Web design encompasses the front-end design of any web application or website.
There are many different facets of web design tools such as interface design, user experience design, graphic designing, authoring, and even search engine optimization. Thus, it is the web designer’s job to work on the look, layout, and sometimes the content of the website.
In a competitive world where 1.7 billion websites are going live on the web daily, it is on the designer to keep any website or web application beautifully attractive and appealing for the end-users. Web designers projects require the right web design tools to turn out successful.
Here is a comprehensive list of the top 15 free web design tools that can tremendously help web designers:
1. Sketch:
Sketch is the most used and popular web design tools. It is best for prototyping and web design. This tool was made to build websites and web apps. Its clean interface and high performance make it prominent among the designer community.
The sketch is the most popular tool for Mac users. It being like XD, has got many more features. Having said this, Sketch is the best one for web designers.
2. GIMP:
GIMP is a free image editing tool, that has premium-quality features and is similar to Adobe photoshop.
GIMP has incredible and advanced features such as layer masks, bezier curves, and animation package, and filters. These sophisticated features can help users create digital art from scratch and tweak their images.
GIMP can also help you open your Photoshop files and has a better menu system than Photoshop. This tool can be run from an external drive or a cloud and does not require installation into your computer system.
3. Framer / Framer X:
Initially, Framer was a library of JavaScript and a prototyping toolset which emphasized on creating interactive/ animate web designs.
Later, it evolved into Framer X, the most powerful tool for creating designs. This makes high-fidelity UX prototypes and enables designers to create difficult animations and generate code for React components. This Framer X feature makes it stand out from Sketch, although both share vector-based interface looks.
Framer X is the first web design that offers an in-app marketplace. Another unique feature of this design is that of its developer-handoff option. This enables you to create advanced animations and export the layouts and animations to React.
4. FlatIcon:
Flaticon is every web designer’s dream come true, it is a database of 344,000 vector icons which have been grouped into 6,111 packs. This free icon database has icons available in PSD, PNG, SVG, and EPS.
FlatIcon is easy to use, has the best search functionally, and is highly intuitive. You can easily find what you need on FlatIcon by typing in the pack name, category, author, or keyword. With the help of FlatIcon, you can spend less time researching and more time on your web design project.
5. Adobe XD:
Adobe XD released in late 2015, has become the go-to software for website designing. Keeping its interface clean and simple it molds the users to love its simplicity. In not less than 20 minutes, it allows you to create 10 different designs.
Its popularity can comprehend in a few reasons:
- It is free
- Offers grids feature, allowing users to create grids and populate with images, text and other content
- It is handy to create and test variations in the spacing between UI elements
One interesting and most promising feature of XD is that of its new plugin marketplace feature. It has new plugins every day and builds a steady integration platform. It only works to get better every day. Adobe XD is best for prototyping and designing.
6. Open Element:
OpenElement is a web authoring tool that supports HTML, CSS, and JQuery technologies. This free software allows you to not only create and edit your web design elements but also to share them with others.
Open Element optimizes your website and enables you to improve User Experience. This software includes all the tools you may require to design your website such as page layer, SEO, reusable styles, templates, and so on.
7. Google Web Designer:
For creating the best landing pages and ads, Google Web Designer should be your go-to tool. It is a program for Windows, Linux, and Mac and supports the creation of HTML5 advertisements or content.
It is a great tool for web designing professionals as well as amateurs. Even if you do not have any prior knowledge of HTML5 animation, Google Web Designer can help you design high- quality logo animations, motion graphics, and 3D animations.
8. InVision/ InVision Studio:
InVision has grown from a simple design sharing feedback tool to a one-stop-shop for designers and agencies. It has become a leading tool in the design community. It consists of some design tools like Freehand, Boards, Prototypes, and Studio.
Like Framer X, InVision Studio is the latest tool created as a solution for those who want to easily create designs, animate those, and export the designs and animations to code. Studio experienced amazing growth since its first launch. InVision has turned into a forward-thinking and consumer-driven company.
From its first release, this tool focused on coming up with a collaborative design experience. Now it is on the same line as Adobe XD for built-in functionality. InVision has also surpassed Sketch by offering versions that work on both PC and Mac desktops.
9. Marvel:
Marvel design is suitable for creating prototypes and ideal for producing, refining an interface in the way that you want it. It provides a creative and innovative way to create pages and allows you to stimulate the design through a prototype.
One of the rare features of this design is it’s integrated user testing feature. It is perfectly suitable for generating fast ideas.
For injecting the designs in the project workflow, there exist multiple integrations. Since everything on this tool is available online, designers have to download.
10. Macaw:
Macaw is an open-source web design application that is flexible and easy to use for developing responsive web pages. This tool can help you design sophisticated websites and calls itself “the code Savvy web design tools”.
It is powered by Stream, a real-time layout engine, that supports the manipulation of design elements. Macaw also lets you reuse the designs you stored in the library. The main advantage of using Macaw is that it optimizes your website so that it can run on all devices.
11. Reflect:
Reflect is a cost-effective and no-code tool that can help you document and perform UX tests, which is often easier to run and manage. All you need to do for starting a test is a URL.
Reflect tests focus on maintainability even though their tests are Machine-derived. Deleting test steps and several modes of editing tests such as accepting visual changes that would fail previous assertions or modifying text input values are supported by Reflect.
12. Notepad ++:
Notepad++ is a versatile open-source code editor available in a multitude of languages. Notepad++ have over 140 compatible plugins, 10 of which are already embedded in the program by default.
Notepad ++ is also lightweight, extensible, and easy to install on Windows. It allows syntax highlighting and code folding, making it a perfect replacement for Notepad.
13. Mockplus:
Mockplus is a simple, fast, handy, and an efficient prototyping tool that allows you to build prototypes of mobile applications as well as web applications.
With a simple drag and drop, Mockplus allows you to add logos, panels, text, icons, and other elements of the interface to a demo/template and eventually help you get an overview of what an app/design will look like before coding.
14. CoffeeCup:
If you are planning to use HTML code to develop a website, CoffeeCup is one of the best options available in the market. The editor is user-friendly and allows you to organize all your files. You can access reusable codes from its libraries because it will help you save a lot of time.
You can create great-looking responsive websites, forms, or emailers using CoffeeCup. You can either purchase CoffeeCup premium features or just use it’s the free version, which already has many amazing features for a web designer.
15. Avocode:
Avocode is a cloud-based technology that operates on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Avocode allows for seamless design import from Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD, and Sketch. You can sort and organize your designs into projects in Avocode.
Avocode can help designers and developers working on the same project collaborate in a more productive manner. You can add a comment on any specific point of the design and mention your team members. This way you can discuss your insights/feedback in comment threats to resolve any issues.
These web design tools will save your time, improve the quality of your web designing projects, and ensure that your web/mobile applications stand out. Mastery in using any of the above tools is recognized and appreciated by any web development company. Remember that complicated designs may look good but it is the simply designed websites which resonate with the end-user
