Sketch
(https://www.sketch.com/)
95% of our designs for digital platforms are done on Sketch. It’s a quick, zippy tool geared for UI and UX that covers everything from the rough first draft to the final product. It can be used as a replacement for Photoshop to streamline the design process.
FEATURES WE LOVE:
- Very affordable
- Asset exports
- Symbols
- Amazing pre-sets
- 100% geared towards UI/UX design
InvisionApp
(https://www.invisionapp.com/)
This is a great digital product design platform. InVisionApp is amazing for prototyping, project presentation, collaboration, and asset handovers.
We mainly make use of their Prototype, Boards, and Freehand tools. We have also recently started using their DSM (Design System Manager) which we think will become invaluable in future.
Craft (part of InVision) acts as a plugin for Sketch and Photoshop that can be used to sync your InVision prototype directly from other files. At the same time, the assets are exported and available for developers to use.
We’ve been using InVision for more than five years and the product is constantly growing and improving. They have a great free trial package if you want to give it a try before investing.
FEATURES WE LOVE:
- Powerful prototyping functionality.
- Live updates to prototypes through Craft.
- Boards for great project presentation, especially for branding.
- Amazing feedback functionality (best way to communicate feedback with clients that we’ve found).
Monday
(https://www.monday.com)
monday.com is a project management and workflow tool that ticks all the boxes and keeps us connected and productive. It enables us to combine at least 4-6 tools in one space and is extremely customisable. It has amazing reporting capabilities that give us great insights into our business and clients.
FEATURES WE LOVE:
- Time tracking
- Automations
- Dashboards
- Multiple views (Tables, Calendar, Kanban etc.)
Slack
(https://slack.com/)
We use Slack for real-time chats between our team members. We do our daily updates, group discussions, and private chats on Slack. It has great integration with apps like monday.com and Calendar.
FEATURES WE LOVE:
- File uploads
- Pinning messages to channels
- Private and public channels
Adobe suite
(https://www.adobe.com/)
For all our print, motion, and audio needs we use the Adobe Suite of apps. Illustrator is used mainly for vector graphics and illustrations. Premier and After Effects is used for all things video. Audacity is used for any audio edits we need to make. The Adobe apps have always been very feature-rich and powerful. They have become very “digital design” friendly over the past few years.
FEATURES WE LOVE:
- Extensive range of apps and services
- Creative cloud libraries
- Adobe fonts
- Loads of cloud storage
Google Hangouts
(https://hangouts.google.com/)
We use Hangouts for all of our video calls. It’s free, gets the job done and it’s easy to share calendar invites and links in the chat function. As a Google product, it seamlessly integrates with everything else Google.
FEATURES WE LOVE:
- Instant messaging
- HD video calls
- Intelligent muting
- Easy screen sharing
- Custom control for admins
Atom
(https://atom.io/)
Atom is a great smart code editor that we use on all of our coding projects. It’s range of features and functions take away a lot of the drudge associated with coding. You’re able to install packages to customise the editor and find the best fit for your coding practice.
FEATURES WE LOVE:
- Collaborative coding
- Autocomplete
- Multiple panes
- File system browser
In closing
Tools and apps are meant to support the creative process and take as much frustration out of work admin and chores as possible. We hope that this list helps you pick the tools to boost your productivity and make work more fun!
