Having the right tools is crucial to getting the job done. This holds true for practically any industry including web design. There are tons of resources and tools available that can greatly improve your workflow and even provide inspiration for new projects.
Tools & Resources for Web Designers
Here we put together a collection of incredibly useful web design resources. Whether you are a business owner or a web designer, you will find something in this list that will streamline the way you work.
1. Draw Inspiration From Niice
Need inspiration for a new project?
Coming up with new designs can be challenging and frustrating. Niice works like a search engine as it pulls in results from Behance, Dribble, and Designspiration. This is a great resource to use to draw inspiration for your own website. Simply type in a keyword and you can browse pages and pages of results.
Here is an example for “lettering”:
2. Share Mockups With Cloud Comp
Sending attachments back and forth of mockups is incredibly inefficient. Designers typically send over new designs via email where clients then have to open them up and either approve or make suggestions. Cloud Comp is an application that is powered by CloudApp where designers can easily share website mockups their clients.
Here is an example of how this looks from a mobile device:
3. Stay Up to Date With Sidebar
The web design industry changes at a rapid pace. Keeping up to date with the changes can be rather overwhelming. Sidebar links to five new design articles a day that have been handpicked. This is a great resource for both web designers and business owners. Be sure to bookmark this page for the latest updates in web design.
4. Determine What Fonts Webpages Use With WhatFont
Typography is an important aspect of web design. Nothing is more frustrating than landing on a page only to find that the content is illegible. If you see a font that you like on another webpage, you can easily find out what it is with WhatFont, an extension that is available for Chrome and Safari. The tool also provides additional details such as font size and line height.
5. Choose Colour Schemes With Paletton
Colour is another critical component of web design. If colours contrast too sharply with each other, it makes it difficult for visitors to read your content and browse your pages. Paletton is an excellent tool for choosing colour schemes that work well with each other. It even provides a preview of what your site could look like.
6. Build a Mockup With Balsamiq
Wireframes are essential for planning new sites as they are basically blueprints. Balsamiq is a great tool that lets designers quickly build out websites, mobile apps, and more with wireframes.
7. Turn a Design Into Code With Avocode
Avocode aims to bridge the gap between designers and developers. This tool makes it easy to export designs from Photoshop or Sketch directly into Avocode, with all the layers and elements intact. Avocode also offers collaboration features to streamline projects.
8. Design Better Graphics With Sketch
Sketch includes a number of features that make it great for designing websites such as improved exporting and simplified vector modes. CSS logic is incorporated into the app which makes converting designs into CSS easier and more efficient.
Note that some of these tools are available for free but others require a paid subscription. Whether you are a web designer or business owner, these are incredibly useful resources that can greatly improve your workflow and provide inspiration for future projects. 🙂
