Popular Graphic Design Softwares for Website Designers
Graphic Designing
Traditional graphic designing was pretty static, often requiring a large team of specialists and large, expensive equipment to get the work done. The advancement of technology has brought with it the age of digital graphic designing. Web designers can now work solo and produce some excellent work but it is important to keep pace with any developments in order to be able to create designs that are aligned with the times.
2018 Trends
With the continual evolution of technology, it is rare to find design themes stick around for a long time. 2018 has brought with it its own cutting edge web design trends that are changing the state of things on the designing platform.
2018 is the year of shadows and particle backgrounds. Web designers are using shadows to create depth and illusions of a real-life world on the screen. They are also using particle backgrounds to allow the movement in videos and other media to look natural. Designers are utilising dynamic gradients to replace flat designs that have been used a lot in the past, and asymmetrical grid layouts to create a unique user experience.
More effort is going into color schemes as the trend is currently favouring bold and vibrant colors. Big and bold is also applying to typography which is now being made to stand out for creative effect. Custom illustrations and integrated animations are also featuring among the trends for 2018 and they are being used to add unique fun elements to sites.
Mobile integration is also going strong following consumer’s movement from desktop to mainly using mobile for shopping. Designers are focusing on mobile designs that people will love. To expand your knowledge, one can always look up to several design tutorials online that provide great insights and knowledge.
Design software/tools that used to be really expensive a couple of years back are now very cheap because of fierce competition in design ecosystem. As more software companies develop new products to keep up with the trends, there are now many products available on the market and knowing which ones are good and which ones are not so great can be difficult. To make your selection choice easier, take a look at the current popular softwares.
Adobe Illustrator
Illustrator is dubbed as the vector version of Adobe Photoshop and it is great for designers. It is very similar to Photoshop but is great for graphics. Illustrator comes with built-in design presets that make the whole designing process faster and with the rise in the demand for web designs, this is a big plus.
The software has many tools that can be used to create some great web designs that come complete with excellent professional sketches, topography and illustrations. It is supported on both Mac and Windows.
While Adobe Illustrator used to be easy to buy straight-up, now you can only access the software on the Creative Cloud suite. Its cost is relatively high compared to other designing software but there are pricing plans available starting from only $29.99/month.
Affinity Designer
This software is an inexpensive option that still manages to get the work done professionally. It is compatible with both Mac and Windows, and although it may not be as powerful as Adobe Illustrator, it is still a decent design tool.
Affinity Designer caters for a wide range of designs and it can definitely handle the web design trends for 2018. One of the best features of this software is that it comes with an inherent cloud function which is a great tool for designers who work in teams and want to sync their work easily.
The software only goes for $49.99 per user, and this is a great bargain for the quality provided.
Gravit Designer
If you are working on a tight budget you will be pleased to know that there is a professional software that is completely free. Gravit designer will cost you nothing to use and better yet, it carries some success stories which show that free does not necessarily translate to poor quality. While most free software is usually not that good, this software is actually decent.
Its learning curve is not steep, and you can be making some creative designs in no time. You can install the software to work offline but you can also access it online. It is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome OS.
You will have to keep in mind, however, that this software has been known to run slower with complex designs so you will have to trade efficiency for cost.
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2018
This software needs no introduction when it comes to graphic designing for web designers because it has been around for a long time, and is a close competitor of the Adobe suite of tools. CorelDRAW has great features and workflow design.
As this software is easy to use you won’t waste time learning, and it has some great elements which include both vectors and bitmaps. It lies on the expensive end of software price spectrum at around $790. If you are a Mac user you will not be able to use this software.
Sketch
This vector software is only available on Mac. Sketch can produce some beautiful designs and it is relatively easy to use. It has a narrow focus that lies with making great screen designs and interfaces, therefore, it is great for web designers.
To access the software you will have to pay $99 subscription every year, and you will also require regular updates, so if you think this may be a bit tedious, you may want to go for software with a simpler structure.
Xara Designer Pro X
While Sketch is only compatible with Mac, Xara Designer Pro only works on Windows. The software is good for both vectors and bitmaps which makes it a versatile tool. Xara Designer software gives you access to illustrations and photos that you can use to speed up the designing creative process which is convenient. The pro software costs $299 but there is another basic version that only costs $59.99 and would be useful if you are on a budget.
Inkscape
Like Gravit Designer, Inkscape is free and also offers a lot of features that a web designer can make use of. It looks like you have to sacrifice efficiency for cost again because the software has been known to slow down sometimes. Despite this, you can still get yourself some great vectors and you can even add in more features by simply installing them. This software is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.
These design tools are popular and have been tried and tested. As a web designer it is important to stay on top of the game to produce designs that are in line with current trends. Depending on the designs you are going for, these softwares should help you get the work done.
About the Author:
Saurabh Hooda
Saurabh has worked globally for telecom and finance giants in various capacities. After working for a decade in Infosys and Sapient, he started his first startup, Lenro, to solve a hyperlocal book-sharing problem. He is interested in product, marketing, and analytics.
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