They may vary in scope. But most have one thing in common: the promise of making our job easier. They claim to write code, offer advanced functionality, or add killer special effects. These solutions aim to do the dirty work for us. How convenient!

I, for one, feel a bit disappointed. There’s so much hype. But I’m not convinced things are that much easier. It’s not as if artificial intelligence (AI) has replaced every monotonous task. If anything, web design seems to have become even more complex.

Besides, tools that promise an easier experience often come with serious tradeoffs. Thus, easier doesn’t always mean better.

With that, here are a few things to consider before you trade the tried-and-true parts of your workflow for a quick fix.

Does the Tool Lock You In?

Just about every design and development decision requires some sort of buy-in. This is part of the process.

Let’s say you’re creating a website mockup in Figma, Photoshop, or Sketch. You’re committing to a design tool. You’ll need to come back to the chosen app again and again. The same principle applies to everything from DIY website builders to programming frameworks.

The difference is in the required level of commitment. Pick the wrong tool, and you may be stuck with it for longer than you’d like. Becoming locked into a specific path may limit your ability to evolve. And those new features that everyone else is using? They may be unavailable to you.

That’s why it’s important to know what you’re getting into. An untested solution may seem attractive now. But where will it be in five years? You might have to start from scratch if things don’t work out.

It may be worth the risk. But there’s also something to be said for stability and flexibility.

Easier to Build, Harder to Maintain

The promise of a quicker path to launching a website is tempting. It attracts the attention of the design community. Skip over the hard stuff and get paid sooner. Who wouldn’t want that?

It sounds wonderful. But there can be more than meets the eye. A fast start often means more difficult maintenance down the road.

Take, for example, content management system (CMS) plugins. Platforms like WordPress make it easy to piece together a website.

It’s certainly possible to build a functional site with this approach. But there is danger in having bits of related functionality controlled by multiple plugins. It’s akin to using string to keep all of your favorite books together. Take one book out of the stack, and things fall apart.

This delicate balance can start to crumble if your needs change. Some plugins may no longer be suitable or are simply too rigid. That could mean swapping out critical pieces and trying to patch a gaping hole.

This doesn’t mean that you should avoid plugins. But it is worthwhile to think about sustainability. Determine the most sustainable path forward. That may take a little more work upfront. But it will save you from future difficulties.

Analyze the Cost vs. Benefit

Products advertised as making your job easier often tout cost savings as well. But is the easiest way forward really the cheapest?

That depends upon the factors mentioned above. If your website is up and running weeks earlier because of a specific tool, that’s great. But what if it makes future maintenance a nightmare? Any upfront savings may be short-lived.

Then, there’s the ability for future growth. For example, subscribing to a proprietary website platform can get you access to specific features. But what happens if that service cannot provide the advanced features you need later? Meanwhile, how much money have you spent to continue using it?

You may find that the savings weren’t worth the included hassles and limitations. Trading a few extra dollars in your pocket for a less-than-ideal website is unlikely to make you happy.

Be cautious before spending your money. Weigh the potential costs, benefits, and pitfalls of a given solution. This ensures that you’re thinking with both the short and long-term in mind.

Beware of Easy Website Solutions

Every path to building a website has an associated cost. It doesn’t matter if you use free or commercial tools. They all require time and effort. There’s also the cost of future maintenance.

Sometimes you can find a solution that makes web design easier and more cost-effective. However, it takes scrutiny to determine if that’s the case.

There are a lot of products that make such claims. Don’t take them at their word. Instead, do some research and find the tools that will work best for you.

The post In Web Design, Easier Doesn’t Always Mean Better appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Fortunately, there are some helpful tools available for responsive design, including the most basic and essential ones: pencil and paper. Specifically, sketchsheets for responsive web design can be incredibly useful.

We have compiled a collection of printable wireframing templates that you might find helpful when sketching your designs. These templates will provide a starting point and help you create a visually appealing and responsive website.

Sneakpeekit Responsive Sketchsheets

If you’re a logo designer, font creator, or web designer, you’ll find that Sneakpeekit offers an excellent free solution for all your sketchsheet needs. Their platform provides a variety of mockup templates to assist you in designing responsive websites.

Additionally, they offer grids that align with some of the most widely used grid systems and frameworks, including Bootstrap.

Responsive Web Design Sketchsheets by Jeremy Palford

Jeremy Palford offers sketchsheets for various device sizes, allowing you to create responsive designs that look great on any screen.

Whether you are an experienced UI designer or starting out, these responsive web design sketchsheets will help you create polished and effective websites.

Responsive Sketchsheets by ZURB

This versatile set of free sketchsheets provides both responsive and regular sheets, giving you the flexibility to choose the format that works for your design needs. If you’re designing for mobile devices, you can download the responsive sketchsheets and get started right away. Alternatively, the regular sheets are a perfect fit if you’re designing for desktop devices.

Moreover, these sketchsheets are not limited to standard design layouts. You can also use them to design off-canvas content, making them a versatile tool for any web designer.

Responsive Sketch Pad

The Responsive Sketch Pad is invaluable for generating cross-platform application ideas and visualizing design prototypes across multiple devices. Whether designing for desktop, tablet, or mobile, this sketch pad can help you create designs that look great on any screen size.

With its support for multiple device sizes, you can create designs that are optimized for each platform, ensuring that your application looks and performs its best no matter where it’s used.

Paper & Pencil

Sometimes the simplest tools are the most effective. If you’re looking for a straightforward way to sketch responsive designs, all you need is an A4 sheet of paper and some pencils. This humble tool is probably sitting right next to your computer screen, waiting to be used.

With just a pen or pencil, you can create sketches that show how your design will adapt to different screen device orientations and sizes. And since A4 paper is a standard size, you can easily print and share your sketches with your team or clients.

While there are many more complex tools available for responsive sketching, sometimes going back to basics is the best way to approach a problem. So next time you need to sketch a responsive design, grab an A4 sheet of paper and get to work!

The post 5 Printable Templates for Sketching Responsive Layouts appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

When it comes to designing icons, sketching remains an indispensable tool in the designer’s arsenal. To inspire you, we have curated a collection of the most impressive examples of icon sketching from designers across the web.

Don’t hesitate to peruse this collection and let your creativity run wild as you sketch your ideas. Enjoy the process, and happy sketching!

You might also like these collections of inspirational UI design sketches or logo sketches.

Mobile App Icon Sketch Andrey Maxim

MWood Logo Sketch Antonio Calvino

Substrate Sketches Benjamin Oberemok

Mobingi Sketching Phase Ramotion

Sketching Rates Net logo Tony Bar

Brick City Pets Sketch Stevan Rodic

Icon Sketching Trevor Nielsen

Map on Hover Sketch Eddie Lobanovskiy

iPhone App Icon Sketches Ramotion

Cornerstone Sketches v1 Mike Rhode

Vintage Camera Sketches Creative Mints

Postbox Pencil Sketches Mike Rohde

App Store Icon Sketch Artua

GoodNotes Icon in Process Eddie Lobanovskiy

Mac App Icon Sketches Ramotion

Video Editor Icon Sketch Eddie Lobanovskiy

iOS App Icons Sketches Jackie Tran

Cogsy Icon Sketches Loggia

Icon Ideas Sketches Jackie Tran

Mobile App Icon Sketches Creative Mints

The post 20 Inspiring Examples of Sketching in Icon Design appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Let’s clear up some common misconceptions first. Some designers, and even their clients, have a tendency to use wireframe, mockup, and prototype, interchangeably. It’s true that all three represent a conceptual or early stage representation of a design. Yet, the three are not the same thing and serve somewhat different purposes.

• A wireframe is a low-fidelity depiction of a design. It generally lacks detail, it is static, and while it may depict shape, it does not have substance.
• A mockup can provide a great deal of information about a design. It is generally a medium to high-fidelity depiction, but like a wireframe, it is also static.
• A prototype is a dynamic, mid-to-high fidelity representation of a design. It can be used to highlight certain features of a design. Some prototypes can be virtually indistinguishable, in terms of look and feel, from the proposed end product.

But they do have several things in common. They can be used to show a design’s current or proposed state. And they are generally used for requesting feedback. Prototypes don’t have to be attractive, but they must work well enough to show key design principles or features.

This can be readily accomplished by selecting the best tools for the job. You will find those tools below.

Webflow

Prototype, design, and develop. You can do one thing at a time or all at once with Webflow. Project management aids are there too. Everything you create on Webflow is powered by production-ready HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, making the transition from prototype to deliverable a relatively seamless step.

Your website design automatically is adjusted for smaller devices, you can test your work on any device, and with Webflow, you can bring team members into your design efforts. Not too many prototyping tools offers all of these extras.

Figma

Figma is a browser-based application that gives you a wide array of tools for designing, wireframing, prototyping, and generating the code you need to get your web or mobile app design live quickly. It has excellent collaboration functionality, making it perfect for larger design teams that need right-up-until-the-moment updates.

After the recent Adobe purchase, nobody knows how Figma will be integrated into their suite of powerful tools. Nor if they’re planning on making any pricing or functionality changes. But what we know is that Figma is far and away the most popular tool on this page and that it gives you everything you could possibly need as a designer. Figma can truly do it all.

If you’re looking for Figma resources, you should take a look at our collection of free templates.

Adobe XD

Adobe XD is the perfect application for quickly creating animated prototypes, designing responsive web layouts, or building complex mobile applications. As well as having useful tools like repeat grid, voice design, and supporting multi-file formats (PSD, AI, AE, and more, it also allows you to install custom plugins giving you even more powerful features.

After Adobe purchased Figma in September this year, the future of Adobe XD is currently not clear. Despite that, Adobe XD may still be worth your time, it may be for you.

You should also take a look at our collections of Adobe XD tutorials and free Adobe XD templates.

Proto.io

If you have been searching for a mobile app prototyping tool that will enable you to build a mockup that feels real, make Proto.io your tool of choice. You can create richly-featured, interactive mockups in minutes without introducing a single line of code.

This tool allows you to test your mockup on any of the more popular mobile devices. Of even greater importance, you can faithfully emulate the gestures and transitions common to those devices that are so greatly appreciated by their users.

Pidoco

Its ease of use is one of the reasons behind Pidoco’s large user base, but this tool is primarily noted for its ability to support the type of collaborative environment that can make a difference.

Team members and other stakeholders can comment on prototypes and work together in real-time. They can edit a mockup based on ideas and feedback, knowing that Pidoco keeps a version history.

InVision

InVision just might be the most powerful prototyping, collaboration, and workflow platform on the market. An outstanding tool for small teams or individual designers who only need to collaborate with a client. InVision really shines when it comes to enabling smooth, quick collaboration for widely-dispersed teams.

InVision also maintains a version history of past iterations. No coding is needed to use this tool to its fullest capability. And as far as the quality’s concerned, the mockups can speak for themselves.

Marvelapp

Marvel is fast and easy. All you have to do is connect to your Dropbox account, create an interactive prototype in minutes with Marvel, and use Dropbox Paper syncing to iterate and update your design without lifting a finger.

You can quickly and easily share your ideas and test your designs with others through your Dropbox account. Creating and sharing interactive prototypes doesn’t get much easier than this.

UXPin

UXPin enables your team to create better and faster development-ready designs. This UI/UX tool is ideal for small-to-medium design teams, while its Design Systems solution addresses the needs of mid-to-large teams and organizations.

With UXPin, you can create interactive prototypes at any fidelity level you need, from design concept sharing to user testing. This design and prototyping platform will fully support your team collaboration activities as well.

HotGloo

Whether you are a project manager, or web or UX designer – HotGloo makes collaboration easy and project coordination a snap. Prototype ideas fast and easily, comment on your work, and let others comment – all in real-time. Export your work or test it on a mobile device.

Whether you are prototyping on your own or are part of a creative team, this is an excellent tool to work with.

Notism

Notism is a prototyping and collaboration tool whose true strength lies in its unique collaboration capabilities. Notism makes sharing your design efforts with team members remarkably easy, allowing you to streamline the design process from start to finish.

You can share notes, sketches, and images, annotate them on the fly, and do it all on video, a powerful feature that sets Notism apart as a useful and valuable UI and UX tool.

Overflow

With Overflow, designers can design, present, share and print their user flows to get valuable feedback, all in one place.

As a powerful cross-platform tool that integrates seamlessly with the most popular design tools, Overflow helps designers quickly turn their designs into playable user flow diagrams.

PowerMockup (PowerPoint Addon)

PowerMockup is the ideal selection for the PowerPoint user. If you are such a user, your search may be over, as this feature-filled prototyping tool should meet your needs.

Since PowerMockup is a Microsoft PowerPoint addon, you can combine its features with all of the benefits PowerPoint offers, including templates.

Firefly

Inadequate project management can hurt a developer’s ability to deliver a quality product on time and within budget. Firefly can be exactly the UX and project management tool you need to keep your project on track, especially when you are engaged in rapid prototyping.

You can upload everything from app designs and UI ideas to entire web pages for review and annotation, and you can fully depend on this tool’s version control capability to effectively manage multiple design versions.

The above tools are characterized by their strong collaborative and project management capabilities, and the ability to produce mockups that closely resemble the real thing.

Several have all of the above features, while some are more specialized in their uses. If you want to add one of the best prototyping tools in the market to your design tool kit, you will find it here.

The post The 10 Best Wireframing & Prototyping Tools for UI & UX Design appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Whether you use a whiteboard, pencil and paper, web-based tools, or UI design applications, effective wireframing and planning play a crucial role in the success of your product.

In addition to the many readily available wireframing tools, there are free wireframing templates available for UI applications like Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma, and Sketch.

We’ve curated a collection of free wireframing templates to make your job easier. These templates are customizable to fit your specific project requirements, allowing you to streamline the wireframing process and focus on defining the layout and functionality of your mobile app or web design project.

The post 50 Free Wireframe Templates for Mobile, Web & UX Design appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Prototyping apps have several advantages. They are purpose-built. Web and mobile app design is their focus. As such, these apps avoid the bloat that comes with generalized software. Some can even run within a web browser.

Therefore, it wasn’t surprising when Adobe released XD in 2016. The app represented their take on modern prototyping. And given the company’s massive reach, XD seemed like an inevitable hit.

But things didn’t work out that way. Adobe acquired rival app Figma in 2022. That acquisition is still facing regulatory hurdles. Yet it was unclear what this would mean for XD.

Well, we have an answer. Adobe has recently removed XD from its online product catalog. And with that, the can’t-miss product is destined for the dustbin.

Why wasn’t Adobe XD a runaway success? And what does its demise say about the state of design tools? Perhaps we can look to the design community for answers.

Size and Reach Only Go So Far

XD’s primary competitors are Figma and Sketch. On the surface, Adobe XD had an advantage over each.

Adobe’s vast reach is the biggest among them. Subscribers to their Creative Cloud service had access to XD. It was only a click away for the company’s loyal customers. And its beta version (called Experience Design CC) was free to try.

It stood to reason that current users would line up to try XD. And once they tried the app, they’d become hooked.

XD was also part of an existing ecosystem. Interoperability with other Adobe apps was a mark in the company’s favor. But Sketch already had a dedicated following. The Mac-only app jumpstarted the new era of prototyping tools in 2010.

And Figma? The web-based tool debuted in 2016 – the same year as XD. It was easy to predict a winner there. But you’d be forgiven for guessing wrong.

Despite inherent advantages, Adobe XD didn’t fulfill its potential.

Design Tools That Foster Community Won Out

Figma, Sketch, and XD are extensible. Developers can build plugins that add niche functionality to these apps. And users can pick the ones that suit their needs.

XD has several free and paid plugins. But the selection doesn’t appear to dwarf either of its competitors. Meanwhile, developers seem to have settled on Figma as their platform of choice. New plugins appear frequently.

Designers also seem entrenched with their chosen tools. And maybe XD’s interface wasn’t strong enough to convince people to switch en masse.

Subjectively, the app isn’t intuitive. I’ve used both XD and Figma. And it was much easier to get started with the latter.

Figma and Sketch also have an engaged community. XD didn’t have the same indie vibe. That’s not surprising, given Adobe’s place atop the corporate ladder.

Perhaps this is why Adobe acquired Figma. The corporate behemoth couldn’t match the organic rise of its rival. Purchasing it gives the company access to a great tool and a dedicated community.

What Does This Mean for the Future of Design Tools?

The demise of Adobe XD says a few things about design tools. First and foremost, Adobe’s inherent advantages didn’t matter. An app doesn’t succeed merely because of its brand capital.

Quality matters to designers. Professionals stuck with their favorite prototyping apps. Even if XD was widely available, they still chose Figma and Sketch.

Maybe that speaks to online culture. In traditional retail, the big brands tend to win. For example, Coke and Pepsi may not make the best-tasting sodas. But they’re available everywhere. Niche brands have difficulty overcoming those odds.

Those rules don’t apply to design tools. Relatively small groups decide winners and losers. People will use the app that helps them get things done. And a product with an active community keeps users interested.

XD wasn’t able to build such a community. You can tell by the lack of outcry regarding its death. There are certainly some disappointed users. But this isn’t the same as canceling Photoshop or other beloved titles.

Quality and community are why Figma and Sketch have endured. It’s also kept WordPress at the forefront of web publishing for 20+ years. That speaks to a trend.

To succeed in this arena, you need to play the long game. And designers need a reason to change their workflow. XD ran out of time to make a big enough impact.

The post What the End of Adobe XD Says About the State of Design Tools appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Perhaps artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming mainstream at just the right time. It’s poised to bring new levels of power and convenience to web design.

We’re already starting to see the changes. Tools like GitHub’s Copilot can turn user prompts into fully-functioning code. And generative AI has even made its way into Adobe’s Photoshop.

Yet this is only the beginning. Imagine how AI could change web design tools in the future. How might it look? Here are a few (thoroughly-unscientific) guesses.

Providing a Better Starting Point for Design

The first step is often the hardest. That truism applies to many aspects of life – including web design.

Sometimes creative block stands in the way. Thus, you might spend hours tinkering with layout ideas. That’s time you could have spent being productive.

The conversational nature of AI tools seems like the perfect antidote. You might write a prompt asking for a “magazine layout“. Or request a home page that’s similar to the New York Times.

Like magic, a basic layout appears. From there, you can personalize the design to match your needs.

A particularly astute tool could adjust based on your platform. If you’re using WordPress, perhaps it offers up a block theme. If you plan on using static HTML, then that’s the output you receive.

True, this may take some of the originality out of the process. However, it might open the door to more possibilities as well. The power is in the hands of the user.

Making Websites Accessible in Real Time

The need to build accessible websites isn’t going away. There are both moral and legal obligations for doing so. Thus, it’s a subject that every web designer should master.

But ensuring accessibility requires testing. That’s a resource-intensive task. These days, it consists of both automated and manual methods.

Automated tools like WAVE are helpful. They can scan a page and provide a laundry list of issues to investigate. But they also return a lot of false-positive results. In short: they lack context. That’s why we still need manual testing.

AI may never perfect accessibility testing. But it does have the potential to improve accuracy. Imagine a testing suite that can read your code and interpret how each feature works. From there, it determines whether they follow best practices.

And what if a design tool could give us this information from the start? It might prevent us from creating an inaccessible feature in the first place.

For example, the ability to analyze a background image and determine whether it would accommodate layered text. If the text is illegible, a warning would be displayed. And it might offer to adjust the image for us.

This technology could keep accessibility in the front of our minds. If it’s not already there, that is.

Improving Responsive Design

Tools like Figma help with responsive design. They allow us to test our prototypes on multiple viewports and make necessary adjustments.

It’s a trial-and-error process, though. Particularly when testing in a web browser. It seems like there are always a few devices that don’t cooperate with a given layout.

But this is an area where large language models (LLMs) can help. These tools have ingested untold amounts of code. Someday they should be “smart” enough to take a desktop layout and adapt it for smaller screens.

They may even suggest items to leave out on mobile devices. For instance, bandwidth-hogging sliders or video backgrounds. In addition, truly responsive type scaling will be easier to implement.

Again, the idea here isn’t perfection. But if an AI-powered tool could get us 75% of the way to a great responsive experience, it could save significant time.

Seeing Potential Issues Before Launch

Launching a website is always challenging. It’s always a good idea to keep a checklist handy. But something could still slip past us.

Perhaps design tools of the not-too-distant future will be an extra set of eyes. They might spot impactful issues in our code.

Browser compatibility is a great place to start. Let’s say a code editor finds a feature that doesn’t work on a recent version of Chrome. It advises us that our site is going to be harder to navigate for x percent of users.

But why stop at browsers? There’s potential to report back on all manner of relevant information. Things like privacy concerns, broken links, or page load times are all possible areas of focus.

This tool has an internet’s worth of data at its disposal. As such, it can predict the potential impact of our design decisions. It may even prevent a major blunder. That could make it a designer’s best friend.

Like Having a Trusted Assistant at Your Side

Maybe some of these predictions are far-fetched. But from what we’ve already seen, it doesn’t feel like science fiction, either.

AI is just beginning to be integrated into web design tools. It’s only a matter of time before the technology expands its capabilities. They’ll keep us focused on important aspects of a project. And they’ll double-check our work.

In all, it will be like having a virtual assistant working beside you. There will likely be some growing pains along the way. But it’s fun to imagine the possibilities.

The post How Could AI Change Web Design Tools? appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

That’s why web designers need to evolve. It’s a key factor in long-term success. But making the transition to the “next big thing” isn’t easy.

There are challenges involved. For one, changing your workflow is disruptive. Not to mention the learning curve that comes with something new.

Motivation, or a lack thereof, can also play a role. For example, we may think that learning React would be beneficial. We may even put it on our to-do list. But what motivates us to start the process?

To put it mildly – it’s a complicated situation. But we’re here to help! Let’s look at a few motivating factors that can help push you in the right direction.

You’re Missing Out on Projects

Just as web design changes, so do project requirements. Clients take notice of both design and functionality trends. Thus, they have a higher level of expectation.

Consider the definition of a “basic” website. In the late 1990s or early 2000s, it was likely a static site. There was no content management component. And a contact form may have served as the most complex functionality included.

That’s no longer the case. Clients who want to make site edits will require a content management system (CMS) like WordPress. They may also want to accept payments and distribute members-only content.

Sure, the market for static HTML is still there – and use cases abound. But even those sites are built differently these days.

Keeping up with best practices should serve as a motivator. Otherwise, you risk missing out on interesting (and potentially lucrative) projects.

Your Workflow Is Cumbersome for a Colleague

Even solo freelancers collaborate with others. Therefore, the ability to share work is critical for success. If things don’t go smoothly, it could impact the final product.

How we work is important. For instance, you might have a process for managing tasks. But what if it’s not easily shared with others? That might leave your collaborators out of the loop.

The beauty of working alone is that you can do things your way. However, sharing a role with others changes the game. You may need to adjust to better facilitate working together.

In practice, it could mean using a project management platform. This would allow stakeholders to get on the same page. Efficiency will increase. And the outcome will likely be better.

That’s why it’s worth asking yourself if a particular workflow still makes sense. It’s easy to fall into the trap of continuing to do unproductive things. A reset here could be just what you need.

The Tools You Use Are Obsolete

Not all tools change with the times. And we’ll often use a tool simply because it is the best available option.

The right tool can empower us. But obsolete tools can hold us back. They can make it more difficult to follow best practices. Plus, they may also make us less efficient.

On the other hand, there’s also the benefit of comfort. And it’s often easier to stick with what we know – even if it’s no longer the most modern solution.

One example: using Adobe Photoshop to create website mockups. It still works well enough for this purpose. And the familiar UI makes it a favorite among veteran designers.

But modern prototyping has changed significantly. They account for multiple screen sizes and offer more web-focused features. Why, even Adobe has moved on with their XD app.

Age alone doesn’t mean you have to abandon a tool. But it doesn’t hurt to look around and try something new. Perhaps you’ll find a better fit for your needs.

You’re Stuck in a Creative Rut

Creativity can be a fragile thing. Some days we have it. Sometimes it disappears into the atmosphere. And although workflow isn’t the only cause for a creative rut, it can contribute to one.

This may also be the most difficult issue to diagnose. We can blame our daily routine for that. Many of us like routines because we don’t have to think about them. Therefore, we might not recognize habits that take away our creative edge.

So, how do you break away from things that hamper us? It starts with a little self-analysis.

Think about the times when you’re feeling most creative. What factors are involved? For instance, you might find that you’re “in the zone” at a certain time of day. Or maybe when you turn off the notifications on your phone. Or when you stick to one task at a time. The possibilities are endless.

The idea is to find what fuels your creativity. From there, you can adjust your workflow to match.

Bring Your Workflow Up To Speed

None of us has a perfect workflow. And it’s unlikely that any two web designers will do things in the same way. That’s a feature – not a bug.

Therefore, taking a closer look at how we work is healthy. Are the tools and technologies we use helping us reach our full potential? Or is there something getting in the way of success?

We don’t have to force a change. But there are so many options and life hacks out there. And we get to choose the ones that work best for us.

The answers will be different for each of us. That’s part of what makes web design unique.

The post Reasons To Change Your Web Design Workflow appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Its popularity has soared in recent years. As a result, numerous resources that cater specifically to Sketch users have become available, which helps make the UI design process faster and more efficient.

This collection features some of the best free mobile UIs and wireframe kits available for Sketch App. They can be used as a starting point for your next mobile UI designs or as inspiration to fuel your creativity.

H1 Free Mobile UI Kit (Free)

The H1 Free Mobile UI Kit comes with an impressive number of elements that are sure to get your creative juices flowing. You’ll find 470 different elements spread out over 130 templates. You can use this kit for both Android and iOS devices.

Chameleon UI Kit (Envato Elements)

This fresh and stylish mobile UI kit includes more than 120 unique screens. The kit can be used with both Photoshop and Sketch and also comes with 15 unique themes, 70 icons, and hundreds of neatly organized components.

Fusion Free UI Kit for Sketch (Free)

The next kit on the list is a perfect choice for designing a shopping app. This template comes with 13 screens with layered and neatly organized elements that are easy to edit. Photoshop and Sketch formats are available.

Free Mobile eCommerce UI Kit for Sketch (Free)

Try this Mobile eCommerce UI kit if you need an elegant design for a shopping app or a mobile store. You’ll find eight different app pages and a web page to accompany the mobile app design.

Momento Free Mobile Sketch UI Kit (Free)

If you need a kit for a social media app, look no further than this template. It contains several different screens with all the elements you’ll need to create a powerful social media app.

Profile Mobile UI Collection (Envato Elements)

The Profile Mobile UI Collection is a set of 15 mobile screens that are fully customizable, well-organized, and designed with iOS devices in mind. The standout feature of this template collection is the flat design style.

Rodman Mobile UI Kit (Envato Elements)

Rodman is a gorgeous mobile UI Kit with a clean and light design. It comes with 80+ layouts in 7 categories and can be used to design any type of app.

Free Material UI Kit for Sketch (Free)

If you love Material Design, don’t miss this Material UI kit. Packed with various screens and icons, you’ll be able to knock out a mobile app design in no time with this kit.

Mobile Wireframe Kit (Envato Elements)

Try this Mobile Wireframe Kit for your next design. Packed with 90+ mobile screens, a collection of 16 categories, and hundreds of elements, this kit works with both Sketch and Illustrator. It also includes a handy collection of tools and flowchart templates.

Free iOS iPhone GUI (Free)

If you need an iPhone GUI mockup, check out this free Sketch kit. The kit was designed by Facebook’s design team and includes all the elements you need to create a stunning mobile app.

Vera Block for Sketch (Free)

Vera Block is an impressive collection of mobile screens and components with a trendy design. You can use them in a variety of projects, and the kit comes in Sketch and Photoshop format.

Zoomie – Social Media Mobile App for Sketch (Envato Elements)

The Zoomie kit is another excellent choice if you’re working on a social media app design. This kit contains a grand total of 15 screens and features a modern design.

Music Mobile App Kit (Envato Elements)

This kit is the perfect starting point for mobile music-related apps. It comes with 30+ carefully designed mobile screens that will help you to prototype, design, and build any music-related app.

Relate – Clean & Simple UI Kit for Mobile (Free)

The Relate kit features a modern and minimal design with 45 unique templates, 19 categories, and more than 99 various elements. The template follows the material design best practices, so don’t miss it if you love material design.

Crypto Wallet Mobile App Concept Template (Free)

Consider this Crypto Wallet Mobile App template if you need to design a mobile wallet app. The template contains neatly organized files for the dashboard, the trading screen, and the currency trend.

Messagly Free UI Kit for Sketch (Free)

This UI kit is a perfect choice for a social messaging app. The template comes with 13 screens and dozens of unique elements to help you get started with your design.

Harmony Free UI Kit for Sketch (Free)

This UI kit was designed with a hiking app in mind. It features a clean and fresh design with over 10 iOS ready core screens designed in vector and based on symbols.

Material Design Wireframe Kit v_02 for Sketch (Free)

This collection is perfect for any lover of Material Design. It contains an impressive number of more than 40 screens and the designers keep adding to it so don’t miss this one.

iPhone Wireframe Template for Sketch (Free)

If you need to design an iPhone app, this wireframe template is an excellent choice. The kit comes with everything you need for an app design, including screens, buttons, headers, alerts, input fields, and more.

With so many fantastic Sketch UI kits and wireframes, you can quickly prototype and design any type of app. Use the kits in this collection as your starting point or simply as an inspiration for your next design project.

More Free UI Resources

The post 20 Free Mobile UI & Wireframe Kits for Sketch App appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Our daily grind was complicated by shutdowns, kids invading the home office, and clients who needed our help in rapidly changing their business models. Even though many of us were stuck in the house, there was rarely a dull moment.

All of that aside, the year saw many developments that had nothing to do with pandemics or other chaos. New tools were brought to market, our favorite software saw important updates and the community was as creative and helpful as ever. In other words: 2020 had plenty of positives for designers and developers to celebrate.

Let’s take a look back at some important and interesting developments that impacted web designers this past year.

Modern CSS Thrives

While there were no revolutionary changes to CSS in 2020, that doesn’t mean it didn’t have a great year. Quite the contrary.

The language benefitted from the continued steady evolution of web browsers. As modern versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari are released, support for newer CSS standards and specs grow.

In practice, this means web designers can adopt new techniques with confidence. CSS Grid layouts, for example, are a much safer bet than they were a few years ago. And while fallbacks are never a bad idea, they may not need to be as drastic.

That’s due to the dwindling number of users for legacy browsers such as Internet Explorer. According to StatCounter Global Stats, usage of IE was down to a measly 1.05% of the market as of October 2020. Compare that with the nearly 2% it captured a year earlier.

Chart courtesy of StatCounter Global Stats

The further IE and other outdated browsers are in the rearview, the easier it will be to bring the latest CSS developments to production websites. This allows the language to better fulfill its vast potential. 2020 was a big step in that direction.

Top CSS Articles for 2020

• Avoiding ‘Wasteful’ CSS in Your Projects
• BEM Methodology In CSS: A Quick Start Guide
• Creating 3D Illustrations with CSS
• How CSS Perspective Works
• How CSS Variables Can Improve Efficiency and Consistency
• LCH colors in CSS: what, why, and how?
• Learn CSS Positioning
• Positioning Text Along a Path with CSS
• Styling Layout Wrappers In CSS
• Visualizing CSS Resets

The Headless CMS Develops Its Niche

The utilization of “headless” or “detached” content management systems has continued to gain momentum. This practice involves employing a CMS (such as WordPress) to feed content to an outside application.

This leads to several interesting possibilities. You might send content out to a mobile application – allowing both your app and website to share the same blog posts. Likewise, you could leverage a static website generator such as GatsbyJS or 11ty to create a super-fast user experience – perfect for heavily-trafficked sites. All while keeping a familiar back end UI for your content creators.

And, although this technology is still relatively young, you can see it starting to take hold. GatsbyJS, for one, has come a long way over the past year. GraphQL, its companion query language, is steadily maturing. It aims to be both efficient and high-performing.

Besides, a number of tools are being built to streamline the process of creating a headless configuration. This is vital, as it is not currently a beginner-friendly task. The easier this all becomes, the more widespread and creative its usage will be.

For now, headless CMS configurations are being deployed more and more. Still, unless you’re an expert, diving in head-first and adopting this technology for client projects may not be wise.

Therefore, it’s probably best to start small and experiment. Once you are on solid ground, going headless could be a great solution.

Top Headless CMS Articles for 2020

• An Honest Review of Gatsby
• Building a Headless WordPress Website with GatsbyJS
• Building Serverless Front-End Applications Using Google Cloud Platform
• Don’t Build a Frankenstein Website!
• Going Jamstack with React, Serverless, and Airtable
• Headless CMS: What and Why
• How to Begin Your Journey Developing Headless WordPress Sites
• How To Create A Headless WordPress Site On The JAMstack
• Powering React Native Applications with ButterCMS Headless Engine
• When Does Using Headless WordPress Make Sense?

Prototyping Tools Improve and Evolve

The way we build website and mobile application prototypes continues to change. Many designers are eschewing traditional tools like Photoshop in favor of niche apps like Adobe XD, Figma, and Sketch.

Each of these tools has been built with web and mobile applications in mind. Therefore, designers don’t have to settle for passing along static mockup images to clients. Rather, they can create something fully-interactive that better represents what the final product will do.

Of course, the tools themselves are not new – they’ve been on the market for several years. But in 2020 the argument for using any of these apps has become more compelling.

For one, each has robust developer communities that release helpful goodies such as plugins and UI kits. They help designers extend functionality and increase efficiency. And the apps themselves have released some exciting features, along with smoothing out rough edges.

However, another feature of prototyping apps also became very important: their built-in collaboration tools. They facilitate remote feedback from both clients and team members. With so many of us working from home this year, anything that makes the review process easier is a massive bonus.

Top Prototyping Tool Articles for 2020

• 10 Tutorials to Help You Master Adobe XD
• 20 Free Adobe XD UI Kits for Web & Mobile App Designers
• 20 Free Mobile UI & Wireframe Kits for Sketch App
• 35 Free Web & Mobile UI Templates for Figma
• Adobe XD Has a New Look
• Design To Engineering Handoff
• Gradient angles in CSS, Figma & Sketch
• How to Turbocharge Your Components with Figma Variants
• Part of your World: Why We’re Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App (Sketch)
• Sketch vs. Figma vs. Adobe XD: Which Design Tool Is Best for Beginners?

The WordPress Gutenberg Block Editor Becomes More Polished

December 2020 marked the Gutenberg block editor’s second birthday. But, unlike most 2-year-olds, it seems like the fits and tantrums are (mostly) a thing of the past. Gutenberg is becoming quite mature for its age.

Looking at the editor’s UI, it’s lightyears ahead of where it was back at the beginning. A lot of development time went into making the interface more intuitive. Getting around is much easier, as is finding and selecting individual blocks.

Accessibility was also a big focus. This particular subject is important in all areas of web development but was also a major criticism of earlier versions of Gutenberg. So, improving both the UI and making it more accessible are big wins for 2020.

The year also saw the introduction of custom block patterns, which make it easier to use and reuse a specific layout. The ability to implement a custom layout anywhere it’s needed is no small achievement. This was one of the missing features that made the block editor a difficult sell for some use cases.

And, while not ready for prime time just yet, Gutenberg-powered full site editing (FSE) is in the works. This will enable users with a compatible theme to edit all aspects of their website through the block editor. The first such theme, Q, was made available for download earlier this year.

All told, WordPress now has a default editing experience that can be seriously considered for just about any project. There are still some advantages to page builders – not to mention the old Classic Editor. But blocks are catching on.

Top WordPress Gutenberg Block Editor Articles for 2020

• Block Navigation Plugin Provides Missing Context-Based Outline for the WordPress Editor
• Create a Custom Color Palette for the WordPress Gutenberg Editor
• Getting the WordPress Block Editor to Look Like the Front End Design
• How to Bulk Convert Classic Blocks to Gutenberg in WordPress
• How to Create a Simple Gutenberg Block Pattern in WordPress
• How to Use the WordPress Gutenberg Cover Block
• Matt Mullenweg and Matías Ventura Demo New Image Editing Tools Coming to Gutenberg
• Styling Wide and Full-Width Gutenberg Blocks in WordPress
• Tips for Converting an Existing WordPress Website to Use the Gutenberg Block Editor
• What is Full Site Editing and how is it shaping a new WordPress?

In 2020, the Focus Was on the Bigger Picture

One thing you may notice about the items above is that they all involve evolutionary change. Nothing here appeared to be a watershed moment for web designers. In fact, posing this subject on Twitter didn’t result in any earth-shattering recommendations either.

Maybe that makes for less-than-compelling headlines. Yet it also means that, in a chaotic year, there was a comforting consistency for the web design industry. The tools and technologies we already use just got better. Nothing to complain about there.

When we look back years from now, a lot of historic events will stand out from 2020. But web designers may see it as a time that set the table for bigger things yet to come.

The post 2020 Web Design Year in Review appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.