Ask HN: Design tools and software. What can I buy?

[brador]

My web designs look way too web 1.0 and I'm hard coding css in notepad++. It's proving detrimental to quality.

What software and tools can I buy that real designers use to improve the quality of my web designs and make nice looking websites faster? (soft and hard solutions please!)

[anujkk]

While developing web applications and doing every part of it myself(design, coding, everything), I have noticed that I design my web apps in three stages:

1. Interaction Design: In this stage I design my web app's UX - mainly wireframes. The focus is on usability and not on look and feel. For this the only useful tools are paper, pen, whiteboard and an open, creative mind. Knowledge of html,css,js will help you in determining what is feasible and what is not.

2. Illustration(optional):In this stage I take wireframes as input and create a design that will look exactly like final desired product. I use vector graphics tools to create design and then export it into png files. If some heavy graphics is needed I also use raster graphics programs. Tools recommended:

1. Vector : Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape(open source)

2. Raster : Adobe Photoshop or GIMP(open source)

I don't use anything else.

3. Web Design : In this stage, I do actual front end development. I take png mockups created in previous stage and make webpages by coding html,css,js in my editor. Tools used :

a good editor(vim/emacs)

css reset(http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/)

jquery library(and some plugins)

Browser(Chrome/firefox for development/testing. IE8+ and Safari for testing)

Some browser plugins - Firebug, Color Pick, Resolution Test, etc.

Some sites - 0to255.com, kuler.adobe.com, ui-patterns.com, smashingmagazine.com

That's it. Anything else isn't really necessary.

One more advice. Get inspired. Find sites that inspire you, sites with good design. Learn from those designs. Keep learning. Keep improving and keep designing.

Some recommended sites : http://www.cssmania.com/ http://dribbble.com/ http://www.awwwards.coam/ http://themeforest.net/

[noahc]

Buying tools or software isn't going to make you a better web designer. What you need to do is practice and practice some more. If your goal is to be a good web designer, then that's the only way.

Now, the question I think you're asking is how do I make my websites not look like crap. Revorad answers that question and it basically is don't reinvent the wheel.

[brador]

It's hard to practise when I feel what takes me 8 hours could be done in 1 with better tools. Like hammering a nail with a spoon. Yes, you can say practise more, but I am using a spoon. I should be using a hammer since that is what a person skilled in hammering would use.

So, I guess the question is, what "hammers" do designers use? Frontpage? Dreamweaver?

[revorad]

WooThemes is awesome. It really is worth the money - http://www.woothemes.com/woomember/go?r=48107&i=l16

ThemeForest is cheap and cheerful - http://themeforest.net/

And of course, now there's Twitter Bootstrap - http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/

Check out David Kadavy's Design for Hackers book too, for more general design learning.

[adyda]

I really like the Twitter Bootstrap. I am also no good at design, but with it I was able to get something that I liked up fairly quickly. It is probably this easy with other grid systems, but I liked the info on the bootstrap page.

[brador]

Cool, I'll check those out! Any tips on software and hardware to roll my own? Do professional web designers use Wacom tablets or other specific hardware?

[pdenya]

Pixelmator ($30) is a cheaper alternative to photoshop and much more pleasant to use than gimp. It has tools for vector and rastor too.