Design Your Way

Web design tools and resources can help designers and agencies streamline the creative process and create stunning websites. They can also serve as time- and labor-saving entities. Without them, some websites would be far more expensive to build. Even then, might not perform as well as they might have if certain web design tools or resources could have been brought to bear.

Fortunately, designers and agencies have a huge variety of free and premium web design products to choose from. These range from complete platforms to highly specialist software apps such as design frameworks and wireframing tools plugins.

That doesn’t mean that creating a wow-worthy website is always easy. The right design tools and resources can help you work more efficiently. Also, complete projects on time, and exceed clients’ expectations.

The rest is up to you and your creative talents; but having the right web design tools can still help to bring your creative vision to life. With this in mind, here are 13 essential Tools & Resources for Designers and Agencies.

Be – Best Multipurpose WordPress Theme

The more than 40 powerful core website-building features it can place at your fingertips has made BeTheme the most popular (250,000 customers) multipurpose WordPress theme on the market. Virtually every facet of BeTheme, whether it be a site, page, or section building tool or a design aide or option is there to help you to create a website that will effectively represent your brand.

5 popular core features you’ll love working with:

• Be Builder; the fastest and most intuitive website builder you’ll find for WordPress.
• Be Blocks; this library of pre-designed sections can be a real time saver.
• Be Builder Woo; offers a straightforward approach to creating a pixel-perfect online store.
• Be’s Header Builder 2.0; quickly create the header you need.
• Be’s library of 650+ Pre-Built Websites; BeTheme’s most popular core feature. Each one is customizable, responsive, and features basic UX functionality.

A setup wizard and helpful tutorial come with the package. Check out this free Live demo and test the impressive Be Builder’s capabilities.

Trafft – Service Business Management Software You Can Count On

Trafft is a time-saving, money-saving, and stress-reducing website tool that allows a business to manage multiple operations at multiple locations from a single platform.

The operations in question are those associated with managing appointment bookings and include:

• Managing client appointments, events, group bookings, staff schedules, and on-site or virtual meeting schedules.
• Sending notifications and reminders to clients and accepting payments from them online.

Other Trafft features that clients, employees, or management could take advantage of include:

• special coupons or other service extras.
• using Google Calendar, Google Meet, and Outlook Calendar Sync to help track appointment and event schedules
• inviting staff or clients to virtual meetings using Zoom
• selecting Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, or Authorize.net as a payment option of choice.

Click on the banner to learn more about Trafft and what this service business management software tool could do to help your business.

wpDataTables – The Best Tables & Charts WordPress Table Plugin

With the wpDataTables plugin in your design toolbox you can create charts and tables that you’ve been hesitant to try building up to now. 66,000+ companies and individuals working with various types of complex data could tell you how this best-selling wpDataTables plugin made it easier for them to create:

• tables/charts that are informative, responsive, and easily maintainable.
• a table/chart in minutes, even when huge amounts of complex data are involved.
• tables or charts that require data from a variety of sources and in a variety of formats.

wpDataTables does all the above quickly and efficiently given its –

• 4 popular chart-building engines
• powerful filtering and sorting tools
• ditability features that enable users to edit their own entries
• Conditional Formatting feature for highlighting/color-coding key data.

Click on the banner to find out more about wpDataTables, by far the best WordPress table plugin money can buy.

Pixpa – Easy & affordable website builder for designers

Pixpa, the top-rated website builder on Capterra and Trustpilot, enjoys a 4.8/5 rating. This excellent rating is no doubt based on this easy website builder for designers –

• 150+ Customizable templates, drag and drop editor, portfolio and store features, and built-in blog platform
• responsive design and SEO and marketing tools
• affordable plans starting at under $5/month.

And of course, its excellent customer support.

Amelia – Appointments & Events WordPress Booking Plugin

Add the Amelia appointments & events WordPress booking plugin’s functionality to a WordPress-designed website and amazing things will happen for service-oriented businesses such as beauty, healthcare, fitness, consulting, training and many more.

• Amelia can flawlessly manage an unlimited number of appointment bookings at multiple locations from a single platform and dashboard.
• Amelia can also manage group and event bookings, packages bookings, and ticket sales.
• Amelia supports WooCommerce, Email, SMS, and several online payment apps.

Uncode – Creative & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

The Uncode creative WordPress theme is one of the top-selling themes of all time on Envato Market with 100,000+ sales.

Uncode is constantly updated and is loaded with features including:

• 70+ carefully crafted importable mix-and-match pre-made designs.
• eCommerce features include an advanced drag and drop product builder, shop layouts, cart and checkout, quick-view, and more.
• Uncode’s bundled Wireframes plugin’s 550+ section templates that can be combined to create a complete website or landing pages.

Getillustrations Web and app illustrations bundle

Illustrations in UI are here to stay, and are not just another fleeting trend. Since innovation and creativity are limitless, the popularity of certain illustration styles might vary as time passes, but with its 14,000 ready-to-use commercial illustrations:

• You should always be able to find what you need.
• You can download the illustrations you need and use them forever.
• Commercial licenses are included.

Take advantage of a 30% discount using coupon code: ULTIMATE30

Mobirise – Website Building Software

Mobirise is a free offline website building software app for Windows and Mac. You can use Mobirise to easily create small/medium websites, landing pages, simple web stores.

• 7600+ beautiful website blocks, templates, and themes are included to help you get each project underway.
• Mobirise has an extremely easy-to-use interface and it is Mobile/Google-friendly; you own your website and can host it anywhere
• Mobirise is free for commercial use.

Slider Revolution – not just a WordPress slider plugin

Every designer’s toolkit should have a secret weapon it can use to create stunning and responsive WordPress slider, visuals, and web pages, and require zero experience to do so.

The Slider Revolution WordPress slider plugin can be your secret weapon with its –

• cutting edge animation effects that require zero coding to implement.
• innovative features that explore the boundaries of web design possibilities.
• 250+ striking website and slider templates.

WoodMart – WooCommerce WordPress Theme

Woodmart is loaded with features you won’t find in most other eCommerce-oriented themes, making it ThemeForest’s most highly regarded eCommerce theme.

Key features include –

• 80+ premade websites, 400+ templates that can also be used for quick prototyping, and 15 special pages.
• A valuable selection of product page display options including filtering by brand, color, price, size, etc.

You can’t order from the Shop Demo even though you might be tempted because it is so realistic.

Blocksy – Best Free Ecommerce WordPress Theme

What makes Blocksy the best free eCommerce WordPress theme? Most likely it’s the following:

• Blocksy is lighter and faster than most similar WordPress themes.
• It has a drag and drop Header Builder and Footer Builder.
• It is packed with dozens of cool features.
• Most speed testing tools rank Blocksy at the top.

Plus you can use the Content Blocks module, a powerful feature for easily inserting any piece of content dynamically based on your conditions.

Isn’t that reason enough?

Total WordPress Theme

Total is a powerful WordPress theme which includes a custom extended version of the WPBakery page builder together with 90+ ready to use templates and 45+ quick import demos.

• Other key features include unlimited color options, custom fonts, WooCommerce integration and even full support for Elementor, including custom widgets.
• Beginners find Total is surprisingly easy to work with, while more experienced designers find it offers all the flexibility they need.

The Essential Grid WordPress plugin

The items you display may be eye-catching, but if your grid design is nothing out of the ordinary the same may be true for your gallery as a whole. If that’s the case, it may be time to give Essential Grid’s jaw-dropping advanced features a try.

They will portray your work in the most stunning way possible with the help of –

• 50+ impressive, customizable grid templates.
• Stunning grid layout options.
• Social media feeds.

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A multitude of web design tools and resources are available to help designers stay on top of web design trends. Whether you need a tool to help you create a mockup, a logo, a full-blown website, or just to give you some inspiration, the web is full of websites that you can use to level up your web design skills.

Creating a wow-worthy website is not always easy. Still, the right design tools and resources can help you work more efficiently, complete projects on time, and exceed clients’ expectations.

We have assembled this collection of 13 top tools and resources for 2023. It will help you create a successful online presence for your business or build upon an existing one.

The post 10+ Tools & Resources for Web Designers and Agencies (2023 Updated) appeared first on Design Your Way.

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Design Your Way

Some logos only became popular when used by iconic music bands. That was exactly the case with the Metallica logo. It not only accompanied the greatest heavy metal band of all time but also turned into a symbol of this music genre.

The Metallica music band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles. The frontman James Hetfield created the band with fellow musician and drummer Lars Ulrich. The band didn’t take long to become popular all around the world, accompanied by some great hits.

In music terms, Metallica did what Microsoft or Apple did in the technology industry. Once a garage band, the group was slowly turning into a nationally recognized brand with six consecutive number 1 album on the US Billboard 200.

In short, the Metallica crew knows very well what they are doing, and they are respected everywhere in the world. To make matters even better, they have one of the most iconic logos ever to be seen in the music or the sports world.

The creation of the Metallica Logo

Even if you are not a Metallica fan, you have seen its mettle and impressive logo. Design experts evaluate it as one of the most memorable and easy-to-identify logos to ever be created. The reason, they claim, is that the logo is simple.

The story of how this logo came to be is just as simple as the logo itself. The person in charge of designing all logos of the band is its creator and main guitarist James Hetfield. He tried his luck several times during the 1980s, but the iconic print appeared only in 1996, on the ‘Death Magnetic’ album cover. It was also Hetfield who created Metallica’s scary guy and ninja star logos.

The meaning of the Metallica logo

The iconic heavy metal band released even four logos so far, but the first version remained the most memorable. Therefore, they applied some modifications in 2008 and continued using it as their leading logotype. The original color palette was monochrome, but it changed occasionally to red and black. In that way, it depicted the energy and the style of the band.

On some occasions, the Metallica logo also featured blue electric flashlights. The intention here was to associate music with nature and to bring the band closer to its audience.

The shape of the Metallica logo

The 1980s Metallica logo, as famous as it is, consists only of the band’s name. And yet, we are talking about hand-drawn, elongated typeface where the first and the last letter make an impression. There is just no way we could forget their sharp, spiky angles and long lines.

Therefore, the Metallica logo is respected also outside the music industry and used for all sorts of branding, such as T-shirts or coffee mugs. It is simply everywhere!

The colors on the Metallica logo

Since they are a heavy metal band, Metallica opted for black and silver as the best colors for their logo. The shades, on the other hand, are maroon and they stand for the prevailing subtle tones of Metallica’s compositions.

The history of the Metallica logo

Metallica’s branding developed over the years as much as the band itself. Unfortunately, the artists took some disputed and controversial decisions over the decades. These moves also affected the brand’s consistency.

1983–1996

This Metallica logo was used by the Bend for almost a decade, all the way from Kill ‘Em All in 1983 to Metallica in 1991. James Hetfield also ensured that a 3D version of it is used on Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning, and the Metallica album. The band changed its logo in 2008 and 2016 but is still using the original one as a secondary choice.

In the meantime, all nameplate letters were capitalized and their font changed to traditional Extra Bold sans serif. The only exception is the letter A where the left bar is inclined, and the letter T whose right part is cut diagonally. As a result, the entire logo is harmonized with the iconic flashlights on the first and last letter of the logo.

The Black Album – 1991

The cover of Metallica’s 1991 Black Album was, as expected, completely black. The logo on it, however, was less black and slightly visible, and it was located in the upper corner. It was at that point that the band changed both the color and the positioning of its most popular logo.

The Metallica logo between 1996 and 2003

Another redesign of the logo followed in 1996. The band intended to create a more modern and minimalist logo. They removed the flashlights and simplified the inscription. At the same time, they switched to a more condensed sans-serif typeface.

This time, designers elongated the tails of the M and the A as they were in the original version, as those stand for the sharp and unique identity of the brand. They opted for a stylish design that represents their progressive music style. And still, the design didn’t contradict their roots and the traditions they preserve.

The Metallica logo between 2003 and 2008

This logo, on the other hand, accompanied the band during the promotion of their St. Anger album. It was never their main logo – Metallica chose to leave it out of the album cover and only used it alongside their 2003 logo. The first time they gave it a priority was on their The Videos Release in 2006.

The St. Anger logo is not Metallica’s luckiest choice, as its details were not that elaborated. The name is bordered by an irregular line with shadows and the letters are distinctive on every image. The only thing that works, nevertheless, is the simplified framing.

The Metallica logo since 2008 onwards

Today’s Metallica logo comes in capital letters only. The ‘M’ and the ‘A’ have elongated sides. The flashlight symbolism is still there, which means most Metallica fans can still identify this logo as soon as they see it.

Being this sharp and remarkable, the Metallica logo doesn’t only stand for this band, but all representatives of heavy metal and rock music. It is indisputably the most successful example of how visual identity can help anyone, anywhere.

The Death Magnetic symbol

Another logo facelift accompanied Metallica’s album Death Magnetic. This time, the task was assigned to the famous San Francisco agency Turner Duckworth. This agency is also the signatory to other ultra-successful logos, such as the ones of Amazon and Coca-Cola. They didn’t change Metallica’s logo but rather created a very similar and stylish emblem based on it.

The fonts used on the Metallica logo

In its essence, the Metallica logo was created with classic sans serif fonts. These fonts were then tweaked and customized in unusual ways, especially when the letters ‘M’ and ‘A’ are concerned. What designers tried to there with the spikes and the lightning was to express the wild emotions Metallica’s songs inspire. The other letters are pretty much average, except for the two different T-s written in the Pastor of Muppets font.

This font is known nowadays as the Metallica font. You can’t use it on larger text passages, but you can still get it for your music logos. If you are a perfectionist, don’t expect too much from this font: there is still a lot to do there for this font to turn into a decent sans serif.

The New Metallica Logo

As expected, many designers worked on improving the Metallica logo typeface over the years. The most prominent result is Metallica New which pretty much works for nothing else than the Metallica logo. You can download it at the following link:

Despite a large number of prominent heavy metal bands in the world, Metallica still stands no competition. It has been the inspiration of millions of fans and prospective musicians worldwide.

Experts claim that Metallica’s logo played a great role in its success – it is simple, and yet recognizable everywhere in the world. It is also one of the few band logos that withstood the pressure of time and weren’t affected by the rebranding ideas the group had over the years.

If you enjoyed reading this article on Metallica font, you should check out this one about fonts similar to Avenir.

We also wrote about a few related subjects like what font does Medium use on its website, the Roblox font and what font does Roblox use, the best 72 free fonts for logos to create modern and creative designs, fonts similar to Futura, fonts similar to Impact, fonts similar to Calibri, fonts similar to Gotham, and fonts similar to Montserrat.

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Design Your Way

If you don’t have a plan or a specific style for your next design in mind, take the safe road and opt for the classics. Modern, simple, and clean fonts do the job for every project, whatever purpose it serves.

It is the font you choose that will decide whether your design is boring or eye-catching. For instance, summer projects must contain a font that provokes positive and warm feelings.

What is our first association of summer? You are probably thinking of the sea, breeze, and the perfect Hawaii beach. You can’t possibly transmit this message with words. What you need is a Hawaii-themed font that simply screams coconut cocktails and splashing waves!

But how does a Hawaii-themed font even look? There are thousands of options to pick from, but how do you know which is the right one? Let this list help you.

 

Ragila – Ligature Serif

Ragila is a lovely Ligature serif with a strong personality. There is only one weight available, but that shouldn’t stop you from using it on all sorts of design projects. To compensate for this, Ragila offers multiple alternative characters and even multilingual support.

If looking to bring retro and summer designs under one umbrella, you’ve got yourself a winner!

 

Sunday Hawaii

Sunday Hawaii stems from traditional Hawaiian handwriting. Caoca Studio offers also holiday-themed fonts with multiple weights.

 

Hawaiian Pizza Font

Hawaiian Pizza sounds just as mixed and playful as it looks. The sans serif is packed with 350 symbols that provoke a smile on everybody’s face, and perhaps even hunger on a few. With a bit of imagination, you can use it anywhere: social media posts, invitations, logos, cards, prints, and much more. The results will always be fantastic!

 

Onboard

This Smooth Script Font is both summerish and beautiful, a truly calligraphy-enabled typeface. It looks very elegant on all branding materials, but it can also be used for private projects such as greeting cards and invitations.

You can even count on a variety of alternate characters. The categories are SWASH, Ligatures, Stylistic Alternates, Stylistic Sets, and Contextual Alternate. All of them are OpenType features and you can access them both via Adobe and Microsoft Office.

Not convinced yet? Let us also inform you that this font comes with a PUA Unicode (fonts that are specially coded to work everywhere).

 

Tropika Island Font Family

The Tropika Island Family is indeed tropical. We warmly recommend it for apparel design, flyers and announcements, cover albums, movies, and greeting cards.

 

Sunday Hawaii

Sunday Hawaii is a set of two sans serifs – Sunday Hawaii and Sunday Hawaii plain. Their main feature is simplicity – they make summer look just the way it should: easy and breezy.

 

Citro

If your summer design is supposed to be bold and retro, look no further. This font was inspired by hand-painted store signs in the 1970s – it comes with varying cap heights and an inconsistent baseline. If you look at it longer, it will appear as if the letters were dancing.

Citro is not one of those fonts that make content serious. Even when it is vintage-inspired and nostalgic, it only causes warm feelings.

 

Vintage Hawaiian Tropical Font: Mauna Loa

Here comes another great sans serif based on the amazing Hawaiian landscapes and illustrations. It looks natural and nostalgic at the same time – every single symbol it contains screams vintage!

 

Tropical Brush Script

Let us introduce you to an amazing suite of 5 handcrafted and perfectly combined Hawaiian fonts. All of them contain OpenType features for you to complete any project. Try them out on a book or film cover, poster, or logo.

 

Freaky Tiki – a fun tropical font

Freaky Tiki brings the best of the Tiki culture and its illustrations to the design world. The typeface also works with ligatures and OpenType features and has even 425 glyphs. It is best used for business-related projects.

 

Halau Font Family

Think of your favorite 1980s cartoon. Are you feeling nostalgic? That is exactly what Halau Font aims for! The design is clear but playful, and the font is therefore met on all types of children-related projects. This may just be the perfect way to create an amazing holiday greeting card!

 

Beachcomber

Beachcomber is as Hawaii as it gets – from the first moment you lay eyes on it, you think of bamboo huts, tiki torches, and Mai Tais!

 

Tropical Punch: A Fun Retro Font

Missi Meyer designed a truly cute and retro font. Yet, appearances are not all there is to it. This font has more than 200 multi-letter ligatures, full lettering sets, and multilingual support. It simply makes all designs amazing!

 

Tikiland Typeface

Tikiland also celebrates Tiki Culture in a fun and unique way. Put it on your list for logos, titles, headlines, packaging, social media, branding, or any other design that needs a fresh look.

 

Summer of 76

Doesn’t the name say it all? This font is your best option to recreate summer nostalgia notes and take readers down memory lane. It comes amazingly close to the neon signs of the 70s and their multi-line designs. As summer approaches, there is almost no beachside bar or restaurant where you can’t see it.

 

Flowers Kingdom

The easiest way to describe the Flower Kingdom would be groovy, bold, and fun. Since this font only comes in capital letters, we recommend it for personal designs and projects.

 

Hanalei

The disadvantage when looking for a cool Hawaiian font is that these are expensive. Hanalei, however, is offered for free. We are talking classic sans serif based on bamboo lettering with an adorable summerish note.

 

Surf Shop | Coastal Font Family

This refreshing coastal font was designed by Nicholas Miner. There are 4 styles to choose from, which means it works in both formal and informal settings. For instance, there are hand-written letters that make summer designs look natural and beachy.

 

Forbidden Isle Modern Tiki Font

Forbidden Isle took most of its features from older tiki surfer fonts from the 70s. Compare to them, the typeface is much bolder and cleaner, and pairs just nicely with any other font. Consider it for your next invitation, illustration, or any other product. It will take you to the tropical paradise in a matter of seconds!

 

Afolkalips

Compared to the other fonts we discussed, Afolkalips is tribal and wild. The style goes back to the Indonesian tribe Papua – it inspired just the perfect ancestral island vibe most designers are looking for.

 

Musubi

Musubi is another Hawaii font inspired by the Tiki culture to consider for your signs and splash posters. There is only one variation available, but don’t let this discourage you. Designer Jonathan Ball provided a huge set of tropical symbols and decorative borders to make your work memorable.

 

CABO BLANCCO

You wouldn’t guess by its Tiki background, but this font is very bold and distinctive. It perfectly expresses summer, and immediately makes you think of a wooden carven tiki. It also has some of the best Ligature Combination possibilities on this list.

 

Jungle Bunch Font

Summer doesn’t necessarily mean Hawaii and beaches. For some of us, a font depicting a summer in the jungle is even more attractive. That is exactly what these fonts try to achieve – recreate the lawless jungle with polished and playful symbols.

 

Les Paul

Les Paul by Vintage Voyage D.S. found inspiration in postcards from the 50s and the 60s. There are endless mix-and-match possibilities for great retro results. At the same time, this font is equipped with multiple weights.

 

Ethnic love font

Let us present you a relatively new and very personalized font – the beautiful Ethnic love. It has some of the best patterns and illustrator brushes you have ever used.

 

Bikini

Bikini is just as expressive and lively as its name. Designers worked with a unique circle-arc matrix to make readers feel cheerful. Therefore this font stands for anything that promotes happiness and fun.

Most of the Hawaiian fonts on this list and handmade, and that makes them truly special. They work just as fine in fun and playful settings as they do on minimalist and sophisticated designs.

Thanks to their summerish vibe, they astray from the traditional typography family. They simply send the message of easiness, beauty, and love.

If you enjoyed reading this article on the best Hawaiian font examples, you should check out this one about fonts similar to Gotham.

We also wrote about a few related subjects like fonts similar to Calibri, fonts similar to Avenir, the Roblox font and what font does Roblox use, the best 72 free fonts for logos to create modern and creative designs, fonts similar to Futura, fonts similar to Impact and fonts similar to Montserrat.

 

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