Building Digital Skills Through Doing
Lanovire was started by Lynette Rackham and Isla Fenwick in 2025 after years of watching students struggle with theoretical web design courses. They wanted to create something different — a place where you build real sites, make actual decisions, and see what works by testing it yourself.
How we got started
Lynette spent eight years teaching design principles at a local college.
She watched capable students memorize concepts but freeze when asked to build something on their own. Isla ran a small development studio and faced the same issue when hiring — people had certificates but couldn't adapt designs to different screen sizes without hand-holding.
They met at a regional education meetup in St. John's and started talking about what was missing. Every workshop they looked at focused on theory first, with maybe one project at the end. Students learned syntax but not judgment. They knew breakpoints existed but not when to add them or why.
So they built something different. Lanovire starts with the doing. You get a brief, you build a layout, you test it on actual devices, and you figure out what needs fixing. Then you learn the concept that solves the problem you just ran into.
Who runs this
Two people who got tired of watching students fail at things they should be able to do.
Lynette Rackham
Co-founder, Curriculum Design
Lynette builds every exercise and assignment. She decides what gets taught when, which problems students tackle first, and how much scaffolding to give before letting them figure things out.
Isla Fenwick
Co-founder, Platform Development
Isla writes the code that runs Lanovire. She maintains the assignment platform, handles feedback tools, and makes sure the interactive exercises actually work when 47 people are using them at once.
What you actually get
Lanovire workshops focus on mobile-first layouts, flexible grids, and media queries that respond to content needs rather than arbitrary device widths.
Each session gives you a design brief and a target audience. You start building immediately. Within the first 90 minutes, you'll have a layout that works on a phone, a decision about where to add your first breakpoint, and a clear understanding of what broke and why.
Instructors review your work in real time and point out what's working and what needs revision. You iterate on the same project throughout the workshop, adding complexity as you go. By the end, you've built something functional and tested it on devices you'll actually encounter in client work.
Workshops run online with scheduled sessions and open studio time. Participants from St. John's and surrounding areas join to work through assignments together. You keep access to all materials and can revisit exercises as many times as you need.