Students looking for a creative career that puts their artistic skills to the test now have a new opportunity through Scottsdale Community College with the Cross Functional Design and Web Essentials Certificate of Completion program.

The new program provides students with foundational skills across media and marketing through an approach to graphic design and web design that emphasizes practical skills, according to a press release. By blending an understanding of marketing practices with graphic design and web design skills, this new certification program will give students a comprehensive overview of strategy and implementation.

Graphic design, marketing and web design now intersect daily. Both current industry professionals and students seeking a job in communications must know how each area affects and interacts with the others, the release stated.

With the transition of traditional advertising and marketing strategies to digital spaces dominated by social media, there are opportunities for professionals who can develop marketing strategies and apply their skills to create the graphics and collateral needed to implement those strategies.

“In this job market, employers are looking for people that can do it all,” Peggy Deal, program director for Visual Communication at SCC, said in the release. “This certification prepares students for everything a modern marketing job requires. By the end, they’ll be as adept at creating entire marketing plans as designing the websites that support them.”

“This certificate program stems from listening to local employer needs and a strong collaboration between SCC’s Visual Communication and Computer Information Systems Departments,” added Sara Beakley-Mercill, department chair for CIS at SCC. “The hands-on curriculum gives students new multidisciplinary skills that can be immediately applied in the workplace.”

Full-time students will be able to achieve this certificate in only two semesters. The certification is ideal for anyone already working in web design, graphic design or marketing who wants to learn more about the other lanes they are exposed to in this cross-functional industry. The program is also ideal for students interested in web-based careers who have yet to decide on a specific track.

Coursework includes graphic design principles like color theory and creative design, web foundational languages like HTML and CSS used for building webpages, Adobe Creative Suite programs like Photoshop and Illustrator for digital image manipulation and social media strategies for marketing.

For more information, visit the program page or email sara.beakley@scottsdalecc.edu or peggy.deal@scottsdalecc.edu.