6 Tools Every Web Designer Needs to Know About

Jumping into the world of web design can be a bit overwhelming. There are tons of things to learn like design principles and development skills. 

And then there are all these different web design tools out there. Some people swear by one tool and then another person comes along and completely contradicts them. 

Even if you’ve been a web designer for a long time every once in a while a new tool comes out and totally changes the way web designers do things.

And, I know your time is precious. You can’t waste it learning a web design tool that’s not any good or will be outdated in a few years.

That’s exactly what we’re talking about today with Jesse Showalter.

Jesse Showalter: Web Design Tools Expert

Jesse is a web designer AND web developer. He straddles both the creative and development world and he does it well.

His YouTube channel has over 150,000 subscribers and he’s got a ton of great tutorials teaching web designers how to be successful in their careers or businesses.

The Truth about Web Design Tools

Before we dive in, it’s important to know that a good web design tool won’t take a bad web designer and make them great. And, a bad web design tool won’t take a good web designer and make them suck.

A tool is, after all, just a tool.

No one looks at a house that was recently built and says, “Man they must’ve had a great hammer.”

The best approach with web design tools is to see them as secondary to your own personal creativity and problem solving skills.

But, knowing your web design tools and being able to use them well can save you time and give you abilities that give you a leg up in certain situations.

It’s like being a good athlete who also has good nutrition habits.

The 7 Best Web Design Tools

There are two categories for web design tools:

1. Design tools
2. Development tools

For design the tools Jesse recommends are

1. Adobe XD
2. Figma
3. Sketch

They each have their pros and cons but they are all solid design tools. You can go from a blank page to an interactive prototype.

For development tools Jesse recommends are:

1. VS Code
2. Vue JS
3. Codekit

What Web Design Tool Should You Use?

Ultimately, the web design tools you use will depend a lot on your own personal preferences. 

The best way to decide what works for you is to try them out. Sign up for a free account and give a tool a shot.

The one you land on may surprise you!

You’ll Learn

• The best productivity tools for web designers
• The best design tools for web designers
• The best development tools for web designers
• How to look at web design tools in the big picture of building a web design business or career
• The pros and cons of learning one tool or technique really well versus staying a generalist as a web designer
• The importance of always learning new tools and skillets
• The importance of staying competitive

Resources

• Jesse’s Website
• Jesse’s YouTube Channel
• Adobe XD
• Figma
• Sketch
• Notion
• VS Code
• Vue JS
• Codekit