Like many designers, you have a toolbox of design aids you put to use in every project. Some of these design aids have become favorites in that they have served you well for a lengthy period of time.
Some of these favorites could however become less effective as new design tools and trends come into play. Clients become more demanding in their efforts to keep up with their competition.
If you serve multiple clients, you may notice these changes fairly quickly. Whereas if you have one or two or are building a website for your own purpose you may not notice the changes at all. In the latter case you’re likely to hold onto design tools that have served you well in the past. But, they are not providing solutions to increasing challenging needs and expectations.
The purpose of this article is to present an expertly evaluated selection of top tools and resources for designers. These can keep you up-to-date or even put you ahead of the curve. One or more of them could even prove to be a game changer.
With that said, the first of these top design tools and resources is –
1. Trafft
Businesses around the world have been introduced to and are using Trafft booking solutions to streamline and manage their appointment booking operations. Trafft is easy to install and use and does not require any need for technical support.
Trafft offers a free plan and 3 paid plans you can adjust to your business’s needs. With Trafft in operation -
- You can manage unlimited individual and group appointments at multiple locations.
- You can have instant access to Google Calendar, Google Meet, MailChimp, Zoom Meetings and other supporting services.
- You can customize your booking page to fit your brand.
- Trafft plans come with SMS and Email notifications and reminders, employee scheduling and special days tracking, and online payment for services rendered.
Trafft software is GDPR compliant and communicates information via secure end-to-end encryption software.
Click on the banner to find out more about how Trafft could help your business by automating your appointment booking operations.
2. Be - The Biggest WordPress and portfolio WordPress theme
Three BeTheme key features, BeBuilder, Theme Options 3, and 650+ customizable pre-built websites work in conjunction with Be’s 40+ other core features to give its users exceptional design flexibility.
- Be’s new BeBuilder is the most flexible WordPress page builder ever. It offers an array of valuable page-building features including information restore and autosave functions. It also gives you the ability to create limitless layout possibilities by importing 3000+ pages from Be’s pre-built websites to create page backgrounds in ways you could never dream of before.
- Theme Options 3 augments BeTheme’s Admin (Options) Panel by allowing you to set portfolio, shop, and blog page styles and modify design elements and layouts.
- The 650+ responsive and customizable pre-built websites, sections, wraps, shortcodes, and styling options will give you a head start toward building any layout.
Click on the banner to learn more about BeTheme and its powerful core features.
3. Total WordPress Theme
When you decide on a multipurpose theme you would like some assurance that it would let you build any page layout without subjecting you to restrictions or limitations.
The Total WordPress theme can give you that assurance.
Total allows beginners, advanced designers, and developers to -
- build websites fast with its 45+ quick-import sample demos, 90+ Section templates, and 75+ pre-styled post entry cards.
- create any web design they can envision with the WPBakery page builder, its Templatera page layout management add-on, and 500+ live customizer settings.
- use Vanilla JavaScript’s hooks, filters, 600+ snippets, and custom addons that give developers total control over their website building and maintenance tasks.
Total is fully compatible with WooCommerce, bbPress, WPML, Toolset, TablePress, and other popular plugins.
Click on the banner to find out if Total is the website-building tool you’ve been looking for.
4. Amelia
Amelia eliminates client stress and saves businesses money by automating their error-prone manual and semi-automated appointment booking operations.
- Clients can make appointments online 24/7
- Amelia manages individual and group appointment bookings, event bookings, and ticket sales at multiple locations from a single platform
- Amelia also tracks employee’s assignments and work schedules
- Amelia integrates with Google Calendar, Zoom, and Google Meet to conduct consultation sessions.
5. Slider Revolution
Slider Revolution can help you impress your clients by providing them with professional-level website visuals.
Don’t spend a ton of time trying to upgrade a website from mind-numbing to fantastic when Slider Revolution can help you do so quickly and efficiently with its -
- impressive selections of templates and addons
- ability to import dynamic content from social media sites, and its
- Web Graphics Library slide animations.
6. wpDataTables
wpDataTables makes creating tables and charts from large amounts of complex data quick and easy.
- Any of the 4 chart-building engines can be used to create informative, responsive, interactive, and maintainable charts
- wpDataTables accepts data from multiple databases and in multiple formats and can create tables using Google Sheets API
- key table or chart data can be highlighted or color coded using wpDataTable’s conditional formatting feature
wpDataTables integrates seamlessly with Elementor, Divi, and Avada.
7. LayerSlider
With LayerSlider in your toolbox you can make a so-so website into an engaging thing of beauty by putting its modern and trendy graphics, eye-catching animations, and interactive features into play.
- LayerSlider’s key features include its 150+ website, slider, and popup templates along with an intuitive editing interface.
- Beginners and first-time users can create image galleries, popups, landing pages, animated page blocks, and even full websites with LayerSlider.
8. Uncode – Creative & WooCommerce WordPress Theme
More than 95.000 sales make the Uncode top-selling pixel-perfect multiuse theme. It can be an excellent choice for freelancers, bloggers, businesses, and agencies.
- This theme’s WooCommerce custom builder is considered by many users to be its most impressive feature.
- The Wireframes plugin with its 550+ section templates and the powerful frontend editor combine to enable its users to create any layout they can think of
- Uncode’s impressive showcase of user-created websites underscores its site-building opportunities and possibilities.
9. WHATFONTIS
WHATFONTIS helps designers find a font they are trying to identify in seconds with its AI-powered search engine and a database of 700,000 free and commercial fonts.Upload the font in question and you’ll be rewarded with -
- a positive font identification > 90% of the time
- premium support should the AI search engine yield an awkward result
WHATFONTIS is the most popular font-finding tool used by professional designers.
10. Essential Grid
The Essential Grid WordPress gallery plugin was created by the developers of Slider Revolution. It has a customer base of 9 Million users, and it has proven to be an ideal solution for creating galleries designed to inject new life into old websites.
Essential Grid enables you to –
- Share your blogs or your eye-catching portfolio with others
- Create unique and engaging product displays
- Share your videos and audio gems
And more!
11. 8bio – Link in Bio Tool
You may be able to avoid spending time and money building and maintaining a website when 8bio’s easy setup enables you to create a link in Instagram or TikTok to promote yourself or your business.
- Enter your social username and 8bio will automatically create your link.
- Your link can display an attention-getting background, an image, or your photo or message.
- Your 8bio link offers powerful SEO and tracking options and you can use your own domain.
12. XStore – Best WordPress WooCommerce Theme for eCommerce
What popular WooCommerce theme features 110+ ready-to-customize shops, 550+ pre-made XStudio sections to get you started, and can be yours at a bargain price?
The obvious answer: XStore of course.
- $520 worth of premium plugins make this WooCommerce theme an even better bargain.
- WPBakery and Elementor are supported together with professionally-crafted selections of page layouts and product design elements.
13. Get illustrations Stock Illustrations Bundle
Getillustrations’ library of 10,000 premium illustrations is a designer’s dream that could easily change your approach to website UI, app, and presentation design.
- Purchased illustrations come with commercial licenses and are yours to keep without limitations.
- Illustrations are available in Vector AI, SVG, PNG, Sketch, Figma, and Adobe XD formats
- This is the world’s biggest bundle of product and presentation design illustrations.
14. Litho – Multipurpose Elementor WordPress Theme
This modern multipurpose Elementor WordPress theme is an excellent choice for building niche, portfolio, blog, or eCommerce websites.
- Litho’s use of the WordPress Customizer and Elementor custom widgets give its users all flexibility and customization options they need.
- Litho’s wealth of design aids include more than 300 design templates and home pages, and over 200 creative elements.
Litho’s customer support is first-class as is the detailed online documentation.
15. Mobirise Website Builder Software
Mobirise is an offline website builder that is ideal for creating small to medium size websites fast. It’s ideal for non-technical types who usually prefer to build websites visually – and it’s free to download and use.
- Since Mobirise does not tie you to a specific platform you can host your site wherever you wish
- Professional-quality selections of website blocks, premium HTML themes, home page templates, and attractive sliders and galleries are included.
*****
If you have a large number of demanding clients to satisfy, you will probably realize early one thing. That the design tools and resources in your toolbox are no longer able to keep up with the latest website design trends. If you have only one or two clients, some of your tools could become obsolescent without your noticing it.
It’s always good to keep a lookout for new or improved tools but doing so can be quite time-consuming. With that in mind, we have compiled this list of top tools and website design resources. One or two of which could bring your toolbox up-to-date or even put it ahead of the curve.
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