44 tools to help you in your design work

September 10th, 2008 by Mirko in Resources, Software

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toolbox

The web is full of resources, but they’re often hard to reach. This is the reason why I think it’s important to organize them with a coherent structure and share it with you. So just bookmark this page for whenever you’ll need it, it’ll be useful. Please also mention if I missed anything.

Organizing
- Sample contract for WebDesign
  Example of a Webdesign contract to adapt for your needs.
- Design brief sample
  Example of a brief for a Poster design that you can adapt for your needs.
- Things
  Simple task management for Mac OSX.
- Remember The Milk
  Online Task Manager.
Communicating
- Skype
  Cheap or free calls from your computer.
- Adium
  Multi-client instant messaging application for Mac OSX.
- Pidgin
  Multi-client instant messaging application for Windows.
Brainstorming – Wireframing
- Bubbl.us
  Online brainstorming application.
- mindmeister
  Collaborative online mind mapping.
- gliffy
  Create and share flowcharts and diagrams online.
Typography
- What the Font?
  An easy way to identify fonts online.
- BitfontMaker
  Online tool to create your bitmap font.
Webdesign
- Typetester
  Compare fonts for webdesign.
- Em Calculator
  Convert your pixel font size in its scalable em font size.
- HTML entity lookup
  Quickly find HTML entities.
- sIFR
  Insert rich accessible typography in your websites.
- Blueprint CSS framework
  Save time on your CSS developement with this framework.
- Web Developer Toolbar
  The do-it-all Firefox extension for webdesign.
- MeasureIt
  Firefox extension to measure anything on a webpage.
- ColorZilla
  Pick any color on a webpage with this Firefox extension.
- Firebug
  Debugging Firefox extension.
Colour
- ColourLovers
  Create, search and share colour palettes online.
- Kuler
  A copy of ColourLovers, with a better interface.
- Colour Blindness simulator
  Upload an image to visualize it like color blind people do.
- ColorTools.net
  A collection of Color tools.
Layout
- Lorem Ipsum generator
  Generate the amount of fake latin text you need.
- Designers Toolbox
  All kind of print and web documents sizes.
- InDesign scripts
  Official InDesign scripts on Adobe’s site.
- InDesign templates
  Official InDesign templates on Adobe’s site.
Image editing
- Photoshop brushes
  More Photoshop brushes than you’ll ever need.
- Photoshop textures
  Free Photoshop textures.
- Photoshop textures
  More free Photoshop textures.
- Photoshop scripts
  Free Photoshop scripts.
Stock photography
- Photocase
  Free stock photos.
- stock.xchng
  Free stock photos.
- StockVault
  Free stock photos.
- Fotolia
  Cheap and free stock photos.
- Getty Images
  High-quality professional stock photo.
Backing up – Archiving – Copyrighting
- 7-Zip
  Open Source file archiver for Windows.
- The Unarchiver
  Open Source file archiver for Mac OSX.
- Copyscape
  Check if your website content has been ripped off.
- Mozy
  Online data backup solution.
- IdleBackup
  One-click backup utility for Windows.
- ChronoSync
  Backup and synchronization utility.

Image credit: dipster1

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53 Comments

Angie Bowen

Great list, stumbled & floated

Lee Graham

Excellent post! I’ll definitely refer a couple of friends who are starting their website design to this page.

Spence

I’d definately recommend iGTD for the mac, Things is a pretty good app, but I couldnt work without iGTD, and they have fixed the leopard issues now.

scott

Dreamstime.com is a great site for inexpensive stock photography. I use it all the time!

Lynn

Great list, I really like how you start off the list with resources for Organizing/Communicating. Seems basic but I’m always looking for things to help me keep organized…Thanks!

Also – I’d suggest agencytool.com/dashboard as a great web design resource. Its got some more specific resources for design and some SEO stuff.

scott anderson

Best file conversion site I’ve ever seen is Zamzar.com. It can even handle %$#*!#@@* Miscrosoft Publisher files.

poojers

very helpful list, thanks for sharing!

James Nowland

Great list, fair few i already had but a few great new tools i found!

Steve Firth

Thanks, a couple of things I was literally thinking about today.

Have been meaning to get a contract together for ages now.

Joann Snell

Great tools! Thanks for sharing!

starry

Awesome reference I’ll hold onto! Thanx

Anna

Great list, I would add the GUI magnets: http://www.guimagnets.com – for prototype sketching on whiteboards!

Goodies

Hey, very nice tools – thank you!

robakdesign.com

Nice, it is quite interesting list of tools, and I have found something what I was missing a lot in my toolbox – What the font!
Thanks a lot

WPJunkie

Very nice collection thanks alot! Bookmarked iin Delicious and Dugg

Terri Karp

Am I reading this right? The “Sample Wording for Web Design Contract” specifies that
“This agreement allows for minor web site maintenance to pages for the lifetime of your web site at no charge, up to an average of one half hour per regular web page, including updating links and making minor changes to a sentence or paragraph.”
I’m all for terrific client service, but the web developer may grow to regret an open-ended promise made to every client.

Jeff Mead

magicjack.com is a great communication resource.

Alan O'Rourke

Great list. Thanks.
FineTuna is a great FF extension for sending and recieving feedback on layouts and images.

Debi K

Thanks for including Gliffy in the list. Not only can you create and share diagrams online, but you can sign up using Multiuser Accounts now too! Check it out: http://www.gliffy.com/prodcomparison.shtml
Thanks again, debik at gliffy dot com

freddygirl

super helpful list, thanks!

John

Another great program for getting organized and tracking time and tasks is Intervals. As an alternative to the list above, it is more comprehensive but ideal for freelancing.

Olga

Great list, I would add to the list of Organizing tools – Task2Gather. It is a real finding in managing tasks software. It works both at Mac and PC. It has iPhone client for $5 only and it is about to launch Windows Mobile version.
Cheers!