Department Head
Christopher Schmitt, Web Design department head
Christopher Schmitt is the Web Design department head for the Associate's degree program. His message for prospective students below offers perspectives and tips for studying Web design at the degree level.
Read his bio of professional experience.
Message from Christopher Schmitt
The Web has removed myriad barriers to communication. A message can be sent, seen, even heard around the world in an instant. A Web page can be distributed to a global audience without regard to geography or time.
However there is this problem: your message isn't the only one out there.
Web design is no longer a tool for major companies with outsized IT budgets or expensive computer systems. Broader access to technology means that your idea (and the execution of that idea) must compete for attention on the Web with so many other messages, ads, pages, and sites that it's hard to be noticed.
But that's the fun part of designing for the Web. As a Web designer, you're responsible not only for creating a design idea—but also for executing that idea, down to the last pixel and HTML tag. You control the message, if you have a mastery of Web languages and graphics software, and a good grasp of design fundamentals, page layout, and interface design. Skill in Flash and JavaScript will help you provide the interactivity that many clients demand.
In the Sessions College Web Design Associate's Program, you'll gain a foundation for creating rich Web designs. A focus on visual design will help your work stand out from the crowd. We'll help you hone the skills you have and develop the skills you don't have to give you the tools for creating professional work. Web design requires both sides of the brain; the analytical and the creative side are both required for a cohesive solution.
In the Associate of Occupational Studies program, you'll learn a process that will help you channel your creativity for the real world of client work. In your online classes, you'll design dozens of graphic and Web projects. Practical work, discussions, and critiques will challenge you to evolve your design process and discover how to address the needs of different clients and audiences.
This type of process and hands-on training is essential whether you're dealing with prospective clients and employers or simply working on your Web presence. Web design can be as challenging as it is rewarding, but at the end of the day, once you are done and a site is published, your design is out there for all the world to see.
— Christopher Schmitt, Web Design department head
Web Design department head 
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