Graphic and Web Design is a three-year competency-based career program at John Abbott College.
The College is located in the town Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue at the western tip of the island of Montreal, just 30 minutes west of downtown. The College shares the campus grounds with McGill University’s Macdonald Campus. The campus is easily accessible by car, commuter train or city bus.
Both Graphic and Web Design
The Graphic and Web Design program is unique as it is focused on teaching students the skills required to develop technical and artistic skills in the production, design and layout of various types of printed and online materials.
This career program appeals to students who enjoy working on the computer, who are creative, who prefer hands-on learning situations to more traditional academic pursuits.
Although the program is in the constant process of evolving to meet the rapidly-changing requirements of technological innovation, the Graphic and Web Design program was initially designed to integrate students directly into the workplace upon graduation, rather than prepare them to continue their studies at the university level. Since 2005, an ever-increasing number of GWD graduates have chosen to continue their education at university.
Stage
After the 12th week of their sixth and final semester, students are required to participate in a three-week work placement program in industry, aka “stage”, where they will assume the tasks and responsibilities of a regular employee in a design-related position.
Historically, a number of stagiaires find employment or contract work with their stage hosts, in web design firms, in the internal communication or marketing departments of larger companies, and in general office work. Most students find their self-confidence and their confidence in the training they received in GWD increase dramatically as they experience the stage.
Comprehensive Assessment
Graduating students are required to pass a Comprehensive Assessment at the end of their program studies to ensure that they are able to integrate all the individual competencies into their overall professional performance. The Comprehensive Assessment evaluates the work in the student’s Portfolio, their performance on Stage, and their ability to relate what they have learned in their General Education courses to their experiences in Graphic and Web Design and on Stage.
The program consists of 1725 hours of contact time, consisting of 64 units of program courses and 26 2/3 units in general education, for a total of 90 2/3 units.
History
The Graphic and Web Design department in it’s current form made it’s debut in the Fall of 2015. It is however a rebranding and modernization of the previous Publication Design & Hypermedia Technology program that was launched in the fall of 1999. Before that time, its faculty members taught office skills in a program called Office Systems Management.
For complete information on the Graphic and Web Design program, please visit the program section of the John Abbott website.