VSBT

The course was great. Rich is a very patient and knowledgeable instructor and I really appreciated his easy going teaching approach.   He definitely cared that I understood what was being taught.  He was able to cater the course content to exactly what I required. Thanks very much, I’ll be calling soon (after summer) for the next course.

Tyler Penzari (Adobe Premiere Pro class)
City of Victoria Police Department

Everything certainly went well. Chris was a very good instructor: he covered the subject well and knew his 'stuff'. He was very approachable and open, always ready and willing to answer any questions from anybody, even a neophyte like myself. I was a fish out of water but he was mindful of why I was there and what I was after. The course itself was what I was after with regard to web sites and specifically being able to update my own. Further to that, Chris introduced me to a program called 'Contribute' which sounds as if it is just right for my purposes.
I learned a fair bit in a short time - many thanks to you, Dieter and Chris Deakin.

Thank you and best regards,
Ross
Victoria B&B - www.fairholmemanor.com

Just wanted to thank you all your assistance while I was studying at VSBT.
I began the program with no past experience in web design and am really looking forward now to an exciting career in this field. I would recommend this program to anyone. I hope to sit my Photoshop ACE exam soon.

Sandra Slingsby
Website Design Certificate Program Graduate

Having a technical background but little experience with Photoshop or Illustrator, I never thought I could learn so much in such a short amount of time. And it's all thanks to Myke's great instruction. Myke quickly made me feel comfortable with the programs and encouraged us to develop our own styles and methods and learn at our own pace. Myke is very talented and enthusiastic and his passion for the arts does rub off on you. He's very approachable and is always eager to help. The hands-on experience is invaluable. Learning by doing solidifies the techniques shown in class. In a short amount of time I've learned the basics in Photoshop and Illustrator so that I may continue to improve and expand upon my skills in the future.

1) How was the Web Design Certification Program for you?
Fantastic! I learned a lot in a short amount of time. It gave me foundational skills that will enable me to learn more in the coming years.

2) What part of the program did you enjoy the most?
I enjoyed them all, especially the week devoted to CSS.

3) What part of the program did you find the most challenging?
I like Flash a lot but I found the learning curve is steeper than the other programs.

4) Would you recommend this program to others?
Most definitely

5) How did you find the instructors? Were they accessible, helpful, approachable, and knowledgeable on the subjects they taught?
I can’t say enough about Chris Deakin. He’s one of the best instructors I’ve ever had. With his 10 years of web experience, he knows the topics through and through. I’d have problems with a home project and he’d either know the answer right away or try to figure it out after class. Myke Allen is a very talented artist and a great instructor. While I’m more of a techie and less of an artist, he helped me with several design issues with ease.

6) How did you find the classroom and computers you were working on?
I used my laptop

7) Did you find that the staff, and instructors were supportive after the program?
We’ll find out when I intern shortly! =)

8) What part of the program would you improve and how?
None

9) How did you like the atmosphere of VSBT and northstudio.com?
Very friendly, nice staff and office environment

10) Would you attend classes here in the future?
I am in September!

11) How do you think you did in this program?
I learned a ton and was challenged several times so I think I did very well.

12) How do you see yourself working in the industry now that you are more educated on the web design industry?
Taking this course has given me the tools to further my career in the industry.

13) How were the class times for you?
Perfect

Shane Graham
Web Developer Certification Full Time April 2007

TJ Holowaychuk
northStudio Drupal Developer and Designer

After spending eleven weeks in the Web Design Certification course at VSBT as a web design novice, I was surprised at how many skills I had learned and how much information I had absorbed by the end of the class. The most difficult part of the learning curve for me was the vocabulary. I can now optimize and tween with the best of them, and the words dynamic content and dither actually have meaning.

I appreciated the small class sizes, the model of a working studio, the friendly and casual atmosphere, and the willingness of the staff to help.

The instructors always appeared patient with my many questions and extremely knowledgeable in their fields. After the program was finished, I was impressed by an instructor's invitation to come in to VSBT to help me work out a few problems in the web site I was creating and his willingness to take time from his own busy schedule,

Trish B
Web Design Certification Program Spring 2006 Graduate

Thanks northStudio.com and VSBT! The Web Design Certification course covered an amazing amount of subjects in the 11 weeks. I especially appreciated the "hands on" work experience, that was freely shared by all the instructors. I had a great time and learned a lot.

Christina Heinemann, Salt Spring Island
Web Design Certification Program Spring 2006 Graduate

Thanks to the Victoria School of Business and Technology for all their help in setting up a custom designed course for us. Everyone at VSBT was great to deal with and they went out of their way to ensure the course met our specific needs. Our instructor was knowledgeable and made the course very enjoyable. We were able to head back to our office and immediately apply what we learnt. Thanks again to Chris, Mychal and the rest of the VSBT staff!

Tasha Bukovnik
Event Coordinator
British Columbia PGA

I just recently graduated from the WDC program at Victoria School of Business and Technology. Small class sizes, highly knowledgeable instructors and a super friendly/professional atmosphere makes this course stand out from the others. I was most impressed by the wide range of course content. The instructors would show you the basic starting points of learning each new software or task. Then an opportunity to explore ideas and create (kinda feels like just around playin on the computer!). After getting familiar and comfortable with how things worked, skills would then be applied as needed in the Web Design industry. Overall the WDC course was more than I ever expected! Thank you VSBT and NorthStudio.com!

Haimish McPherson
Web Design Certification Program Spring 2006 Graduate

Thanks for being so accomodating concerning our desire to learn more. The time I spent with Rene on color correction, advanced InDesign and file preparation was extremely beneficial

I really enjoyed the typography section of the course (Dave Slipp and Dana) Their knowledge far exceeded my expectations.

Ryan Dowell
Web Design Certification and Design for Print Graduate

It was a lot of fun. Learned a lot but will need to practice more on my own.

Francisco Cumayas

I learned a lot in the course. I liked the one on one interaction. it made it much easier and
quicker to learn. I wouldn't say there is anything to improve. I thought it was
fabulous!

Alysha Whimbey
Custom Designed Microsoft Office Program

It was Very good. I learned a lot. I enjoyed the privacy of the setting and being able to focus on what we were doing without the distraction of noise from other rooms. Leaoni is a great instructor and kept me on task when I wandered off and she knew the answers to all my questions. I liked that the hours are so flexible and I was able to choose what suited my schedule.

The school in general is very relaxed, quiet, cool and friendly with good ambience for learning.

I enjoyed the sense of mastering what seemed like complicated tasks before. Learning the formatting and putting it to work in my business right away was very rewarding.

No comment on improvement, I didn't feel the training fell short in any area.

Thanks to Leaoni and the school. I am glad I took the leap. I'll be back whenever budget allows.

Judith Barnes
Custom Design - Personal Tutoring - Microsoft Excel Intermediate

I found the course to be very extensive and comprehensive. It is amazing how much I learned in such a short time. I am happy with what I learned in this course.

The instructors were knowledgeable, easy to approach and willing to explain each topic very clearly.

I found the whole course very well done. However I did feel that the SEO component of the course was slightly rushed. But overall I would recommend this program to others looking for web design training.

Cory Schadt
Web Design Certification Program

Dave is great ... i still have five hours left on the individual package, and hope to use up these hours in early July if Dave is available then.

I regard Dave's manner and style of instruction as definitely superior; he's knowledgeable and patient with my stumbling efforts to grasp the often confounding software intricacies.

Regards

Derek Sidenius

Claremont Secondary School
Journalism Class - School Yearbook Development
Adobe InDesign CS2

Dear Mr. Boag,

I would like to thank you and Rene Hache for providing Claremont Secondary School with exceptional customer service and InDesign training. We are extremely grateful to North Studio for being accommodating as you have been.

As a high school it is sometimes difficult to keep up with Industry in terms of training and software. We have been fortunate to have the opportunity to upgrade our software recently. Software however is only as functional as the user. Your company, in particular Rene Hache, offered us a rare opportunity to train students and myself in InDesign. Rene's professionalism and knowledge of the Industry was immeasurable. At the end of the week that Rene spent with us, we were graphic design artists.

We are now in the process of creating our school annual using techniques taught to us by Rene. Our pages look like they were professionally designed; bringing much pride to our students. Thank you immensely for your role in this process.

Sincerely

Stephanie Owen
Journalism Teacher
Claremont Secondary School

Rene taught the class useful things during his sessions with us. In particular, the shortcuts he told us about were very helpful. His presentations were effective and interactive, which made it easy to learn how to use InDesign. As the week was so successful, I would recommend Rene to other classes.

Camilla

Rene did a very good job of explaining how to make pages. However I think he may have talked a bit too fast and needed to repeat some things over again. Other than that he spoke clearly and did his job properly.

Brittany

Rene was a great speaker and has got out a lot of information. He is obviously very intelligent and educated however he needs to work on controlling the classes he is teaching. Maybe if he had a partner to help him out or just voiced himself better, a lot more information would be taken in by his students.

This year at Claremont, the yearbook class is all girls so when people got talking and laughing, it was extremely hard to hear and follow along. Therefore I don't feel the information given was not really cemented into my brain.

Sabrina

Rene was very good at explaining things to us an had very useful tips and shortcuts. He could teach you how to do something very quickly and thoroughly. His knowledge in InDesign was endless and he taught us all he could in the amount of time he was given. My only critique for Rene would be sometimes goes too fast and is hard to keep up with. Even saying this he seemed to be aware of the problem and by the end of the week he was slowing and checking if he needed to go over things again. Overall Rene was an amazing teacher and was very helpful.

Lyssa

Rene taught me many things over the course of just one week. He brought a charismatic and enthusiastic presence to the class and his patience and knowledge base were admirable. The shortcuts were useful and he gave me some pointers with regards to InDesign which were very informative. I would recommend Rene for future computer classes.

Anonymous

Rene was really patient and a good teacher. This means a lot, since I'm pretty much hopeless with complicated design programs like InDesign. I was a little confused at first, and sensed that Rene was nervous about coming to an unfamiliar classroom and teaching a class of girls how InDesign worked. But after the first day, and when the ice was broken, Rene became a lot more comfortable which resulted in us being able to absorb more. Rene was very patient which I really appreciated. He never seemed annoyed that I was so computer handicapped, and explained things slowly and clearly to me when I was having difficulties.

Anonymous

Throughout the class I thought Rene was a very good teacher, and that he has a lot of useful tips. His teaching skills were quite good, and he was very good at explaining the ways to use InDesign. He knew so many shortcuts, and made it very clear what we needed to know and what was more important to know. His knowledge of InDesign was extraordinary. The only thing I think he could have done that would have helped was been stricter with us students, but I liked the way he taught.

Anonymous

Having Rene come to our class for a week was very helpful. The hints he gave us will definitely make the creation of our yearbook much easier. The day he spent learning effects such as rounded corners and feathering were very helpful as well as text wrapping etc. What a splendid man.

Anonymous

Rene was a pretty good teacher. He went a little too fast a lot and I didn't understand but then he would try and explain it to the whole class. But then if you were still having trouble he would come and help you and he was also very patient. So overall he was a pretty good teacher.

Anonymous

He taught us shortcuts that were very handy. Overall it was very informative. In my opinion it was worth the money. But was it worth it? Yes, yes it was.

Anonymous

Having Rene around for a week-long intensive was so helpful in learning Adobe InDesign. Though I am familiar with other Adobe programs this was the first time I had ever seen InDesign and he made it so simple to understand--without him I wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do! He taught the class a lot about shortcuts which I think (once mastered) will prove to be very useful. He managed to fit a lot of information in only a week which I found very admirable and must have been hard to do--especially with our constant questioning and slow learning. He was very cooperative and friendly and eager to answer anything and everything. He made a not-so interesting learning process very informative and bearable. For someone who's not a teacher, he did a great job of handling a class of teenagers. Thanks Rene

Anonymous

I found that Rene was incredibly helpful when it came to teaching us about InDesign and Photoshop. This is my first time working with these programs and I truly feel I learned a lot. I know my knowledge will only increase over time as I will get the opportunity to create my designs. I think Rene answered all our questions patiently and thoroughly.

Anonymous

Rene's lectures on Adobe InDesign are really helpful; I learn basic skills to design a page with his help. However, I think to manipulate the program better, it's important if we can have some handouts about some shortcuts or something else that we can look at when he's not here. Now we all finished a yearbook page with his help, and it is really good, and it definitely should thank to Rene's excellent and clear classes. He is professional, and efficient. I really like to work with him again.

Anonymous

I thought that Rene was a great teacher and I learned a lot. I thought that he could have talked slower and spoke more clearly. ALthough he could have spoke slower and clearer, he was extremely funny and helps you explain things clearly when you don't understand something. I really hope that we can have Rene back soon, because he's a great person and helped me a lot!

Anonymous

This fits my needs - which are many. I have physical challenges and felt I was endeavoring to learn something new (foreign) and uninteresting to me - but I can apply it to my personal needs. I feel confident to use these skills in a work situation, which is my goal.

Thank you Leaoni and Chris & al staff who were pleasant and helpful and I liked the goodies in the Kitchen too!

Kathy Ireland
Custom Designed Microsoft Office Course

Hi Chris,

I wanted to drop you a line to say thank you for encouraging me to join the part time web design course, I know it’s your role as principle but without that extra phone call I’d be struggling at Camosun for the next year and a bit.

As you know, over the past eight months we’ve had a few instructors who have all been fantastic but Dave stands out.  After a long day at work, he made coming to school easy.

We all came to school without a clue on where to start with web design and Dave fearlessly answered our endless questions and continued to make us feel comfortable.  It’s clear that web design is a constant learning process in an ever changing, fast paced world but I feel confident that I now have the tools to confidently follow along.

I look forward to producing web sites that I feel are useful and it’s clear that I now have fully transferable computer knowledge, so perhaps a brighter employment path.

Once again, thank you North Studio for creating such a positive environment, which quiet literally felt like a second home.

Best regards,
Nicola Greeley
Part Time Web Design Certification Graduate September 2006

It was perfect for me, I have a very busy schedule, which is the hardest
thing to work around when looking for school, so it suited me very well.

The loose class structure was great. I already had a basic knowledge of how
the 3ds max interface worked, and had been learning certain aspects of the
program on my own, so it was great to be able to walk in, and tell the
instructor what I wanted to go over. I liked how there wasn't a set course
outline, so I didn't have to waste time learning something I already knew.

The course itself was great, instructors really knew their material, and for
someone like myself, looking to improve certain skills, or someone just
looking how to do some basic stuff, it works very well. But 3ds max, being
a full blown creation suite, has alot of features, and while I did learn
most of what I set out to learn, I came away wishing I had time to go over
alot of other stuff. Obviously, since there are limited class hours, and
the program is so big, there is no way to go over everything, so I think it
would be great if there was a bigger class offered. Maybe time to think
about a full digital animation course? I know I would take it!

Like I mentioned above, a complete digital animation course would be great.
There hasn't been much in the way of digital animation education in Victoria
in the past few years (I have been looking) so if VSBT did offered
something, you would be the only people in town to do so. I'm sure all the
people moving to Vancouver for animation school would appriciate it.

Matt Graves
3D Studio Max

I learned quite a bit about the various Adobe Creative Suite programs and how to use the various tools. It was great The instructor - Dave Slipp is great!

Natalie Laframboise
Adobe Creative Suite

"I am writing to express my sincere thanks and satisfaction in the web design certificate course I am presently enrolled in.
After moving to Canada to study, I was initially let down and unhappy with the Web design course offered at the Academy of Learning where I studied for the first month.
Unlike there, I've enjoyed the experienced lecturers, the latest software applications, a smaller class size and the option of using my own Mac in your hands-on course.
The option of joining your full time course has allowed me to complete my studies in 1/4 of the time and at half the cost in tuition, a big consideration for an international student.
Please feel free to provide my name as a reference for any prospective students inquiring about your school.

David Lacey
Web Design Certification Graduate 2006

The Illustrator and Photoshop instructor Myke Allen is able to gear the program to capture the attention of the beginners and advanced students. Always able to answer questions and give creative advice.

Kim Settler
Synerchiwebdesigns.com

It astounds me everyday just how much I learned from northstudio and in such a short period of time. I am really grateful for the education I recieved from your school and working as an intern. It completely prepared me for this job. It was really a pleasure coming in there everyday. And I meant what I said, if things get really crazy there and you guys need some extra help I'll come in on the weekends and give you a hand.

Holly Zubot
Web Design Certification Graduate / Intern 2006

Wonderful, one of the most student focused classes i have ever attended. The teachers are able to explain topics to students in both user friendly and advanced terms. I enjoyed the freedom to explore new techniques, and compare other sites with the do's and don'ts.

What would you recommend to improve? Your the best as is, don't change.

Phaedra
Web Design Certification Full Time - PhotoShop, Illustrator CS2

Well Done, allowed for freedom of Artistic expression as well as learning fundamentals used in the industry. The freedom to design as i see fit and gain exceptional feedback on my designs
Myke Allen is an exceptional Instructor, his enthusiasm creates a comfortable learning environment and his ability to describe the same question in many ways to accommodate each students specific needs.

Jeff Saamanen
Web Design Certification - PhotoShop, Illustrator CS2

I thoroughly enjoyed taking the 72 hour custom course with instructor, Dave Slipp. He is patient, helpful, intuitive, and has great listening & teaching skills. Plus, he has a fantastic sense of humour and sets a healthy pace for learning.

Karen Hayes

Graydon Gibson
norsal2@gmail.com
(250) 595-4804

Barb Smith
Microsoft Outlook Express

Kim Settler
Web Design Certification

Lisa
Web Design Certification January 2007

VSBT and northStudio.com was the only place in Victoria where I could go to get a FAST overview of all the technologies to help run my business. The flexible schedule was a life saver as I always had some meeting pop up at the last minute and Chris at North Studio always made it clear that they were there to help me anyway they could, even if it meant re-scheduling classes on many occasions.

Thanks guys, and ill still be coming over to catch up on the new set of web 2.0 skills in 2007

Aran Down

From an employment counselor’s perspective VSBT was an excellent service provider. The training was up-to-date, relevant to the needs of clients (students), and met or exceeded the criteria established by provincial guidelines for employment training programs. Chris was always able to adjust the program to meet the particular needs of the clients referred for webpage design training. He was regularly in contact with me providing progress reports and training updates. I was always kept ‘in the loop’ regarding all the clients I referred to VSBT. I don’t believe I ever heard Chris say, “it can’t be done”. He was always willing to make accommodations for my clients.

I highly recommend VSBT as a premiere training facility.

Paul Brady 
Triumph Vocational Coach

THAT COURSE CHANGED MY LIFE and I want to write volumes about it. When I finally get around to writing to you seriously about my experience and what happened afterward, you will have enough "happy customer" pull quotes to make 50 websites.

I tried to send an email to Mychal, I thought he didn't get it. I never got a response. But I told him a little bit of how great everything went... anyway. Remind me again in a week or so. I can't say enough about how glad I am that I took that course. Wow. I count it among the best decisions I've made in my life.

Mollie Ingebrand
Custom InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator Course