Lynda.com for learning web design

3 Great Resources for Learning Design Online

Recently I received an email from a friend of mine who asked, “What are your favorite learning resources for designing?” This question doesn’t have a simple answer. Mostly because in my opinion, the best resource for learning design is a really great design program. You can’t beat having great teachers, a vetted curriculum, state-of-the-art equipment and a group of peers for critique and inspiration.

But as we all can’t just go back to school, there are some wonderfully useful resources online that do a nice job of explaining the fundamentals and some even give you the opportunity to share what you’ve learned.

1. Skillshare (http://www.skillshare.com/)

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Skillshare is an online learning community to master real-world skills through project-based classes. Our mission is simple: provide universal access to high-quality learning. 

Skillshare is an online platform that allows teachers to film their classes,  have students finish assignments and upload them, and allows other students to comment, critique, etc. on said projects. I’ve taken a few classes on skillshare and have enjoyed all of them.

In my opinion it’s the only resource online now that gives the best in-school-experience online.

2. Lynda (http://www.lynda.com/)

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Lynda.com is a leading online learning company that helps anyone learn business, software, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals. Through individual, corporate, academic and government subscriptions, members have access to the lynda.com video library of engaging, top-quality courses taught by recognized industry experts.

I’m constantly recommending Lynda.com to people, not just for design classes, they have wonderful coding classes as well. While you don’t have the interactive quality of posting your work for critique, like you do with skillshare, lynda excels at having really great teachers.

Lynda’s other great strength is their interface. They have a super usable video set up where you can jump from topic to topic or even to a specific line in the transcript.

If you work for a company where this would benefit multiple people, I recommend talking them into getting an account for the office, otherwise most schools have an account for students. But if you can’t get it through other means, it’s definitely worth the money.

3. Tuts+ (http://tutsplus.com/)

Tuts+ offers video courses and written tutorials to help you learn creative skills in code, design and illustration, photography, video, music, web design, game development, craft, and more.

Tuts+ has a great selection of free, one-off tutorials that you can search through and find a specific thing you’re trying to learn. From learning about invitation design to learning how to color correct white balance in Photoshop, Tuts+ has a wide range of available class options.

While I still find a classroom the best place to learn, I think these online resources get as close as you can to helping someone learn anything they want to about web design and development.

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