hi everyone i want to learn to become a web designer and i was wondering which is the best way? i recently phoned a training company and they offered the master CIW designer course for me to do at roughly £5000. this is a lot of money to me so i was wondering what other options are available to me to learn the skills needed to become a webdesigner? thanks in advance.
Use google, to find ebooks, online free courses and learn them yourself. Try w3schools.com. They have lots of tutorials on HTML, XHTML, CSS, PHP, ASP and so on.
ok thanks i have been looking, and most information has been saying a strong portfolio is better than havin a certification saying that you passed some course, would you agree? thanks
A strong portfolio yes...but do you really think the boys with the best portfolios (aka highest pay) got there without strong training AND an aptitude for the stuff? The aptitude is natural, but you can't really put a price tag on training...think of it this way, my first job after high school (actually I'm a dropout, so I was 16) was fixing cars for a living...after a couple of years I learned the difference between a "mechanic" and a "technician" so I enrolled in a degree program for automotive technology. After two years of formal training I was a so called "Master Tech" aka I can build, fix, or diagnose anything ya got bimbo...and at 20 years old I could run diagnostic circles around 30 year veteran's, even though they had a better "portfolio" and were better and faster at actually performing the repair...and I got paid more! The point is, it's all relative to where you want your career to go, for me the formal education is a prize...because it teaches you what you NEED to know in order to remain competitive in a growing, and evolving industry rather than just memorizing how to do things. If you are NOT ready to commit to a formal education I suggest you go down to your local technical college, enroll in 1 or 2 basic classes without having to commit to a full on program...you will get a feel for the atmosphere AND have a chance to hook up with other web designers (which is the biggest benefit of all!) and THEN decide which avenue best fits your objectives.