The importance of good design can’t be overemphasized. With good design, websites get visited, documents get read, and apps get used. As technology continues to advance, and more of our activities are moved on the internet, graphic designs are becoming increasingly important. From logos to posters, to banners and even websites, great design is extremely important to create a good visual and brand identity. Another aspect of graphic designs that’s become increasingly popular is User Interface/User Experience (UI/UX). UI/UX designs are needed for websites, applications, and even software for lawyers.

To create graphic designs and user experiences, graphic designers use a variety of software. In this article, we’ll examine some of them. Let’s get started!

1. Adobe Photoshop

  For every graphic designer, Adobe Photoshop is a household name. Its popularity is not a fluke as it has a complete package that offers top-notch design abilities. One of its vital features is that it works on mobile phones and the web. Similarly, it comes with additional features such as Content-Aware Crop, Face-Aware Liquify, Artboards, the Design Space view, synced libraries, and stylus input support. Asides from the 3D, Graphics, and Web layout that it offers, Adobe Photoshop enables designers to create their personalized layout. Although you can download and install the application for free, there’s a paid monthly subscription plan of $33.99.

2. CorelDraw Graphics Suite

This graphic design software can be described as excellence at its peak. First, the interface is excellent and easy to use. Also, it is a bundle of various applications to make your designing experience seamless. Aside from offering a payment plan where users can upgrade their subscription plan at will, it offers thousands of top-notch templates to make your work easier. Again, the user interface can be customized to suit your display and accommodate your desired icon size, among other things. The pointilizer also offers different parameters that are not limited to regular dots, allowing you to create high-quality vector designs. CorelDraw Graphics Suite has a 15-day free trial period, after which you can get the complete version for $474. Also, you can subscribe annually or monthly at $198 or $16.50, respectively

3. Inkscape

The first exciting thing about Inkscape is that it is free! The user experience is also top-notch, and those who are conversant with Adobe Photoshop will be able to navigate Inkscape easily. The developers of Inkscape frequently update the software to give users the best experience. Inkscape also has an open-source code that allows users to personalize the software if required.

4. Sketch

The sketch is an excellent vector-based graphic design software and is fantastic for designers who want to create interactive UI/UX prototypes. The software is also very cheap as it offers a yearly subscription that is relatively cheaper than other software of its category. It is also fantastic for mobile phones and the web display, as it leverages on grid, snap to grid, and snap to pixel functionality. For IOS devices, it has web layouts whose output is responsive, and designers can quickly get custom plugins for particular tasks through the extensive community support of the software. It has a yearly subscription plan of $99.

5.     Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator isn’t just your regular graphic design software; it is a frontrunner for vector creation tools. It possesses several preset custom layouts that make it easily customizable, and designers can use the drop and drag feature to move things anywhere they wish on the screen. Does your device have a different configuration from Mac or Windows, and you’re worried that the Adobe Illustrator won’t be compatible? Fret no more as the software is compatible with a wide range of devices. That’s not all; the Adobe illustrator comes with In-panel editing that allows designers to edit several artboards, thereby increasing their efficiency and effectiveness simultaneously. You can also easily customize the user interface as it offers custom viewing features to enable you to work on any machine. In case you’re subscribing monthly and it’s for personal use, you get to pay $9.99, while for enterprises, it is $33.99

The world of graphic design is growing daily, as more frontiers are being broken in the world of design. As more organizations turn to technology, and software to increase their effectiveness, graphic designers will continue to find themselves in high demand. For example, in the legal profession, more software for lawyers is being built and released every day, which will require the work of a graphic designer to design the interface and other visual elements. The same thing may apply to almost any other industry, no matter how tech-based it is. Therefore, a good knowledge of the best graphic design software is a necessity.

About the Author

author photo

Mirko Humbert

Mirko Humbert is the editor-in-chief and main author of Designer Daily and Typography Daily. He is also a graphic designer and the founder of WP Expert.