All time best Graphic Design and Illustration tools

In simple words, A Design can be a Plan to construct something or a Result of a plan. Person who creates these designs is called a Designer. They can be related to any area - Fashion, Web or Interior. A set of engineers called Architects are also Designers. 

Here we are going to talk about Graphic Designers and Illustrators. We try to cover general doubts related to terms and tools in the mind of beginners.

Graphic Desining

Its an art that helps to communicate ideas with the use of visuals. Many organisation use Graphic Design to sell, promote and advertise their brand, products and services. The elements that translate into visuals are Line, Color, Space, Shape, Typography and Texture.

An emerging area that is coming out Gradually is of Illustration. They are defined as interpretation of an idea. We usually find the ones in magazines, posters, video games and animations. Trending technologies in Illustration world are Vector Graphics and Freehand Digital Illustrations.

• Vector Graphics - These are used for zooming purposes as it prevents image from becoming blurred when zoomed to any extend. They have clearly defined outlines

• Freehand Digital Illustrations - They are similar to drawing directly on a canvas. They depict a story and are like recreational art. They are used to communicate a cohesive message.

Graphic Designing separates from Illustrations as the later doesnt require much design skills.

Best Illustration tools

• Procreate

An app for iOS and iPadOS for illustration, sketching and painting. The best part of Procreate is the ease with which it can be used and portability. Working with it is almost painless and is so customisable that it can be used to create different styles of artwork. 

• Adobe Illustrator (Vector Graphic Editor)

Most used tool by designers to create logos, promotional graphics and other work. Its best parts are its illustration design, charts, logos, diagrams, cartoons and more. It doesn't require any prior knowledge of drawing. We can also use this to create freehand drawing.

• Inkscape

It is a free editor used to create graphics like illustrations, diagrams, line arts, charts, logos, icons and complex paintings. It is famous for its primary format of graphics which is SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics). It has a big community and has participated in GSOC(Google Summer of Code) since 2005.

Best Graphic Designing tools

• Adobe Photoshop (Raster Graphic Editor)

The industry standard for digital art, it is now referred as "to photoshop an image", "photoshopping" etc. The default format used for it is .psd which is very popular among designers. It is used for image editing, retouching, creating image compositions, website mockups, and adding affects.

• Corel Draw

The first choice of organizations for Large format print designs, Billboards, Mock Up designs presentation, Cards/Letter heads/Logo design. It is highle recommended when working with multiple pages. Its price makes it better in industry compared to Adobe Illustrator.

• Sketch

An editor for macOS used for UI and UX of websites and mobile apps. The designs created in sketch are utilized by app engineers to design mobile apps and developers convert designs into websites. Its file format is .sketch. It used to create, prototype, collaborate, and bring ideas to life.

Disclaimer: I am a web designer and not directly linked to any of the software companies listed above. I prefer them solely for the purpose they solve. They are not being promoted here in any sense. These tools have been used with trust from long time and didnt got replaced with all the new coming tools. Some of them are paid, but every penny is worth the price.