Experts in Every Corner
When we say “Experts in Every Corner,” we mean it. Every member of our team is an expert in their field of marketing, bringing specialized knowledge and a unique perspective to Hexcode. That being said, we are constantly discovering and testing new tools that allow us to create the work we do.
Key Points
- Tools are only as good as the person using them. Platforms like Figma and Obsidian streamline workflows, but the real magic comes from the designer who uses them.
- Built specifically for modern user experience, Figma beats out old-school design tools with game-changing features like Auto Layout and live component updates.
- Figma bridges the gap across an entire agency, utilizing FigJam for team brainstorming, Figma Slides for client pitches, and built-in developer tools.
- Unlike rigid note-taking apps, Obsidian offers total control over workspace organization through community themes, custom features, and interconnected note mapping.
Our Favorite Marketing Tools
In this series, we’re highlighting the platforms, programs, and resources our team relies on every day. First up is Elise, our UI/UX Designer, whose work focuses on composing websites that are visually appealing, intuitive, and user-focused. Elise’s tool kit is packed with the essentials that keep web projects moving from concept to launch.
Here are a couple of her favorites:
Figma
Figma is a UI/UX design tool offering paid and free options. As someone who has worked on both graphic design and UI/UX projects, Figma is one of the best design tools I’ve ever used!
What I love about it:
- Clearly created by people with a passion for good user experience
- Intuitive text boxes that don’t warp text
- Customizable image treatment that feels like InDesign frames’ perfected final form
- Always improving in major ways
There are plenty of ways to utilize Figma, even if you aren’t a UI/UX Designer:
- Team collaboration is easily available across the whole program
- FigJam for notekeeping and brainstorming with the team
- Figma Slides to easily move back and forth between web projects and presentations for the team and client
- Developer tools that allow our developer to quickly translate UI information like sizes, spacing, and more into code without as much guesswork
Final thoughts:
- I love Auto Layout! Automatically resizing everything in a frame is a dream come true and saves so much time compared to trying to design in Illustrator or Photoshop (Sorry, not sorry, Adobe.)
- Being able to create components that automatically update across the file when reused feels like working on a live website in the best way.
- Figma’s pages, sections, frames, and layers let me get as granular and insane with organization as I’ve always wanted to be when there are hundreds of elements in a web project.
Obsidian
Obsidian is a free note-taking program that is so customizable it’s insane. It’s very similar to Notion, which I like as well, but Obsidian owns my heart.
Here’s why:
- You can make anything happen with a little bit of code, and community sharing allows you to pick up custom features others have made. Looking for a very specific note format to keep track of what you need? It’s not hard to find!
- You can customize pretty much the whole look and feel of your notes with community themes, and then you can customize that too.
- It can be used for a variety of things: creative projects, coding, large-scale project management, etc.
- You can create tons of different small note pages and interlink them with in-text links, and even view how all the different pages link together in a massive web.
The Right Tools for the Right Experts
At the end of the day, incredible design isn’t just about the tools; it’s about having the right expert using them. By combining her eye for design and strategy-forward process with these platforms, Elise creates websites that look great and function flawlessly.
Coming in July
Our Marketing Tool Kit series rolls on! Next month, we’re peeking inside the tool kit of our Digital Media Specialist, Brynn. Stay tuned to find out which resources she relies on to take her videos to the next level and deliver stunning results for our clients. You won’t want to miss it!
FAQs
Graphic design focuses primarily on static visuals, branding, and aesthetics (like logos, print materials, or social graphics). UI/UX design is focused on the digital user experience and interface, ensuring a website or app is visually beautiful as well as intuitive, easy to navigate, and strategically built around how a human interacts with a screen.
Not at all. While it is a powerhouse for UX/UI designers, Figma is highly accessible for non-designers. Teams frequently use its FigJam feature for collaborative brainstorming, Figma Slides for building presentations, or simply log in to leave direct feedback and comments on active projects.
In traditional design programs like Photoshop or Illustrator, changing a piece of text or adding an image requires you to manually resize and reposition every other element around it. Figma’s Auto Layout automatically adjusts, pads, and resizes the entire design frame as you work.
While Apple Notes is basic and Notion relies heavily on databases, Obsidian is completely customizable and hyper-focused on interconnection. It allows you to use a little bit of code and community-made plugins to design your own perfect workspace.
By mastering specialized tools like Figma and Obsidian, our team can work faster and collaborate flawlessly behind the scenes. For the client, this translates to shorter project timelines, seamless communication, and websites that look incredible and function perfectly.
