.

UX Skills

The basics of UX (user experience) are typically covered in a web design course. You’ll learn about topics like responsive design, wireframing, prototyping, user research, usability testing, visual design, and user interface design. These skills will help you create a more user-friendly and engaging website, improving the experience of your target audience.

Communication

A Web Designer needs the ability to talk with a company about what they want, ask questions about the intended audience, and convey their ideas for an effective site. Being able to communicate is just the start; companies want a responsive Designer too. A responsive Designer keeps a company or client informed, explains issues as they arise, and discusses deadlines.

Digital Marketing

Knowing the basics of digital marketing will be extremely helpful as a Web Designer. Both web design and digital marketing focus on the user (or customer) experience, but they each have their own touchpoints. Digital marketing focuses on tactics like articles, emails, social media, and text messages and app pushes. It also has some overlap with web design, specifically when it comes to writing content for websites and webpages. Having a general understanding of the basic principles of digital marketing will help you to design from a more holistic perspective, creating websites that are easy to navigate, visually enticing, and help your brand or business engage with your target audience.

How Hard is It to Learn Web Design?

It’s a common misconception that web design is complicated to learn, due to its association with programming. In reality, learning web design is fairly simple. As a Web Designer, your focus will be on creating the visual layout and seamless navigation of a website, so you’ll rely on Web Developers for all things programming. Learning a new skill or subject always has its challenges, but with the right curriculum, an expert instructor, and ongoing support from a quality training program, anyone can master web design.

What Are the Most Challenging Parts of Learning Web Design?

For many, the hardest aspect of learning web design will be in the early stages when students are navigating the field. Web design projects are rarely the responsibility of a single person, and complicated projects involve large teams of dozens or even hundreds of specialized professionals. Learning how to properly collaborate, including how to effectively communicate and receive feedback, can be challenging to those without previous experience. Additionally, most students won’t know what they want to do as Web Designers, so the early process may involve a lot of trial and error. If you’re willing to tackle this initial learning curve and have the right amount of passion and dedication, learning web design shouldn’t be too challenging overall.

How Long Does It Take to Learn Web Design?

The amount of time it takes you to learn web design will depend on several factors. Firstly, having previous experience with similar subjects (web development, UX/UI, etc.) may help you learn web design faster than someone that’s entirely new to all things web. How much time you can dedicate daily will also impact how long it takes you to master web design. Are you able to commit to full-time hours or can you only manage an hour in the evenings outside of work? The more time you can commit per day, the quicker you can gain mastery.

Generally speaking, web design bootcamps typically take 3-4 months to complete and teach all the skills you need to qualify for a Web Developer job. Learning web development from less intensive online courses could take anywhere from a single month to several years, depending on how much time you devote to your courses.

Should I Learn Web Design in Person or Online?

There are many factors to consider when answering this question. Firstly, you’ll need to decide what learning environment is best suited for you. Do you excel in a collaborative environment that allows you to interact with your peers and receive instant feedback from your instructor? Or, do you prefer a more solitary learning environment, perhaps one where you can learn at your own speed?

You’ll also need to decide how much time you can commit to your education and what level of flexibility your schedule requires. Are you looking to dive deeply into an intensive program? Do you work full-time and require your classes to be scheduled for evening and weekend hours?

In-person classes offer face-to-face interaction with your fellow students and your expert instructor. This collaborative environment is available for both full-time and part-time classes and provides structure and accountability, two things that can help you succeed. Online courses may lack this in-person interaction, but they make up for it with increased flexibility. Live virtual courses still offer instant feedback from your instructor and interactions with other students, while on-demand virtual training allows for the most flexibility since you can decide where and when you learn.

The good news is that, no matter which version you attend, you can obtain a quality web design education with a top-notch curriculum and expert instructors.

Can I Learn Web Design Free Online?

Technically, it is possible to learn web design for free online. YouTube videos, blogs, and free short workshops can all be a great way to learn the basics without purchasing any educational content. (Don’t forget to watch the most recent uploads so you’re learning the latest trends and techniques.)

But, when it comes to the more advanced skills, an in-depth training course is going to be your best bet. These courses will consist of a curriculum developed and taught by experts with the chance to receive feedback or troubleshoot any issues with your instructor or a support team. Formal training can also provide the structure and accountability that some students need to stay focused, creating an environment where you’re more likely to succeed. So, if you’re looking to master more than just the basics, a formal workshop or class is a better choice than free online resources.

What Should I Learn Alongside Web Design?

A few programming languages will be essential to any Web Designer: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These languages, however, are only the basics. To create compelling websites or web apps, you’ll need the assistance of additional web development languages like PHP, Python, and/or Java to enhance the content and structure. Don’t worry about mastering all of these before your training—most classes will cover at least a few of these. Having experience with any of them will give you an advantage in a web design training course.

User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) are crucial to web design and development. UX design involves attending to how the experience makes the user feel and how easy it is for the user to accomplish their desired tasks. UI design considers all the visual and interactive elements of a product interface, including buttons, icons, spacing, typography, color schemes, and responsive design. While these will often be specific roles within a company, having experience with both will be extremely beneficial as a Web Developer.

It’s important to know how visual design works because being able to tell the difference between good and bad design will make learning web development and design significantly easier. It’s helpful to know things like the rules of composition and understand how elements like shapes, space, color, and geometry come together. Having a keen eye for formatting, color schemes, and typography can help you create more visually appealing and engaging websites.

Web Design Certificates and Certification

Noble Desktop’s Web Design Certificate is a live online course that can be attended on a full-time or part-time schedule. Designed to help you become a well-rounded Web Designer, this course will teach you how to design websites, code them with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and build websites with WordPress. This will allow you to create a diverse portfolio to showcase your skills to potential employers or clients. You’ll also learn to design webpage layouts in Figma, creating designs and clickable prototypes that can be shown to clients and given to users for feedback. Noble Desktop’s certificate program comes with setup assistance, 1-on-1 mentoring, and a free retake. Payment plans are available to help make this course more accessible, and anyone, with any level of experience, is welcome to attend.

They also have a UI Design Certificate that teaches you all the basics of UI like composition, typography, color, interactivity, user interface elements, and best practices. Held live online, you’ll design responsive websites—which look good at all screen sizes—and mobile apps using Figma, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Complete with setup assistance, 1-on-1 mentoring, and a free retake, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of design concepts and create portfolio projects to show potential clients or employers.

Their JavaScript Development Certificate will teach you to build web apps with one of the most popular programming languages in the world. You’ll learn to create dynamic web applications with React and Node.js, create APIs with Express.js, and work with databases with MongoDB.

You’ll also explore Browser Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) built into web browsers, how to incorporate functionality in websites from other content providers, like X (formerly known as Twitter) or Facebook, and how to use third-party frameworks and libraries with HTML to accelerate the work of building sites and applications. This training is open to new developers and has no prerequisites.

Full Stack Web Development from Noble Desktop is another option for those who wish to develop and maintain web applications. In this project-based course, you’ll learn to use programming languages like HTML and CSS and JavaScript to program memorable, interactive webpages. You’ll also master the MERN tech stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js) to add databases, APIs, AWS and other server environments, and interactivity for those web applications. By the end of the course, you’ll have a portfolio of working web applications that you can take with you onto the job market.

Or, you could expand your skill set with their UX & UI Design Certificate that covers design concepts, industry tools like Figma, and research methodologies. This program is project-based and will teach you how to design digital products (like websites and apps) and build clickable prototypes that can be given to users for testing, clients for review, and to the developers who will turn your design into the final working product. Throughout the course, you’ll build an online portfolio of designs and get help and feedback on developing your portfolio website and resume.

If you’re interested in the more technical side of things, check out their Front-end Web Development Certificate. This interactive course will teach you HTML to mark up webpages, CSS for styling, JavaScript to add interactivity and animation, and Git to track code changes and collaborate with other developers. You’ll also learn how to use WordPress, the top content management system, to create customizable websites and edit content without coding experience. With hands-on training and step-by-step custom workbooks, you’ll develop the skills to create responsive websites optimized for any size screen (mobile, tablet, and desktop).

Industries That Use Web Design

The city of brotherly love, Philadelphia is known for its extensive contributions to American history, but it’s also a city focused on the future. Home to a variety of industries, web designers are in top demand. From life sciences to finance to technology (and so many more), work for Web Designers and Developers is consistently available, making Philadelphia a great place to learn web design.

Life Sciences

Philadelphia is ranked among the top 10 life sciences markets in the United States, with over 1,200 companies, world-class research institutions, and 15 major health systems. Top industry employers include Johnson & Johnson, Labcorp, and Aramark. With over 70,000 employees in life sciences and an average salary of $87,000, there should be plenty of opportunities for a trained Web Designer.

Finance

Home to world-class financial services companies like Colonial Penn, Delaware Funds by Macquarie, FS Investments, Lincoln Financial, Radian, SEI, and Vanguard, Philadelphia’s financial industry is a vital part of the local economy. Additionally, Bank of America, Citizens Bank, Firstrust Bank, Fulton Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Macquarie Asset Management, OceanFirst Bank, PNC Bank, TD Bank, Wells Fargo all have established operations in the city. Web Designers are needed across the financial sector to create user-friendly websites and applications that make banking and investing more accessible.

Advanced Manufacturing

More than 5,600 manufacturers call Greater Philadelphia home, employing 190,000 workers across key sub-sectors, including biopharmaceutical, chemical, plastics, food, and aerospace manufacturing. Its central location makes it an ideal East Coast gateway to the world and the city’s robust infrastructure and extensive supply chain networks enable the smooth transport of products and materials. Plus, with big names like Boeing, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Lockheed Martin, Merck, and Pfizer having established diverse manufacturing operations in the area, it’s no surprise that the manufacturing sector is thriving.

Technology

Similarly, the technology industry in Philadelphia is booming as well. Robotics, ecommerce, artificial intelligence, advanced logistics, digital health, FinTech, and telecommunications can all be found in Philadelphia’s 11-county region. In fact, industry leaders like Comcast and countless successful startups like GoPuff and dbt Labs call the city home. With over 110,000 employees, you could become a part of this exciting field of innovation.

Web Design Job Titles and Salaries

Web design is a little bit of a “jack-of-all-trades” field. You could work in a variety of industries, housed within a wide range of departments. This adaptability coupled with a high demand also means that there are several job titles you could possess as a web design professional. Some of the most common titles you’ll see are listed below, along with a brief description and what you can expect to earn in each of these positions. Remember, this isn’t an exhaustive list, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for other titles when you begin your job search.

Web Designer

Web Designers craft the visual appearance and workings of a website. Using their understanding of both visual design and technical design principles, they create functional web layouts. Web Designers often work remotely and enjoy the flexibility of freelance work or the stability of working for agencies or businesses. Good Web Designers have the experience and foresight to anticipate the end-user experience and design for ease of use and navigation. On average, you’ll make around $63,000 starting out as a Web Designer, with the potential to earn much more as your career progresses.

Web Developer

Web Developers build webpages using coding languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. They also program functionality and identify or troubleshoot errors in code. Opportunities exist in front-end, back-end, and full-stack development, and Web Developers usually make around $80,000, both nationwide and specifically in the Philadelphia area.

Front-end Developer

A Front-end Developer builds the client-side of a website or application and may even update current websites to meet modern standards, create prototypes from wireframes, and create design comps for their employer or client. They usually work alongside Back-end Developers, Designers, Project Managers, and Product Managers to maintain, troubleshoot, and build websites and web platforms. You can make $83,000-$113,000 in this role.

UI Designer

UI Designers are the masterminds behind how an application or webpage looks and feels. UI stands for “user interface” and is the point of contact between humans and computers. Using colors, fonts, patterns, textures, icons, and buttons, UI Designers work with UX (user experience) Designers to improve websites. Some UI Designers may also touch on user experience design issues by using prototyping and user testing to analyze the effectiveness of messaging and ease of use. UI Designers make approximately $89,000 per year.

Web Design Classes Near Me

Community College of Philadelphia offers a Web Design Certificate that explores the basics of web design using HTML and CSS, how to plan and design effective webpages, and how to create effective websites and applications. This certificate is made up of three courses: Introduction to Web Design, Intermediate Web Design, and Advanced Web Design. You’ll discover ways to enhance webpages with the use of page layout techniques, text formatting, graphics, and images; acquire the fundamentals of the most popular Web 2.0 technologies; and learn to build and maintain a website for smartphones, tablets, laptops, and more.

Temple University’s Certificate in Web Design will discover the basics of web design using HTML and CSS, and learn to create effective and dynamic websites and applications. You’ll build a functioning web application hosted on a web server that is both accessible and Search Engine Optimized while also mastering things like responsive design process, advanced layout, design features, and industry-standard technologies and frameworks. Consisting of three courses, you can complete this certificate in as little as one semester.

The Knowledge Academy’s Responsive Web Design Training Course will teach you to make responsive webpages, using the CSS flexbox to modify your layouts. You’ll learn the differences between online and mobile web, what makes a mobile-first design, and the difference between CSS pixels and device pixels. You’ll also discover how to design for your target audience, and tips and best practices for displaying and hiding content, simplifying navigation, and cross-browser testing.

Design Professional: Web Certificate from Pennsylvania College of Art & Design consists of several courses designed to teach you the software programs used to create websites. You’ll begin by studying color & typography, laying the foundation for all future design work. Then you’ll master the basics of hypertext markup language (HTML) and cascading style sheets (CSS), which are critical to all web design projects as well as UX/UI. Finally, you can choose to explore the fundamentals of WordPress or Adobe Photoshop to further your skills in creating dynamic content.

CertStaffix offers HTML5 & Cascading Style Sheets 3, both online and in-person at their various training centers. You’ll learn through hands-on exercises that are task-based and focus on real-world scenarios and challenges faced by students in their day-to-day environments. Topics covered include how to enhance a site with audio and video clips, forms with HTML5 data validation, or CSS3 transitions and animations. You’ll also learn how JavaScript and jQuery add features like accordions, tabs, and slideshows to a page, or how to create a mobile site when a responsive site is impractical. This course also teaches you to use Responsive Web Design (RWD) so your pages will work on any screen, from phone to tablet to desktop and beyond.

CertStaffix also offers WordPress for End Users, where you’ll learn how to get started with WordPress, create new content, and change what appears on a homepage or blog post.

You’ll also learn to handle media uploads, audio/video players, and podcasting; create basic themes; and publish, move, maintain, and secure your WordPress sites. You’ll receive a certificate of completion and a digital badge at the end of the course that can be added to your LinkedIn or resume. You’ll also get a free six-month retake should you wish to revisit the course later.

Noble Desktop offers several online courses that may meet your needs. Web Development with HTML & CSS will teach you to code webpages using HTML and CSS, from structuring and tagging content to styling and making the pages responsive. You’ll gain hands-on experience coding websites from scratch, from uploading to making the site live. You’ll study CSS so you can style the content, create centered page layouts, add background images, style navigation, and make the page responsive so it adapts to various screen sizes using media queries. You’ll also study HTML and learn best practices for structuring and tagging the content of your webpages and how to create webpages with text, images, and more. This course comes with free setup assistance, one optional retake, and a bonus 1:1 training.

Noble Desktop’s Advanced HTML & CSS will help you take your skills to the next level. You’ll learn to take full control over the layout of your webpages through an alternate box-model called border-box, use vector graphics (SVG), and create visual effects such as CSS gradients, shadows, and transparent colors (with RGBA). You’ll also explore how positioning works (relative, absolute, fixed), target elements with advanced CSS selectors, and learn the power of CSS variables. This course builds upon Noble’s Web Development with HTML & CSS and is the second class in their Web Design & Web Development Bootcamps.

Flexbox, Grid, and Bootstrap from Noble Desktop will teach you how newer CSS techniques are useful and when to use them. CSS Flexbox and CSS Grid are two powerful ways to layout content on a webpage. Flexbox and grid are newer CSS layout technologies aimed at making it easier to create responsive layouts that are optimized for any size screen. Bootstrap uses Flexbox to rapidly code up pages without having to write as much CSS. Throughout this course, you’ll learn how to use CSS Flexbox and Grid to layout and align webpage content and make it adapt to different size screens.

JavaScript for Front-end, also from Noble Desktop, will teach you the fundamentals of JavaScript code to create stunning animations with GSAP, equipping you with the skills to transform your web projects into complex, interactive designs. Throughout this hands-on class, you’ll write simple JavaScript and learn how to use pre-made JavaScripts (slideshows, tabbed panels, etc.) to save yourself time and be able to quickly add amazing functionality with relatively little work. You’ll also learn to animate just about anything in a webpage with the GreenSock Animation Platform (GSAP), like scrolling animations (including parallax effects), animated logos, banner ads, and much more. This advanced course is for those with previous experience coding webpages. You should feel comfortable coding HTML and CSS and have knowledge equivalent to their Advanced HTML & CSS class.

If you’re looking to focus on just one platform or subject, check out Noble Desktop’s Figma Bootcamp. You’ll explore Figma’s frames (which other apps call artboards) and learn to efficiently design web layouts for mobile, tablet, and desktop (or screens for apps). Figma is vector-based, so you’ll learn to scale for a variety of screen sizes with ease, as well as export hi-res (Retina) graphics for websites and apps. You’ll also find tools and features specifically relevant to UI (User Interface) design and UX (User Experience) design, like components, built-in prototyping tools, and much more. By the end of this class, you’ll learn to create designs and turn them into interactive prototypes, open navigation overlays, make specific areas within a screen scrollable, and even add animations to your designs using smart animate.

Their Sketch Bootcamp will help you gain hands-on experience designing on a grid system, creating reusable symbols, exporting graphics, building clickable prototypes, and using useful plugins to enhance workflow. You’ll learn to design web layouts for mobile, tablet, and desktop (or screens for apps) using text, graphics, styles, and more. With artboards and layout guides, you can design on systems like Bootstrap, making it easier to design responsive webpages. This course is a part of Noble’s UX & UI Certificate and their UI Certificate, both of which can provide you with additional training with some cost savings.

Web Design Corporate Training

If you’re looking to offer in-person or online training to your office or team, Noble Desktop can help. They offer a variety of corporate training programs, including in social media marketing. You can order vouchers in bulk at a discount, choose which courses are available to employees, and even let your employees choose their own schedule. Plus, you can choose to have your training hosted at a location of your choosing, live online, or at Noble Desktop’s Manhattan office.

With a top-notch customizable curriculum and instructors who are experts in their industries, Noble Desktop’s corporate training is designed to cater to your business or organization’s needs. For more information or to schedule a free consultation, you can reach out to Noble Desktop at corporate@nobledesktop.com.

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