Blog title-My Favorite Tools for Web Design

When I design websites, I always like to keep a consistent flow. I follow the same process and use the same tools consistently for web design. Here are my favorite web design tools.

Paper and pencil

As I stated in my previous blog, My 5 Favorite Tools for Graphic Design, I always start by sketching with paper and pencil. A lot of web designers start wireframing websites like this. It gives you an idea of what you want your website to look like especially if you are designing a responsive design. I start with mobile devices and expand to bigger devices (i.e. tablets, laptops, desktops).

Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign

I like to create the prototype in Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign. In these applications, I design exactly what I want the website to look like.

I use to be dependent on Photoshop for creating prototypes, but recently I have been using InDesign because it’s more interactive. For example, you can create buttons that actually link to pages.

Adobe Dreamweaver

Dreamweaver was the first program I used to start building a website. It’s an easy tool to use, especially if you are new to HTML and CSS. Now that I am no longer a beginner, I actually prefer Brackets (mentioned below).

I will say that Dreamweaver has updated their system recently, so you can choose your workspace now. The Developer workspace looks almost like Brackets, so I have been using it again.

The other thing I like about Dreamweaver is that I can upload the website online easily and quickly compared to Brackets.

Brackets

Ever since I started the Front End Web Development program, I have been using Brackets. It’s free and easy to use. If you are a beginner web designer, I would stick to Dreamweaver, but if you have some experience and aren’t intimidated, then I would give Brackets a try.

The best feature in Brackets is that you can download plugins. My favorite plugin is Emmet; it lets you use shortcuts to add html tags quickly. It just makes it easy to write/add tags.

For those of you familiar with LESS, another plugin I like it LESS AutoCompile. It auto compiles a style.css page from your LESS page.

I haven’t found a good plugin to upload my website yet, but if anyone has any suggestions please let me know!

Axure RP

This is an honorable mention. I’m too poor to afford it, but I love it. Axure lets you create prototypes for your website that you can actually view online and use like an actual website. You can add drop down menus, buttons, links, animations, and etc.

You can make it exactly how you want your website to look, interactivity and all! Axure lets you  create responsive pages for different device sizes. Sitemaps are also easily created within Axure.

Everything is so fast and easy because Axure creates different widgets that are useful for websites and you can create masters and default text, colors, and etc, so that everything is quicker and easier to create.

Do any of you have favorite tools for web design? Let me know in the comments or contact me.

-Natasha Lane Design Co.

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In this day and age, having any type of business is the main reason why you have a website. No matter who you’re trying to attract, one of the first places they will look is online. Even if you don’t have a business, if you’re trying to create an audience, then a website is still important.

Why you should have a website, for reals

Having a website is important because you own it. You get to decide what to post or sell. It’s your own headquarters and you can build a community on it. If you’re thinking that’s what you use social media for, well think again.

Building your own community

Even though you have a community on social media, there’s only so much you can do on it. You can’t post what you want all the time on there. Plus it’s ever-changing. It’s getting harder and harder to start a community because all they (the social media giants) care about is making money now. If you were one of the first people on social media, that was fine, and you probably have lots of followers, but that is not the case now.

You can’t collect emails from social media. What if later down the line you want to start selling products or services or what if you want to start blogging or vlogging? You need a community or a loyal audience for that. Not everyone on social media will want to be a part of your community, but your fans will visit your website and sign up for your newsletter.

A newsletter will help you create an awesome community that is interested in the topics you want to blog or vlog about. They will also be interested in buying products from you because you would have built trust within your community. The easiest way to get people to sign up is through your website.

community

I’m looking at you, YouTube

I love watching videos on YouTube. I’m one of those people who becomes a super fan when I like a vlogger. The first thing I do, after I binge watch all their videos, is go to their bio and look for a website.

My biggest pet peeve is when they don’t have a website. You have all these followers who adore you and you don’t have a website? That’s crazy. I’m practically ready to stalk your website and buy all the things you like, but nothing. Read More “Why you should have a website”

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In one of my previous videos, I listed the 3 free tools you can use to record your computer screen. Loom was one of them. 

As I mentioned in the previous video, Loom is great because you don’t have to download it. It’s actually web-based. You use a chrome extension to use it. It’s perfect for sending quick videos to clients or to team members explaining how to do things. I’ve seen some people answer questions in facebook groups using it too. 

HOW TO RECORD YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN USING LOOM

First, go to Loom.com. In the right-hand corner, you see the blue button that says ‘sign up for free’. You need either a Google account or Slack account to use it.

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Start recording

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Why a vlogger should have a website

Stake a claim

Having a website means that you own it. Social media is owned by big businesses that only care about how the platform will make money for them, so they don’t have your best interest at heart. A website is owned by you, which means you can do whatever you want with it at any time.

 

It's mine

 

So once you have one, what’s the point? Well, it’s time to build your community. You want to build a community on your own site, just in case the algorithm changes again on the social media platforms and it becomes harder to reach people. Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest are always changing how your audience views your content. The easiest way to drive traffic to your site is actually pointing your social media followers to your website. Just add your website link to all your social media accounts.

Another way to build a community is to start a newsletter. Just add an opt-in to your website so that people can sign up. You can get started with Mailerlite or Mailchimp for FREE. Later, when you expand, you can start selling products and services to your list, but in the beginning, you want to nurture your list and build your following by providing great content. The point is, having a website gives you control over your content and opens up new avenues for growth.

Venture out

I hinted at new avenues for growth. What does that mean? It means there are so many possibilities for the future. Maybe you started creating videos for fun on YouTube, but then realize you want to do it as a full-time job. Maybe you started it to market one aspect of your business but decided to switch up your business plan and expand.

Dreams and plans always change, so it’s better to be prepared. It’s never too early to start. The first thing you should do is have a website so you can start collecting subscribers so that you’ll have potential customers who will know you and trust you. Next, you want to think about how you want to be perceived and who you want to attract. Once you answer that question, you can start thinking about branding your business (branding usually comes before the website, but you want to get started quickly).

 

endless possibilites

 

If you’re not sure what you want to do, just start thinking about where you want to be in one year. Then, think about 5 years from now. Are you going to still create videos then? Do you want to have your own business? It’s worth thinking about or preparing for just in case. Read More “Why a vlogger should have a website”

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Learn Basic HTML - Natasha Lane Design Co.'s Blog Page
7 years ago

[…] application and it’s free. You can download Brackets at http://brackets.io. As I mentioned in My Favorite Tools for Web Design, I also like to use Dreamweaver (this is not […]

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