5 Tech Things That Help Me as a Designer

Graphic design is separated from fine art by its ability to be mass produced. From the printing press to screenprinting to digital tools through the ages, design work has always relied on technology.

The big conversation — at least as long as I’ve been a designer – is how much we rely on technology. In school, we were encouraged to sketch our designs by hand before translating to a digital version because our instructors believed the tools and options in the design software would limit our ideas of what was possible. I still prefer to sketch by hand – it makes my process feel more open. I actually prefer that my first draft not look like a final product. It helps fuel my creativity. However, since I have to balance my time between the administrative work of my design business and the actual design work, I’m also a big fan of the tools that help me do my work more efficiently. That helps fuel my creativity, too! 

Full size keyboard that I use with my laptop

This one might sound a bit goofy, but I can’t live without a full keyboard attachment for my laptop. I’m often moving back and forth between working at home, the library, my coworking space, a vacation spot, etc, so a laptop is preferable. The only thing I’m missing is the numeric keypad – that’s a dealbreaker. I need a numeric keypad to create shortcuts to apply text styles on a long document layout. It takes a few extra moments to get connected to my full keyboard but then I fly like the wind, using my shortcuts to quickly move through the pages of my project. 

Remove.BG

This is an AI tool I’ve been using quite a bit over the past year. It allows you to easily remove the background from a photo. I use it a lot to cut out people from a busy background so I can put their images against a solid color or patterned background. It gives the image a more impactful look than if the photo was used as-is. I have been able to create this effect on my own using Photoshop before and they have some powerful photo cutout tools as well, but Remove.BG is the most powerful and accurate tool I have used so far. It also saves me a ton of time. I signed up for a paid plan to be able to download photos at a high resolution and I’ve not regretted it!

Adobe Creative Cloud

I learned graphic design on Adobe software, and I’ve stuck with it, not just for nostalgia’s sake. I’ve never run into something I can’t do in the Adobe programs. Adobe is the most robust and powerful design software – it’s built for professional designers’ needs. I love how easy and user-friendly Canva is, but it is not my friend when it comes to laying out a long document. The paragraph styles and page templates features in InDesign are a lifesaver. One of the most time-saving elements (are you seeing a theme here?) of the Adobe programs is they link together seamlessly, so if I make and update a graphic in Illustrator, it will automatically update over in my InDesign file. With the Adobe Creative Cloud, gone are the days of running Photoshop off my bootleg CD. I might still be a little bitter about that, but I can see the practicality these programs provide to my design work and business.

iPhone camera

It’s wild how much I use my iPhone camera in my professional life. It has essentially replaced the role my scanner used to play (so sorry, scanner!). I can take photos of paperwork that will be legally acceptable and can take photos of hand lettering that I then vectorize using Adobe Illustrator. All my iPhone photos are high enough resolution to use for these purposes and more. It takes some effort to keep them all organized, but being able to do all different types of work on the go is invaluable. 

VSCO app

Even as photo editing may go in and out of style on social media, but I think having a signature aesthetic is enjoyable and shows off my visual sensibilities. Nowhere is this more evident on a day-to-day basis than on my Instagram feed. I use the VSCO app to edit the photos I post to Instagram, using it to make my colors consistent using the details editing tools and filters. It’s possible I may be a VSCO girl, which is “someone whose aesthetic is influenced by the VSCO photo-editing app.” If you play around with the HYPEBEAST filters, you can see some familiar vibes! 

Fellow designers, what are some of your go-to tools?