42 Resources every Web Designer Needs
by David
From starting a new project to getting inspired to creating mock ups for your clients, here are a few of my favourite web design resources that I constantly return to time and again, especially the ones with a as those are my particular favourites.
Learning
There is no standing still when you are involved in the web industry, whether you are a designer, developer or coder you need to stay on top of the latest trends and updates that seem to occur daily. Sometimes these changes require us web designers to go back to school.
Here is a small sample of the best learning sites around, there are way too many to mention here but these are the ones I tend to return to more often than any others. I particularly like Udemy as each course is priced separately and does not involve a monthly subscription.
Books and Magazines
For those who love having references or just like to read more, I must admit that learning by doing is the best way, then these are the best suppliers of books and learning materials.
Programs and Apps
Need to do stuff, then you will need an app to do it on, depending on your preference, and of course wallet size, find what you need to start earning a living right here.
Affinity Designer from Serif is a definite Adobe competitor, and I think contains enough features that any designer would be happy with, Adobe have seriously misjudged their market in my opinion as they have discarded Fireworks which was an amazing design app that "needed a little work" as well adding way too many features to Photoshop making it clunky and sluggish at best. Serif have made a fast and friendly app that works well, I have been using it way more than Adobe products in the first few months after it was released and can honestly say; it works for me.
Stock Photography
A designer cannot produce a site mock up without using stock photos, and some clients need a little help and cannot afford a full photo shoot, so stock photos is a good place to find the best image for your project. Some stock photo sites now do other things such as vectors and videos.
Stock Photos via inbox
You can now get stock photos sent direct to your inbox, these won't necessarily be what you are looking for at the time, but they are good for mock ups, or wallpapers, and occasionally one turns up that you have been hunting for and could never find anywhere else.
Colour Management
Choosing the right colour can be difficult, sometimes it can be a nightmare, you have to start somewhere so here are a few places you can get inspiration and even match the secondary colours easily.
Design Inspiration
We all need some inspiration, staring at that blank white sheet of paper when starting a new project can be mind numbing and a bit of a downer. Inspiration is usually not hard to find and don't forget what every designer quotes that Picasso possibly said "Good artists copy, great artists steal." Go steal some design from these great places, it's what Picasso would have wanted you to do.
- pinterest.com
- dribbble.com
- theinspirationgrid.com
- designspiration.net
- www.behance.net
- muz.li
- awwwards.com - Some of the best website designs ever created
Themes for Web Designers
We all need help from time to time, and let's face it some clients are not paying for bespoke or don't have the budget, so pull yourself up and go get those predesigned themes and adapt them to your needs, it is the least you can do. Don't call them templates as templates are not the same thing, a template is a simple basic layout that has no soul.
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