Basics and Fundamentals of Commercial Website Development

At VanArts we start from the beginning with design basics and how to write code, so candidates with no experience will not be overwhelmed. At the same time our industry-professional instructors pass on instrumental skills and principles which are often lost or overlooked by individuals with more experience in the related fields.

Term 1 at VanArts sees you introduced to the industry standard tools for art and design. You will build a solid foundation in the area of design after learning the core concepts and key principles that make up the industry. The fundamentals of programming, as well as how to effectively plan and develop your own scripts, are taught. You will learn to code and design your own functional static websites from scratch. In the first term your introduction to project management sees you develop interpersonal and communication skills for dealing with clients. You will be exposed to key business trends such as online promotion and Search Engine Optimization that will lead to improving your websites’ popularity, visibility and relevance.

Refining Your Skills

Term 2 is all about refining your design and coding skills. You graduate from creating static sites to highly dynamic, interactive and enriched websites. Responsive design and adopting a mobile first approach to development are key areas of note in this term. The business concepts of online web analytics and how to increase conversion rates to maximise monetization and business exposure are taught. In programming you will learn the world’s most popular web development languages. You will develop your critical thinking skills to the point where you will write code that will not only improve user experience but also solve complex problems. Design-wise, you will become highly proficient in Photoshop and Illustrator developing detailed mock-ups not only for the digital world but for print media as well. By the end of this second term, you will be able to build and design a custom-programmed Content Management System (CMS).

Real Life Client Interaction and Team-Based Project Management

In Term 3 a big emphasis is placed on learning the industry’s most highly sought after Front-End development frameworks. These modern advances in web technology are incredibly important industry skills to have in today’s market and will allow you to vastly increase the interactive capabilities of your projects. Students learn how to design compelling user interfaces for eCommerce applications and how to improve overall design usability across a wide range of web development disciplines. You will study the history and trends of typography and will employ these new skills to develop your own personal font. Students will embark on a major team project that sees them adopt the highly popular Agile Scrum software development methodology. This will prepare you for working in technology start-ups, big web/software companies and design agencies. You will put your skills in project management to the test as Term 3 sees you develop live projects for real clients.

Developing Entrepreneurship and Preparing for Industry

The goal of Term 4 is to finish and polish, to inspire, and to allow your creativity to emerge in a more powerful, meaningful and professional way. Your key focus is on creating your portfolio and preparing intensively for your new career. In addition to setting you up for the rigors of a freelance, agency or industry career, Term 4 seeks to spark your entrepreneurial persona by taking you through the process of developing your own viable business venture and seeing it through to test launch. As a student you will learn to develop cross platform mobile applications for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone.

Throughout this process, emphasis is placed on keeping usability and user experience at the forefront and staying in-line with best design practices. You will learn to develop useful plugins for the lucrative WordPress market and will perfect your overall design planning, presenting and artistic skill set. Your programming skills will be honed to allow you to interface with the biggest platform APIs in the world such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Ultimately as Term 4 draws to a close, as a VanArts graduate you will have become a very versatile and competent professional that is fit, prepared and excited for the thriving web industry.