We all have our methods and tools that make the work we do easier, fun and by a big measure, doable. We rely heavily on these dear helpers, because we would achieve so little or nothing at all without the right tools. Whether it’s image or layout manipulation, tinkering with code, and the works, we all have our favorite tools.
In today’s post, we will cover ten of the hottest web design tools we have come across in 2015, so you can grow your professional web design toolkit. Cheers! Here’s to growing your design career as well, so enjoy and share your favorite tools, thoughts and comments at the end!
Pixlr Online Image Editor
Some unknown person(s) pinched my beloved computer a while back forcing me to work on a friend’s PC. The task involved submitting some blogging work that involved image manipulation.
The only problem is this friend of mine didn’t have Adobe Photoshop installed on his computer! Who is this guy? Who doesn’t have Photoshop? My friend who isn’t a web designer.
What to do? I went online, and out of sheer necessity, searched for “online image editor” and boom, Pixlr came up!
Let me tell you something. I was hooked to Pixlr immediately, and today I barely touch Adobe Photoshop; Pixlr is sufficient since, most of the time, all I do is basic image manipulation. That though isn’t the only reason why I fell in love with Pixlr.
Pixlr does not come with subscription fees like the Adobe Suite, plus it works with .PSD files as well, and even lets you save images on the web. This means you can access your images on the go, which is a great plus for all freelancers. Further, you can create a new image from scratch, or load an image from your PC or web URL for editing. How suave?
WordPress
Am I crazy to include WordPress on this list? Perhaps I am – just a little. But…but isn’t WordPress a blogging tool? A CMS at most? Well, I call bull on your assumptions. First, WordPress is an elegant and powerful CMS. It is also a web design tool loved by many, yours truly included.
It’s super duper easy to set up, learn and use. It’s so much fun to play with that I can comfortably launch at least five basic websites a week! Yep, complex websites might take longer but hey, your work as a web designer will really shine with WordPress. At times, you just need to tinker with CSS a bit to create the perfect site for your client.
You just need to install WordPress on your Pc (or a domain), install a theme and a couple of plugins, and your work is done. Your clients will always be amazed how fast you achieve great results.
Of course, you can design your own custom themes and plugins from scratch if you have the time and PHP skills. The best part? WordPress is free, and has a great community!
The Grid
Are you ready for the future of web design? If that’s a yes, you need to check out The Grid, a web design tool like no other. Their catchphrase? AI websites that design themselves. Sounds like something you’d expect to hear in a sci-fi movie.
First of all, The Grid is not exactly a do-it-yourself website builder. Rather, it is a futuristic tool that uses artificial intelligence to create a website unique to you from the content you throw at it.
Notable features include intelligent color detection and correction, layout filters, integrated on-demand online shops, and a mobile ready design just to mention a few. You really have to see The Grid in action to grasp what we mean. You can have the power of The Grid working for you at a throwaway introductory price of $96 per year.
Infogram
You don’t have to pull out your hair next time you create an infographic. At the time of writing, Infogram has helped over 2.9 million infographics. Whoa, web designers just like you must really love Infogram.
With a couple of clicks, you can create visually appealing and info-packed visualizations of your data. You can further make infographics interactive, engaging and even responsive. This tool is suitable for personal use, educational institutions, brands and large organizations.
Typegenius
Getting your typography right is a huge part of web design. The fonts you use on any given web design project has an impact on the user experience. TypeGenius helps you to find the perfect font combinations for your next web design project.
All you have to do is launch TypeGenius, select your starter font, and your work is done! The tool will automatically generate the perfect font combination for your project without any hassles.
Animate.css
Animate.css is a cross-browser library of CSS and JavaScript animations that are easy and fun to implement and use. Need to add some life to your sliders, homepages, menus and more? Animate.css is your answer.
All you have to do is include the library in your <head> section just like any typical CSS stylesheet and enjoy just-add-water awesomeness. Animations at your disposal include bounce, shake, swing, bounces, pulse, flash, zoom, wobble, and much much more!
InVision App
Is the sketch board in its final days? Well, maybe not, but there’s a new modern way of bringing your designs to reality without breaking a sweat, and having to explain your designs until your voice turns hoarse.
Welcome InVision, ladies and gents, a design prototyping tool that helps you to transform your static designs into interactive mockups that come complete with animations, gestures and transitions.
This tool is both beautiful and intuitive, and so easy to use, you will be designing great prototypes in no time. Other than that, InVision helps you to track your projects and collaborate on the same.
Webflow
The future of web design revolved around one principle, or rather philosophy: building websites shouldn’t be a complicated process that makes you feel like punching holes through walls.
The genius minds behind Webflow understand this all too well, and with their professional website builder, they want you to create production -ready and beautifully responsive sites without ever writing code.
You don’t need to start from scratch too; you can start your next project right this minute with any of their gorgeous responsive website templates. As soon as you sign up, you are shown to an intuitive dashboard that’s easy to use.
To get your feet wet, the guys behind Webflow have created a one of a kind, step by step, hands-on tutorial. Oh by the way, Webflow is web-based, and you can even earn some coffee bucks on the side simply by referring your friends.
You’ll be surprised how easy and fast you will set up and start cranking out responsive websites. The tools and options available in Webflow will blow your mind. You can easily set up SEO, backups, web hosting and Google analytics.
Affinity Designer
Hello Mac users, here’s a hot design tool just for you. Presented on an equally beautiful website, Affinity Designer is the dream graphic design software for many a designer.
Whether you’re working on graphics for marketing materials, websites, icons, UI design or just like creating cool concept art, Affinity Designer will revolutionalise how you work.
All the graphic design tools you love are all bundled in a super fast and flexible graphic design app that will set you back $49.99 bucks. Oh by the way, you can seamlessly integrate Affinity Designer with Adobe Photoshop to achieve even more.
Bootstrap
Loved by the likes of FIFA, Maple, Microsoft, Power BI, Vevo, Food.com and many other big brand names, you can’t go wrong with Bootstrap.
No matter your skill level, Bootstrap is the framework you need to develop responsive, mobile-first web applications easily and quickly. Bootstrap is an open-source project, that gives you a ton of features to build websites out of your dreams. There’s virtually nothing you can’t achieve with Bootstrap and some imagination.
And here we are…
…ten hottest web design tools of 2015 later. You can tell a lot about a designer by the tools they use on a day to day basis. All the same, having the best tools doesn’t necessary mean the best of works. You must infuse your magic (read creativity) into every aspect of every project that ultimately carries your seal.
Did we mention your favorite design tool of 2015? Share your favorites, ideas and thoughts, and help us to keep this list growing!
