What is website design? It’s not just how a website looks, I can tell you that much…and more. Website design is design in the truest sense of the word: “organization or structure of formal elements in a work.” Website design is like architecture. It’s not enough to look good, because otherwise the building will fall apart and injure people, right? Not that bad web design can cause fatal accidents (I hope), but it can and does leave a nasty taste in your mouth, perhaps blind you and cause you to run screaming the other way…or you can just hit the back button. Anyway, your website like your building has to be sound in structure, it has to be easy to “walk through” and it has to have purpose. A good website like a a great piece of architecture has a structure and navigation that serves the purpose. You know, form follows function. So, before building your fabulous website, ask yourself, “what’s the purpose of my site?”

When I took online courses at Sessions.edu, my friends and family looked at me cross eyed like they couldn’t understand how that could work. They also couldn’t understand how I could pay money for classes at a school with no actual physical location. Well, Sessions does have a corporate office, just no classrooms or faculty lounges. Fortunately I learned a long time ago to ignore the neigh sayers and do what I need to do to get where I need to go. I also learned that times have changed, and our methods of learning should change too. Plus, it’s not like I had a clone of myself lying around to take courses for me in the afternoons while I worked. Though online schools and courses are offered on every corner of the Internet, it still raises eyebrows and contorts faces. And even though, I can readily admit that being in a class room is preferable, I really benefited from taking courses online through Sessions and later, Academy of Art in San Francisco. You’re forced to pay attention, and heaven forbid, read! You’re forced to take initiative. And, you set your own pace, for the most part.