Web

Last night I started a web design night class. Hoorah! I actually felt quite nervous about “going back to school” but it went really well and I’ve definitely made the right choice. As my regular readers know all too well, I’ve had a real need to change my job and professional situation for some time. Incidentally I am still waiting to hear whether or not I can take redundancy in my current workplace – no confirmation as of yet – it’s rather frustrating being left hanging in the balance like this, but hey – hopefully everything will all work out.

Anyway even before all the redundancy stuff sprung up I actually signed up to do this course – it’s an Edexcel Certificate in Interactive Use of Media – yes, I know I said web design, but that’s the official title which sounds sooo much more impressive doesn’t it? It is mainly about web design though – the main elements of the course consist of how to design and edit your own website, how to use Dreamweaver (a web design package) and Flash (a web animation package!) And you get a proper qualification at the end which is a lot better than some other courses. I’ve been wanting to develop my web skills for some time, plus it’s a useful skill to gain (I really feel like I’ve frozen in my current job in terms of learning new skills) and it would look good on my CV! And of course I’ve got a personal interest in the Internet…what with all this Blogging malarkey! So it’s all good.

I’ve chosen a really good location to study at as well – the college is right in the heart of Soho which is about as central as you can get in London and a trendy area to boot (as befits me – daaaarling). If we were doing the course on a Friday I’d be quite tempted to pop to G.A.Y. for some drinkies afterwards. (Damn it! Move the day of the course now!!) The course tutor was very friendly, personable and positive which always helps – there’s nothing worse than having a boring or uninspiring teacher, and I should know, I’ve been one (not a boring or uninspiring one teacher that is, at least I hope not…) The college itself has some decent facilities – a library with chock loads of books and resources, a common room and so forth. And the IT suite where we’re doing the course is seriously funky – all pink walls and modern lighting. So overall, excellent choice!

Last night we mainly did introductory stuff which was pretty straightforward and not too demanding. One task the tutor gave us was to list our five favourite websites and rate them in terms of how interactive they are, colours, graphics, text etc, and then present our “findings” to the rest of the group, which was a lot of fun and also very enlightening. I’ll give you one guess what my most favourite website was…And I was gratified that one of my fellow students is a fan of the very same thing. Great minds, and all that, eh? Maybe we’ll design a website together.