my favourite tools for designing websites
There’s a lot that goes into designing a website! Finding a platform, creating graphics, organization your tasks, sharing files, compressing images, and more. I thought I’d share some of my favourite tools I use all the time when I’m designing websites for my clients.
Whether you’re a designer or a business DIYer, I hope you find some useful tools for making the design process just a little easier! 😘
1 - Squarespace
Firstly, I do all my website designing on Squarespace. I’ve been using Squarespace for 6 years! It’s a great platform for non-tech savvy people to maintain and update their own websites, and it’s got just enough customization abilities to make it a really great platform to work on as a designer. The best of both worlds!
Alternatively, I’m a big fan of ShowIt but I wouldn’t recommend the platform for non-designers or non-tech savvy people… trust me!
2 - Adobe XD
Adobe XD is my favourite app for creating graphics. It’s simple AND it’s free for individuals. I use Adobe XD to create image graphics, custom backgrounds, and draft up designs for my clients. I rarely use programs like Photoshop or Illustrator for website designs now that I’m using Adobe XD - and in my opinion it replaces popular platforms like Canva. One of my favourite things it does that Canva can’t do is exporting icons and images with transparent backgrounds. This creates the ability for really fun, dynamic designs on Squarespace when incorporated into image blocks (read more about that here).
3 - Creative Market
If you’re struggling with your branding or looking for creative elements to add to your website - check out Creative Market. It’s full of design graphics you can purchase and use on your site like custom fonts, illustrations, mockups - everything you could possibly need designed probably already exists on Creative Market.
4 - Notion
I use Notion as my task management system! I have my own personal task + project management, but I also create my client dashboards here to keep track of our projects together, communicate, share website updates, and more. It’s my current obsession!
5 - Google Drive
Google Drive is absolutely the easiest way to share documents with my clients. I create folders for them to add their photos and branding, and I include forms for them to fill out like their copy guide - which is editable right in Google Drive and it’s so easy to collaborate with clients live.
6 - Tiny JPG
Making sure your website is loading quickly and performing well with SEO is to compress your images! There’s no need in having full-res images on your website if all it does is overload it and make your load times slow. I like to use tinyjpg.com to compress my images before adding them to websites to make sure everything is as optimized as possible without losing quality.
7 - Pinterest
Pinterest is the land of endless design inspiration. I always encourage my clients to create a Pinterest board of website inspiration before we get started. I recommend not just looking at website designs you like - but looking at graphics, quote designs, art, interiors, and photography and pinning them to this board. I think the designs you like in all those categories can highly influence the direction of your website and what you’re looking for aesthetically.
8 - Little Ipsum
Sometimes you just need to quickly add some placeholder text to a website and I use Little Ipsum to make this really easy for me. It’s a tiny app that sits in your toolbar on a Mac and you can choose to grab 1 word to a few paragraphs at at time of placeholder text. Simple!
If you’re a designer I hope this gave you some insight into new tools to use in your own process! And if you’re a DIYer I hope it made designing your own website just a little easier!
