11 Professional Web Design Tools
Being a professional web designer means being able to use many different types of software and having an “ear to the ground” to keep track of current web trends and developments. As technology advances and is suppose to make all of our lives easier, it actually makes our job as web designers harder. We have to provide more solutions to more consumer demands.
So we thought we’d share our favorite web design tools and software that help keep Paul Mycroft + Company on its toes and keep our clients happy.
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1. Apple MacBook Pro 17″
Absolutely essential.
Not only our bread-and-butter tool but the portability of a superb laptop has allowed us the freedom to keep running our business from all over the world.
2. Dell Laptop
If you are a web designer who uses an Apple computer and does not own a Windows PC, you are selling yourself and your clients short. As 90% of the business world uses Windows, there is absolutely NO excuse for not testing your work in Internet Explorer or Firefox on PC. It will be the best $700 you’ll ever spend.
Our Dell laptop has helped save us more times than we can mention as we have been able to identify and fix problems our clients are seeing on their computers straight away, even if those problems do not appear on our more-forgiving Apple.
An essential piece of equipment.
3. Adobe Creative Suite*
What more can you say about Adobe? Without this software, we’d be washing dishes and delivering pizza in a Chicago winter.
From Dreamweaver to Photoshop, Illustrator to Acrobat, Flash to Contribute, these products have helped to make us more creative designers, more productive managers, and better business owners.
4. Apple Mail
Everyone uses email so this piece of software needs to perform several functions, not just check email and send pictures of the grandkids to Grandad.
It allows us to organize our day into manageable chunks, freeing up time for more important tasks. It not only allows us to communicate effectively with our clients but seamlessly connects to other software such as Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto.
5. FirstEdge*
Everyone needs to get paid, right? Well, if your accounts are not organize, you could lose track of invoices or even worse, go under because of lack of money. MYOB’s FirstEdge is great for web designers as it makes invoicing a snap and keeps the business running smoothly.
6. Firefox
There’s never been a better web browser, despite what Microsoft says about Internet Explorer. It not only makes browsing the web a more pleasurable experience but it allows you to do so securely, an important factor in today’s world of online scams and dodgy Nigerians.
The many cool plug-ins also allow you to personalize browsing enhance a great piece of software into an essential one. There are also some excellent ones for web designers, again making our job easier and making us seem smarter.
7. iCal
The customer is always right, right? Well, in order to keep that customer “thinking he or she is right” (we know the truth), we need to be organized – a calendaring system does just that.
With the free iCal that comes on a Mac, we can keep track of jobs, to-do lists, reoccurring events, and important personal events such as the wife’s birthday and the next soccer match. It also connects well with Mail and Address Book, making life so much simpler.
8. Transmit*
The excellent Transmit allows us to connect to our customer’s web servers when Adobe Dreamweaver fails (and it sometimes does).
9. Super Duper!*
Backups are absolutely crucial. We use 2 Ioemega hard drives to back up to every week and Super Duper! makes this job a snip.
If you do not back up, you are putting your business at risk. If you do back up, Super Duper! is worth a good look.
10. Matrox DualHead2Go*
This little chap allows us to connect 2external monitors to your laptop, improving our ability to work and stay organized.
11. iTunes, Peel* & Amadeus Pro*
Everyone needs fun and these 3 help us maintain our sanity on those crazy days.
As a parting shot, we hope this helps to shed some light on our job but whatever you do, don’t forget to pay for your software so you can get support and make sure the installations are not corrupted. You do, right? Right?
