Introduction…
If you’ve read the Design Tools Introduction, you’ll already have a sense of what I’m planning with this feature category. This overview takes it a step further — a topic-by-topic guide of what I’ll be covering, with a brief description, and where my own experience fits. There is a core set of tools I use all the time, partly out of habit, but mainly because they help me do the job I want. Anyhow, it should give you a clear sense of whether they may be useful, or of interest, to you…
Canva
Canva is a browser-based graphic design platform (now also available via a desktop app) that makes professional-looking visual content accessible to non-designers and designers alike. It operates on a drag-and-drop interface with an extensive library of templates, fonts, images, and brand kit tools — covering everything from social media graphics and presentations to documents, videos, and print materials. Its free tier is genuinely useful; the Pro version unlocks considerably more, including background removal, premium assets, and team collaboration features.
Canva is one of those tools I was slightly dismissive of early on — and then gradually became impossible to imagine working without. I’ve been using the Pro version for years now across my own projects and for clients, and it has earned its place as an integral part of my design toolkit. It’s not a replacement for more sophisticated design software (eg Adobe) if the work was to demand it, but for the volume and variety of visual content that my everyday projects require, it’s hard to beat. There will be plenty of Canva content in this category — from workflow tips to template-building and making the most of the Pro features.
Tagged: Canva
Vector Tools (Inkscape / Affinity)
Vector graphics tools work with mathematically defined shapes and paths rather than pixels, which means designs can be scaled to any size without any loss of quality. This makes them essential for logo design, icons, illustrations, and any artwork that needs to work across multiple formats and sizes. The two tools I use in this space are Inkscape — a powerful, free, open-source option — and Affinity, which offers a professional-grade alternative to Adobe Illustrator at a one-off cost rather than a subscription.
Vector work is something I’ve developed a reasonable competency in over time, primarily through necessity — logo creation and graphics adaptation is a regular part of my project work, and I do not always have access to usable artwork. Inkscape was where I started, largely because it’s free, and it remains a capable tool for most vector tasks. Affinity is where I’ve gravitated more recently, and the one-off purchase model suits me far better than the Adobe subscription alternative – even more so given the recent integration with Canva. I wouldn’t call myself an illustrator by any stretch (it’s almost a hobby because it is fun!), but I can handle the majority of design tasks that my projects typically require.
Tagged: Affinity, Inkscape, Logo Design
Typography & Colour
Typography refers to the selection, pairing, and application of typefaces — covering font choice, size, weight, spacing, and hierarchy. Colour covers palette selection, contrast ratios, brand consistency, and the psychological and practical implications of colour in design. Together they form two of the most impactful — and most easily misjudged — elements of any visual identity or web design project.
Typography and colour are areas I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about, partly through genuine interest and partly because getting them wrong is so immediately visible. Font pairing in particular is something I find myself putting considerable care into — the difference between a site that feels considered and one that doesn’t often comes down to type choices as much as anything else. Colour is something I approach both intuitively and practically, always with an eye on accessibility and contrast. I’ll be sharing the tools and approaches I find most useful, rather than attempting to teach design theory – and for those of you who do not like my colour co-ordinated category approach, I guess you’ll be expecting me to learn rather than teach!
Tagged: Typography, Colour
Image Editing & Optimisation
Image editing in a web design context covers everything from basic adjustments — cropping, resizing, colour correction, background removal — through to more complex compositing and retouching. Optimisation is the equally important other side of the coin: ensuring images are compressed and formatted correctly so they load quickly without sacrificing visual quality. Both matter, and neither should be an afterthought when building sites where performance and presentation are equally important.
This is a well-worn part of my workflow. Most projects involve a significant amount of image work — sourcing, editing, optimising, and occasionally rescuing assets that arrive in less-than-ideal condition. I work across a few different tools depending on what the task requires, and I’ve developed a reliable process for getting images to a standard that works both visually and technically. Web performance has sharpened my focus on optimisation in particular — it’s an area where cutting corners has a measurable cost, and one I’ll cover in some practical detail in the dedicated articles.
Tagged: Image Tools, Website Optimisation
Elementor (as a Design Tool)
Elementor is a WordPress page builder, but in the context of this category it earns its place as a design tool in its own right. Its visual editor allows for precise control over layout, spacing, typography, and responsive behaviour — essentially functioning as a design environment directly within WordPress. When used with a good theme and a considered approach, it enables a level of design control that goes well beyond what the default WordPress editor offers.
I’ve covered Elementor from a page builder perspective — here the focus is specifically on how I use it as a design tool. The two things are related but distinct: knowing how Elementor works is one thing; knowing how to use it to produce something that looks genuinely well-designed is another. There are obviously alternatives such as Figma and Adobe XD (currently under maintenance – June 2026) for the purist, but I’m comfortable with the all-in-one approach. Over time I’ve developed a set of practices around consistency, spacing, and responsive design within Elementor that I’ll be sharing here. If you’re already using it and want to get more out of it from a design standpoint, that’s exactly what this section is aimed at.
Social Media Visuals
Social media visuals cover the design of graphics, images, and video content created specifically for social platforms — profile images, post graphics, story formats, banners, promotional cards, and more. Each platform has its own sizing conventions, style norms, and audience expectations, and creating content that performs well visually requires both design competence and an understanding of how each platform presents and prioritises visual content.
Social media visuals within design tools creates a natural overlap with the Social Media feature category – so this topic may appear in both. From a design tools perspective, Canva handles the majority of my social visual work, and does so efficiently once I’ve set up a sensible template system. It’s not an area where I push into complex design territory — practical, on-brand, and consistent is the standard I aim for — but there are enough tips and shortcuts worth sharing to give it its own space here.
AI-Assisted Design
AI-assisted design refers to the use of artificial intelligence tools to support, accelerate, or enhance the design process. This includes image generation tools like Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, and Canva’s own AI features, as well as tools that assist with layout suggestions, colour palette generation, background removal, and content creation. It’s a fast-moving space, and one that’s shifting the boundaries of what’s achievable without traditional design skills.
This is the area of the category where I’m most openly in learning mode. I’ve recently experimented with a number of AI design tools — some have genuinely impressed me, others have felt more like novelty than utility — and I’m still forming a clear view of where they fit most usefully in my workflow (along with a growing understanding of how easy it is to be manipulated by the AI generated media we see regularly on our social media feeds). What I can say is that AI image generation in particular is something I’m exploring with real (professional) curiosity, both for its creative potential and its practical applications in web and content design. The articles here will reflect that exploration honestly rather than presenting a polished verdict I haven’t quite reached yet.
Tagged: AI Tools
In Closing…
The feature articles for each of these topics are being published under Design Tools. If any of the above has caught your interest, simply bookmark the link and revisit in your own time to check out the latest articles. Alternatively, if you’d prefer regular notification of when new articles are available, you can subscribe and I can send ‘comic sans’ emails to your inbox!
