Web Desginer/Developer

Whar kind of college degree do you need to be a web developer or designer? I know you can study computer science but can you also be a web desinger/developer with a degree in information technology or information systems?

Some IT and IS degrees offer classes in web design and development, while others don’t. If the programs you’re interested in offer those types of classes, then you can get jobs in web design and development.

A computer science degree is not typically the path to web design/development. The languages/skill sets are different, especially if you have a strong interest in design. Some schools do offer interdisciplinary majors that combine courses from CS, Communications, Business and other areas. You also might end up taking courses in Graphic Design through the art department.

It won’t matter as much what the degree is titled, what will matter is the skills you develop. And understand that this is an area where you will be constantly learning new technology to keep pace with the changing environments.

I don’t think you need a degree to be a Web Designer/Developer. My friend is in high school and is he working as part time Web Developer.

Web development (creating the coding for a complicated site like Facebook) is just another type of coding, with JavaScript instead of Java/Python/other server-side languages.
Web design, the look and feel of the pages, is a different skillset.

A fine arts degree can help you become a web designer, also graphic design, industrial design and advertising. Very few if any comp sci degrees on the web design teams

Interdisciplinary helps yes but I have met very few who truly excelled at both design and technical skills. This includes recruiting for years from Parsons and other top design programs who purported to teach both. (I am not saying they don’t exist, I am saying Google et at got them first!) The shops I have run the tech skills are more important by far, so those folks get the nod and we outsourced the design. Additionally, many of the trained UI “experts” have been trained badly, IMHO.

You don’t know how hard it was to get a simple Windows icon designed back in 2002. :wink:

However, if you did master both design and tech skills/coding, you would be very, very valuable.

I would recommend looking into getting a Graphic Design major, as they usually have HTML and CSS courses integrated into them, at least in my experience