Ranking of the best websites for web designers for 2022
People ask questions: what popular models of goods are produced by the best manufacturers, where can you buy them, how much does it cost, which company is better to buy products? According to buyers, it is better to turn to the Internet for help. An inexhaustible source of information. They help to deal with any issue and solve many problems that IT specialists, including web designers, face on a daily basis.
Many identify this concept with artists, but this is a misconception. The concept of "design" is broad and multifaceted. Logic and beauty are reflected here, and a sea of \u200b\u200bopportunities opens up. The task of a web designer is to make a mediocre online platform turn into an ideal one. He is an analyst and designer, as well as the creator of simple and understandable products. The work is carried out on the basis of a preliminary analysis.
What should the user pay attention to first of all? Not on the appearance of the site, but on how easy it is to work with it and how quickly you can achieve your goal. Beautiful design is a passed stage. The main thing is to interest people, attract attention, convey the necessary and useful information and make sure that users constantly visit this project and do not look for another one.
Basic skills that a web designer should have:
Actually the design itself.
Analytics and internet marketing. This will help you understand the wishes of users and their urgent needs, learn how advertising works and understand the meaning of creating your own project.
Psychology. key aspect. You need to create a creation, as for yourself.A professional must put himself in the place of the user and understand what is important for him and what is not, how to present information and in what doses.
What matters is the correct spelling of the text, editing. These topics are inextricably linked with each other, and help improve the quality of the product being created.
Tolerance, ability to constructive negotiations. The key point when communicating with colleagues and customers.
A thorough mastery of such areas of design as the creation of interactive banners, animation, the creation of professional pictures, graphic design, illustrations, and so on.
Frontend - development and layout. Makes it possible to find out how the layout drawn in the program will look on the job site.
To be a professional web designer, you must have the following qualities:
the possibility of increasing memory;
the ability to concentrate and instantly switch attention;
have artistic and aesthetic taste;
have imaginative thinking and not stop its development;
be fluent in logic and analytics;
be attentive, accurate, patient, assiduous;
demonstrate consistency and thoroughness in work;
be creative.
To achieve the necessary qualifications, a web designer must not only be fluent in design computer programs, but also show wonders in the field of graphics.
The field of activity of a web designer
The description of the designer's functions is as follows:
development of the execution style of the server layout;
site layout;
make sure that web documents on the monitor are perceived by users in the best way, based on bandwidth, data download time, file size, color and fonts;
web page styling;
creating a program and page code;
work with the Internet node;
format selection, arrangement of elements taking into account the background and format;
processing of hypertext documents;
creating an adaptive version of the project that will interact with various devices: smartphone, tablet, laptop, PC;
development of graphic elements of the site (for example, icons, banners, buttons - baskets for online stores, so that the buyer can quickly place an online order);
choosing a ready-made template or developing an individual design;
creation of typography: pictures, columns of texts, analysis of the font library for optimal selection;
thinking over navigation for the convenience of visitors;
interaction with applications for the purpose of static processing;
implementation and control of the company's information policy on the World Wide Web;
development of interactive applications, their constant updating and improvement;
constant interaction with users.
The profession of a web designer is considered one of the most popular and highly paid. The advantages include:
It is in constant demand.
Does not require binding to one workplace.
You can work remotely.
Professional growth and self-improvement.
The possibility of implementing any project without significant financial investments.
Hourly payment.
Constant inspiration.
The ability to manage your free time as you wish.
Lack of direct superiors.
The profession is not without flaws. Often, the artistic vision of the customer does not coincide with the opinion of the performer, which leads to disagreements at the initial stage of communication. The professionalism of the designer and his ability to negotiate come to the rescue.You need to try to convince the client that you are right or agree with his arguments and take into account the changes, without prejudice to the final result.
Stages of the workflow and place of work
The work of a designer is difficult, but interesting. From the moment of communication with the client to the final result, there are many stages, the main of which are:
Receiving data from the customer. You need to find out what prompted the client to create content, how he sees his work, what kind of users he expects. The ideal option is when the customer of the dock is in this matter and can professionally put everything on the shelves. It is worse when the client is a beginner and has a poor idea of the further development of events. You have to ask a lot of leading questions and try to catch the idea. Designers, in order to avoid mistakes, try to record the conversation in a brief.
Creation of a sketch and prototype of the proposed site. It can be paper or special programs. The appearance of the action resembles a diagram showing the main components of the pages.
After creating a prototype, it's time to draw a color layout. The combination of the color palette, the addition of animation comes into play.
The created layout is transferred to the client or, at his request, to the developer, who will transfer it to the site.
Web designers, like freelance artists, choose their own place of work. Professionals can create in:
special companies specializing in such developments;
design studios;
be a freelancer and take orders for the design of individual company sites;
fulfill the orders of organizations that have created their own project and want to constantly develop and improve it.
Finding a specialist is not an easy task. Everyone has different selection criteria.What are the options? There are several common ways:
Options
Description
Pay attention to the freelance exchange
It is considered the most budgetary and simple method. This is advised to do if the maximum allowable amount of costs is only a few thousand rubles. But there is a real possibility of running into an amateur. For such an amount, only beginners who need to gain experience for future achievements are ready to provide services. Their result may be unpredictable and not always acceptable to the client. In order to avoid mistakes when choosing a contractor, you need to review the materials released by him, view the reviews of his customers, and study the portfolio.
Search social networks
The profession is new and very interesting, so many web designers do not want to get involved with enterprises and their leaders, but are ready to work for themselves. Stock exchanges are a passed stage for them. They choose to be self-employed or become freelancers. Can enter into contracts with studios or agencies. But most often their offers can be found on social networks. It is enough to open a group and write the word "web designer".
Ask friends
If acquaintances have come across the services of web designers and only positive impressions have remained from cooperation with them, then they will be happy to recommend a professional and share coordinates. You can also do research on your own. Browse the sites, determine which one suits you best, find out contacts and place an order for services.
Seek help from a specialized agency
They recruit proven specialists, and of different categories. They can function both individually and in conjunction, complementing and replacing each other, which makes the work better.With non-professionals very quickly parted. The image of the company must be on top.
Come to the web design studio
You can preview the rating of the best portfolios and choose the most suitable studio. They are usually narrowly specialized. Some cooperate with online stores, helping to increase sales through the created products, others are aimed at promoting production equipment produced by a domestic manufacturer.
sources of inspiration
Every designer is a bit of a thief. However, this does not mean that he is dishonest. Simply, he wants to create a masterpiece, and for this he needs nourishment, and he finds it in other people's projects and ideas. It is impossible to come up with everything on your own. Anyway, somewhere I saw something, overheard, fantasized a little. That is how experience is gained. Where do ideas come from? The list is short:
Analysis of information in another area.
Audit of sites similar in subject matter to the project.
Studying the portfolio of brothers through community resources.
An overview of the portfolios of leading studios and global designers.
Use of the client's work.
Use of own experience and ideas.
Today on the Internet you can find a lot of sites for designers, for creating a logo, discussion pages, special web portals. You can find everything there: textures and templates, graphic editors and web technologies, interesting ideas on various topics, evaluation of the exhibited blanks. All this helps the designer to feel the idea, get inspiration and create his own product, having someone else's collective basis at hand.
Rating of sites of the best communities, prototypes and layouts
Dribbble.com
The site was created specifically for designers to communicate and share experiences.There you can find a huge number of interesting projects that, with their form and content, can become an inspiration for many professionals and help them create their own unique project. It helps not only to make yourself known, to improve your skills, but also to become a source of new orders for professional designers with a boosted account. It is enough to publish a small fragment of your experience on Dribbble.
The format is similar to Twitter. There are no problems with registration. It is enough to log in through social networks or use your email. Opportunities for registered independently and at the invitation of "old-timers" are different. Simple registration allows you to fill out a profile, however, the added projects will fall into the "drafts", and third-party users will not have access to them. To fully use the resource, the ability to exhibit your products, evaluate the portfolio of other users, you need to have an invitation from designers with a Pro account.
Video about the features of working with the site:
Advantages:
an ideal option for the exchange of experience;
enhances professionalism;
inspires new endeavors.
Flaws:
limited opportunities in the absence of an invitation.
Sketch
It is considered a relatively young product, but by no means lightweight, as many believe at first. Both beginners and pros turn to him. Specializes in vector graphics editors. It differs from pixel editors in that it preserves the mathematical basis of the created figure. This allows vector scaling without loss of image quality.
To work in Sketch, you need to constantly look at the screen, on which sections with different functionality are highlighted:
List of layers.The panel will display in the form of layers what has been drawn. And for each layer, you can set your own name.
Toolbar. Most commonly used commands. To improve performance, you can connect hotkeys.
Artboard. Sketches can organize projects with artboards and pages. Artboards allow you to create a variety of compositions within a single page. This is very useful for improving workflow efficiency.
Inspector. Thanks to it, you can get detailed information about each layer in order to create precise settings. So, you can manually set the X / Y coordinates of a point or measure the pixel width of a figure. Thanks to the inspector, you can align the layer, set parameters and blur, make shadows, adjust opacity, borders and fill, and so on.
The only serious drawback is that it only works on Mac.
Video introduction to the program:
Advantages:
universality;
functionality;
practicality;
ease of use.
Flaws:
the only serious drawback is that it only works on Mac.
Figma
The functionality is similar to Sketch. Despite the novelty of the program, development is proceeding at a rapid pace. A distinctive feature is that an unlimited number of users can work on one project at the same time. If there are three projects, then the developers allow you to use the site for free. To create an infinite number of products, you will need to pay $ 12 monthly, which is a very symbolic payment. At the same time, users get unlimited access to the available utilities. The app works great with computers running Linux, Windows, Android or iOS. The interface is similar to Sketch and Adobe XD.If anyone is familiar with these tools, then mastering the Figma program is not difficult. An excellent option for beginner designers and those who want to try their hand without significant financial investment.
Introduction to Figma:
Advantages:
hidden functionality;
An unlimited number of users can work on one site;
ease of use.
Flaws:
there is a fee for use.
Behance
The program is essentially like a social network. It is visited by creative people. It contains a lot of ideas for both corporate style and an Internet project. Hundreds of thousands of designers, photographers, illustrators come to the page, ready to share their experience and learn the skills of other professionals. There you can also read reviews of exhibited projects and share your thoughts on the products of colleagues. Negative ratings are not accepted. If you do not like something, it is better not to pay attention to this project.
Application Overview:
Advantages:
standard profile;
a huge number of users;
the possibility of communication;
suitable for freelancers with limited financial resources.
Flaws:
missing.
Rating of quality sites with videos and images
stocksnap
You can also create stock photos or stock graphics yourself. It is interesting and useful, but takes a lot of free time. It is much easier to visit the StockSnap website and plunge into the sea of all kinds of images from mobile devices and computers. They are suitable for commercial use. Moreover, you can use any photo, slightly modifying it by using a suitable screenshot.
Advantages:
ease of use;
saving free time;
variety of picture types.
Flaws:
not installed.
Pexels
Only here you can enjoy a huge number of stock videos and photos, and absolutely free. This is a platform not only for professional photographers, but also for ordinary users who enjoy communicating with each other. The application is very similar to Instagram, but communication with others is not provided. You can expand the collection by adding your photos, like, subscribe to like-minded people, create a personal page where you can focus your own collection.
Video information about the resource:
Advantages:
the ability to download any photos and use them for your own purposes;
ideal for a selection of unique shots;
projects look perfect as a screen saver on your desktop;
palette variety.
Flaws:
missing.
Unsplash
A treasure trove of creative photos that you don't have to pay for. No cheap shots in the office and outdoors. Everything is just high quality. The number does not play a big role. Editors choose the best works within 10 days and post them on the site. There are no restrictions in the field of personal use of the presented products.
About working with the plugin:
Advantages:
availability;
free use;
no restrictions;
everything is just the best.
Flaws:
not identified.
ISO Republic
The platform is only one year old, and the best colorful shots are concentrated on it. The theme needs some work. There are banal photos of office employees, corporate parties, celebrations, all kinds of gadgets. But there are also unique photos from various categories.
Advantages:
universality;
availability;
large selection of pictures.
Flaws:
not installed.
The Pattern Library
The platform is made in a minimalistic style. Designed for patterns.A page with an image opens and scrolls through five buttons. You can download the appropriate product. It is very popular among web designers.
Advantages:
ease of use;
practicality;
functionality;
availability.
Flaws:
opening some pictures to full screen causes ripples in the eyes.
Rating of the best sites with fonts and colors
typekit
The perfect assistant for choosing fonts. You can add new options to your project. The best developers from all over the world worked on the content. The platform is solid, a real find for experienced web designers. There is nothing difficult in accessing the products of firms engaged in the development of fonts at a professional level. The created library contains more than a thousand different fonts, which are quickly and easily viewed. You can also create your own set.
Advantages:
ease of use;
huge library;
practicality;
functionality.
Flaws:
missing.
Font Squirrel
The platform helps to manually select headsets. Even a beginner can handle it. The fonts are free, all can be used for your own commercial purposes. There is the largest and only @font-face font generator. With a special license, you can use the generator to create web kits or tweak existing kits to improve rendering and file size.
Resource test drive:
Advantages:
a lot of information;
the possibility of free access;
ease of use.
Flaws:
not installed.
color hunt
A huge number of four-color palettes that can be scrolled forever. The resource belongs to the user category. Offers perfect color combinations that many users have liked.A great project for advanced designers, and completely free. You can vote on it, determine the winners, present your own work for everyone to see. However, no registration is required.
Advantages:
a lot of useful information;
availability;
lack of registration;
the ability to exhibit their own products and use other people's projects.
Flaws:
not identified.
ColorZilla
It is considered a tool for recognizing colors on a page. Works in Firefox and Chrome. It is used when there is no desire to run resource-intensive programs, but it is necessary to determine the hue of a pixel. To install the plugin, you need to go to a special site.
ColorZilla and Colorscheme - instructions for use:
Advantages:
ease of use;
availability;
work speed.
Flaws:
missing.
Top websites for inspiration
Landingfolio
The program presents the best designer selection of landings. A library of interesting and exciting Lsndingpage pages is provided for everyone to see. There are a huge number of different categories and built-in filters. The design is up to the mark. The platform is user-friendly and practical. There is a library of logos. Those who wish can quickly find landing pages for mobile applications, books, products, resources, startups.
Advantages:
search speed;
a treasure trove of useful information;
availability;
universality;
professionalism;
functionality.
Flaws:
not installed.
Square
The platform is intended for novice designers who have not yet grown up to international competitions, but would like to show their own developments.The competition provides a chance for emerging artists to submit their own work using branded templates to a presentation provided by the developers. The competition is open to everyone. Participation in it does not require financial costs. This gives young people the opportunity to express themselves and gain universal popularity.
Advantages:
the opportunity to show creations;
free participation;
increasing professionalism.
Flaws:
missing.
gomood board
The platform gives beginners a chance to upgrade their own portfolios. Beginning designers get inspiration from the work of professionals, high-quality illustrations, unusual fonts. A find for creative people. The server can accommodate an unlimited number of works, since the developers have not set any restrictions.
Advantages:
universality;
practicality;
functionality;
availability;
ease of use;
does not require financial costs.
Flaws:
not identified.
Uplabs
Some platforms accumulate concepts that are not destined to become finished projects and reach implementation. Attractive appearance is not a guarantee of creating a premium application or a full-fledged platform. You can remain an attractive picture for many users of the platform for the rest of your life. None of this applies to Uplabs. It focuses exclusively on finished works, access to which is completely free.
Advantages:
helps beginners create full-fledged products;
practicality;
universality;
ease of subsequent operation.
Flaws:
missing.
UI8
Without third-party platforms, it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to make a portfolio on Instagram, Dribbble or Behance and other recognizable platforms.Even leaving comments does not make designers popular. There are problems with subscribers, customers do not pay attention, and do not “fill up” with work. The UI8 service helps talented web designers to express themselves, show their work in all its glory, and also earn money. It is worthwhile to pre-publish graphic content on the site: fonts, logos or illustrations.
Advantages:
helps beginners to believe in themselves;
promotes professional development and gaining experience;
availability;
passive income;
practicality.
Flaws:
not identified.
Even more sites-inspirers - in the video:
Conclusion
If you are a creative person and decide to master design professionally, then specially created sites will come to the rescue. Thanks to them, you can learn what mockups, digital and hashtags are, master infographics and text layers, get inspiration from viewing the work of masters of their craft. There are paid and free platforms. Used not only by beginners and professionals. Their functions are similar. The speed of work at height. They intuitively try to promote a modern approach to development and design solutions.
Regardless of the chosen program, it is worth understanding that the basis is the design technique and theory, and only then - the tools. First, you need to develop skills and simultaneously master the tools.