Top 5 Resources Every Designer Needs! (Cheat Sheet) ⁉️

Are you a designer in need of some handy resources to streamline your workflow and boost your creativity? Look no further! In this blog post, we will explore the top 5 resources every designer needs, including cheat sheets, that will help you become more efficient and produce better work. From color palettes and typography guides to design templates and inspiration sources, we’ve got you covered. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, these resources are sure to become indispensable tools in your design arsenal. Let’s dive in and discover how these resources can take your design game to the next level!

Top 5 Resources Every Designer Needs! (Cheat Sheet)

Hey guys what’s going on it’s me will patterson and welcome back to a new video today i’m going to be really quickly showing you five things that every graphic designer needs in 2020 and 2021. there are so many resources out there so many companies telling you What you need to do your job better but i think i found the best ones specifically for me as a logo designer that have helped me create better logos stay more organized but then also just look even better in my work this video is brought to you by skillshare

Typography Cheat Sheet

The first one is the typography cheat sheet this is huge for anyone who does logo type design anyone who wants to delve into the world of creating typefaces or making your own font you need to know what each bit of the font means because that gives you that look of professionalism But also it’s really easy to then describe what part of the typeface is different but then also when you’re designing a typeface on editing one you can look very professional by saying that you need to change the terminal of the letter c basically the typography cheat sheet Is there for anyone who struggles with terminology when it comes to typefaces and there are a lot of terminologies that you need to know and understand and maybe can’t remember all the time just to know what to do and what to change about the typeface we’ve got terminal You’ve got ascender you’ve got apex you’ve got the crossbar you’ve got a lot

Logo Package

Number two is the logo package i’ve talked about this in the past it’s an extension inside of adobe illustrator called the logo package express the basics of the logo package is that it basically Gives you all the files that you need for that one logo at the click of a button it literally does it automatically and they’ve recently just upgraded and updated the logo package where you can do other things like add padding to the logo and change color values of that logo including Pantone so instead of meticulously having to change the file type and to change the way that the form of the logo looks and change the file sizes and everything else it’s really annoying you can just press one button for print and then another button for digital which is pretty cool when you Think about it it’s just one button that would normally take me about an hour to an hour and a half

Skillshare

The third one is from our sponsor and that is Skillshare i’ve been using skillshare before i was even sponsored by them from the first video four or five years ago skillshare is a learning community with thousands of professionals teaching classes in any field from creativity cooking client work design hand lettering photography creating a presentation designing a Poster anything that you would like to learn from a professional is on skillshare the coolest thing about skillshare is not only that you get the classes but you can ask questions to the tutor and the person creating the class within that class and you can upload Your work in there to show you tutor what you’ve done well and this is a really great way of getting much needed feedback on your work for the first thousand people to click that skillshare link down below you get two months of skillshare premium for completely free and that Means that you can watch as many classes as you like i’ve also linked some classes down below that i think you’ll really like as well including ian barnard’s aaron drakplains and loads more so click the links down below once you’ve had two months free it is less than ten dollars a month To have all of the classes on skillshare at your disposal for your consumption and learning so make sure you click those links down below in the description

Font Self

Number four is font self this one ties in directly with the first one which is the typography cheat sheet That’s really how to say cheat sheet cheat sheet cheat sheet sounds like i’m swearing font self is a plugin that you can have in adobe photoshop or an adobe illustrator where you can create a typeface directly inside of the program so no longer do you have to go Into another program and buy a very expensive program to create your typeface you can do it all export it and then sell your fonts directly within illustrator i’ve used font self for a few commissions now including the scroller box one where i had to create like a Like a really cool scrolly type look of a font that was fun you can see scroll the box using it on instagram and on the website it makes the whole process a lot easier especially as they’re updating it all the time where now they have auto kerning which is mind blowing Kerning normally takes hours to do if you can get it to auto can that is even better

Mind Node

The next one is mind node recently I made a video on about how to get better logo design ideas and my node is the way if you’ve ever done something called a mind map or a brainstorm where you have like a topic in the middle and then you branch out into other tiny topics and then link them Together in these branches that is what my node does the cool thing about my node is on ipad and it’s on the mac as well and i use this to get my thoughts down but not only that to visually show the client my thought process and where my connections came from I use my node all the time when i’m doing client presentations because it helps me show them where my thoughts are it’s not just this idea it’s actually thought out and you can see the connections

Miller Note

Next one is miller note you guys have heard of it i haven’t Shown you it in a while but miller note is an amazing board presentation place i don’t know how to describe it miller note is a basically a place where you can upload images into different boards and it kind of is board section where you can create client briefs you can even show Your work to a client and annotate work it’s very visual and it helps designers show what needs to be changed or it helps clients understand the work that you’re doing you can upload files on there you can comment you can put videos in it’s great for move boarding i Use it all the time for move boarding and then sending that to the client

Grid Systems

Last but not least is a book and this book is called grid systems if you’re a designer and you don’t have grid systems i don’t know how you’ve got this far you need to have this book Grid systems is quite an old book but it’s brought out on amazon i’ve read it a couple of times and…

Top 5 Resources Every Designer Needs! (Cheat Sheet) FAQ

What are the top 5 resources every designer needs?

The top 5 resources every designer needs include: color palettes, typography guides, design software, stock photos, and design inspiration sources.

Where can I find color palettes?

There are many websites and apps that provide a wide variety of color palettes for designers to use. Some popular sources include Coolors, Adobe Color, and Color Hunt.

What is a typography guide?

A typography guide is a resource that provides designers with information on different typefaces, font pairings, and typographic rules to follow. Designers can find typography guides online or in books.

What are some popular design software options?

Popular design software options include Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), Sketch, Figma, and Canva.

Where can I find stock photos for my designs?

There are several websites that offer high-quality stock photos for designers to use, such as Unsplash, Pexels, and Shutterstock.

How can I find design inspiration sources?

Designers can find inspiration from various sources, including design blogs, social media platforms (such as Pinterest and Behance), design conferences, and art galleries.

I hope you find useful my article Top 5 Resources Every Designer Needs! (Cheat Sheet) ⁉️, I also recommend you to read my other posts in my blog.

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