Graphic and Web Design

Follow the link below to view some of the students work.
GWD Vernissage 2019
GWD Trade Fair 2019

We are design oriented!

Graphic and Web Design students focus on learning the following specialized design skills:

• Principles of 2D composition and layout for screen or printed page
• Typography
• Illustration, photography and video design
• Responsive layouts for web design
• Branding
• Search Engine and Social Media Optimization

We are software oriented!

The focus is on learning the following specialized design software:

• Adobe ® Photoshop
• Adobe ® Illustrator
• Adobe ® InDesign
• Adobe ® Acrobat
• Adobe ® Dreamweaver
• Adobe ® Premiere
• Adobe ® Lightroom
• HTML and CSS
• Apache, MySQL, PHP and WordPress

This program is for you if…

• You are creative.
• You possess good people skills.
• You enjoy working with computers and different software.
• You have strong verbal and written communication skills.
• You are highly motivated.

Where Graphic and Web Design can take you!

Some of our graduates become designers for large and small businesses that need to produce a wide variety of print and electronic documents with sophisticated graphic design and appeal. Others go into business for themselves as designers and marketers.

A third of our students go on to further education in a variety of fields, such as graphic design, marketing, computer systems, and 3D animation.

Employers

Stage/Internship

You can submit your job stage/internship offers and apply for GWD ATE for this program by clicking here and you will be contacted by the stage coordinator directly.

ATE (Alternance travail études)/Co-op Stages

The Graphic and Web Design program (412.AB) are registered with the Québec government as an ATE/Work-Study program. All companies, partnerships, cooperatives and eligible individuals operating a business in Québec can take advantage of a refundable tax credit for practicums in the workplace.
For further details from the Ministère de l’Éducation, éducation supérieur et recherche, about ATE click here. For details from Revenu Québec about the tax credit, click here or contact the Ministère du Revenu at 1-800-567-4692. Employers need not apply for the tax credit to hire one of our ATE students, however the criteria are the same.

• Students must be paid an hourly wage AND
• Stages must last a minimum of 225 hours over a minimum of 8 weeks AND
• Students must work a minimum of 24 hours/week AND
• Job descriptions must be approved by the ATE professor.

Our first and second year students are available for a maximum of 14 weeks in the summer (mid-May to mid-August-perfect for summer replacement).

What kind of computer will I need in Graphic & Web Design?

The most important consideration for a computer used in the graphic & web design industry is its ability to run the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of applications fast and well. Since the applications are available for Mac and PC, the choice of platform is really one of personal preference.

Most students prefer a laptop for it’s portability. It is easier to use one machine all the time, instead of switching in between school and home computers.

• The computer should have 16Gb of RAM (or more).
• The video card should be fairly powerful (but not necessarily what would be required for gaming).
• The hard drive should at the very least be 500Gb, but you can easily extend the storage with cheap external drives.
• The screen should be 15” or larger because the Adobe applications use many palettes that take up screen space.

The department’s recommendation is a Macbook Pro. For the following reasons:

• Can run Windows and Linux operating systems natively or in virtual machines (VMs are great for browser testing). Three computers for the price of one.
• Time Machine backup utility is so easy to use and can save you from catastrophic data loss (some sort of computer failure is not a question of “if” but “when”).
• Apple hardware is premium quality and usually last many years.
• Runs Mac OS X which is very similar to Linux and Unix; ie connecting to Linux web servers via Terminal is built-in.
• Journaled HFS+ file system helps prevent data corruption. There is no equivalent technology for Windows.
• 2 out of 3 Graphic & Web design labs are Mac labs.
• Macs can run an iOS emulator so you can test web designs on iPhones and iPads without having to buy a real iOS device.

Bottom line, buy the best computer you can afford. If you choose to buy a PC, buy a good (ie more expensive) one. The $350 Back-to-School special won’t last and you will feel like your investment was wasted.

Useful Software & Services

Required

• Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

Optional

Text Editors

• Notepad++ (PC)
• TextWrangler (Mac)
• SublimeText (Cross-platform)

File synchronization services

• Dropbox (recommended)
• Google Drive

Web Browsers

• Google Chrome (Recommended)
• Mozilla Firefox
• Opera

Web Browser Utilities

• Web Developer Toolbar (Recommended. Cross-platform.)
• Firebug (Recommended. Cross-platform.)

FTP Client

• Filezilla (Cross-platform. Do not download server version, use client version.)

Productivity Suites

• Microsoft Office (Cross-platform)
• OpenOffice (Free, recommended)

Virtualization Software

• Virtualbox (Free, recommended. Cross-platform.)
• VMWare Fusion (Mac)
• Parallels (Mac)

Web Testing Servers

• MAMP (Cross-platform.)
• Bitnami (Free. Recommended. Cross-platform.)
• WAMP (Windows)
• XAMPP (Cross-platform.)

Web Site Hosting

• Bluehost

CEGEP Requirements

A Secondary School Diploma which includes:

• Secondary 5 Language of Instruction
• Secondary 5 Second Language
• Secondary 4 Mathematics
• Secondary 4 Science and Technology
  OR Secondary 4 Applied Science and Technology
• Secondary 4 History and Citizenship Education

Program Prerequisites

No specific prerequisites are required for this program.

OR a Secondary School Vocational Diploma which includes:

• Secondary 5 Language of Instruction
• Secondary 5 Second Language
• Secondary 4 Mathematics

Please Note

Applicants who have not studied in Québec must have education deemed equivalent by the College.

John Abbott College is affiliated with the Service régional d’admission du Montréal métropolitain (SRAM) and uses its online application service.

The application deadline is March 1.

Warning: The documents and payment must be submitted by the deadline.

Program start: Fall

To apply:

• Complete the online SRAM application
• Select John Abbott and the program of your choice along with the corresponding SRAM program number: 412.AB
  (Program name which appears on SRAM website – Office System Technology: Micropublishing and Hypermedia)
• Upload any necessary documents directly to your online SRAM application

Students whose prerequisites are more than five years old should contact the Admissions Office.