Five Must-Have Tools For Web Designers
Inspiration – We all need a boost to get our creative juices flowing when we start a project. A few minutes of clicking through FFFFOUND! or Abduzeedo’s Daily Inspiration can send you off in the right direction, and if you find that you should have zigged instead of zagging, course correction is just a refresh away.
Google Analytics – Some companies spend millions trying to understand how their customers think, but with Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights into about your visitors’ habits for free. Whether it’s tracking your latest success or troubleshooting a page with a low conversion rate, Google Analytics is there with the data you need to build effective websites.
Lorem Ipsum Generator – Websites look better with content. A wireframe may be a designer’s best friend, but because websites are often designed before the content is finished, we need something to fill in the gaps. Enter Lorem Ipsum – the placeholder text designers have been using for hundreds of years. Lipsum.com is a good standby, but if you need a change of pace and have a client who doesn’t mind, alternatives like Cupcake Ipsum or Samuel L. Ipsum may be just what you need.
jQuery – OK, this one’s not essential, but if you have a client who wants Flash effects, it’s a great way to keep your sites looking good on devices that aren’t Flash-friendly. With thousands of scripts and plugins available, you can find a jQuery plugin for just about any cool thing your clients can dream up. True, processing it will increase your site’s load time, but if you serve a Google-hosted version, many of your visitors will already have a copy in their cache.
Organization – CamelCase, underscores or dashes – find a system that works for you and stick with it because all those minutes you spend looking for images you didn’t name correctly add up to hours that could’ve been used to perfect your project.