Web Design Resources and Tools for Startup Designers

One of the most popular jobs of today is web design and development. Online marketing has become a necessity in business promotion campaigns, thus there is a great need in finding new and innovative design ideas for your website in order for it to leave the desired impression.

Web design cannot be learned overnight – there are various techniques and trending aesthetic movements to follow before you jump to the computer and start using software. So, if you are a fresh designer, here are some valuable resources that you should always have in your bookmarks.

Learning Resources

• Smashing Magazine

This is the most popular webzine among web designers. Here, you can constantly update your skills with new techniques, trends and ideas shared by some of the greatest designers on the web. There, you will find the most relevant discussions and phenomenal learning guides important to you as a fresh web designer.

• Web Design Tuts+

Currently, the most popular CMS (content management system) in the world is WordPress and its most powerful market, the Envato. One of Envato’s greatest projects is TutsPlus, which is one of the world’s most popular WordPress libraries. Web Design Tuts+ is their project presented to web designers for this CMS, where you can find a solution to any kind of design issue, ranging from the basics of design to some deep coding of design elements.

• Niice

Niice is a design search engine created for designers, by designers. Based on your search query, you will be presented with results in an intuitive grid layout. It is the best place for any starter in web design as well as any expert with an inspiration blockage.

Learning Tools

There are a great number of design software out there, used for defining and solving any kind of issue that may compromise the concept of the website, as well as to accomplish the desired visual impression to the targeted audience. Here are some of the most important online tools any fresh designer should have in his bookmarks.

• Adobe Kuler

This is probably the most popular and the best color picking tool on the web. Here, you can compare and decide on the best color for the desired web element and use its hexadecimal code to paste it in Photoshop, a HTML or a PHP editor. Picking the right color and applying it on the specific elements of the design is the most common process in web design, therefore, you should always have this tool located in your bookmarks.

• Dimensions

This one is probably the most useful Chrome extension a web designer should have. During to the ever-growing network of people using smartphones and mobile devices with retina displays, many websites are in need of a responsive design that will adapt to any device and display range. With this extension, you can check how the specific page will look when displayed on a specific device model using each browser, you can find robust mistakes such as content overlapping and lack of functionality and remove them accordingly.

• Fontstruct

This is a tool which will help you design the perfect and unique font that you would like to use for a specific web-page. Although there are currently over 600 different Google fonts that you use as well as many unique fonts designed by more experienced designers that you can purchase, nothing can reflect your innovation in web-page design more than a custom made font, specifically created for your needs.

• IM Creator

IM Creator is an online-based website generator with an intuitive content builder where each element is placed on the layout by drag-and-drop. It is perfect for fresh designers who like to practice concept and create website layouts without depending on HTML or PHP knowledge. Not only it is great for practice but it also gives you an opportunity to register a domain, launch a website with your innovative design and use it as part of your portfolio.

For a fresh web designer starting out, these are the most necessary assets needed to learn web design intuitively. As you get better, the range of tools and resources you use will grow. But no matter what, there are still some basic habits you need to adopt at the early stage, and this will reflect on your work flow as a web designer in the future.