The Software Predicament
By: John Vinson
There is an old saying, “A craftsman is only as good as his tools”. This saying translates over for designers as well, finding the right software for your design needs is a very important step towards being successful.
Finding the right software isn’t about going out and buying the most expensive program on the market, it’s about forging your decision around the needs of the project you’re working on. For example, if you are creating a site that has very low image use, and is mainly text a simple text editor or HTML editor would suffice.
Next, it is important not to invest into a product too early. Many programs that are out right now provide customers with trial periods, so you can shop around for different products without investing thousands into it. The reason for this is so you can find software you are comfortable with and what you find easiest to use. To give another example, I use Photoshop when it comes to image manipulation, but when it comes to illustration I prefer to use Corel Draw. It’s these different styles that make it important to be totally confident in the software you are using.
Here are a few companies to look around at when shopping for software:
