Graphic Design Inspiration Desktop Apps

Top 10 Useful Apps For Designers

Need to Design Something Specific — Try out these Apps.

Hi, everyone, how are you all? I hope you all are absolutely safe and you're taking care of yourself.

As you have already read the title, yes, we will talk about mobile phone apps. These apps are super cool, super creative, super fun, and the best part is that you don't have to pay any money to download them all. So you can actually play around with your imagination; you can create something which is quite impressive and sometimes even adds that to your portfolio. So I think I've done quite a lot of advertisement. So let's start with the actual content of this article.

№1: Canva

The number one app on our list is quite literally the number one at several international rankings, and this has to be your go-to app if you are an aspiring graphic designer called Canva. Canva is very popular, but in case you've not downloaded it yet, then you're missing out on something quite cool. You can play around with brochure designing, banners, logos, posters, presentations, invitations, even your portfolio. Once you begin to work on your mobile app and feel that it's getting too tiring for you to look at that small screen, you can actually use the same Canva on your laptop or PC without any additional cost best part.

Canva is a template builder that lets you create hundreds of different templates based on what you like. It is highly customizable, and it opens itself up for you to come up with many different ideas automatically while using it. It also has more than 36000 different templates that you can choose from. The coolest part is that after you finish your design, you can upload it directly onto your document or use it as a base for your own design — you don't have to invest in a design service provider. All you have to do is take a picture of your design and upload it, and that's it!

I think Canva can also be a great way to apply colours, align different elements, and create a Quick Canvastic template that simply saves you time by getting you done in seconds. You can easily apply graphics to pdfs, import them and export them as png, jpg, and further. It is completely free to use.

№2: Adobe Illustrator

Although you might already be using Adobe Illustrator if you have been working with client work, you definitely should learn how to use it if you really want to up your game. Using Illustrator is highly recommended since it is a vector-based software (not raster-based), and it allows you to do a lot of creative work without even touching a single tool. Illustrator templates you can easily download and use, but Adobe also has a whole library of high-quality stock illustrations that you can add to your document. In addition, you can carry out pretty much any drawings, such as line drawings, shapes, and illustrations.

№3: Adobe Photoshop

If you want to do some desktop-level work, Photoshop is a smart pick to add to your app library since you're on your smartphone or tablet. I can't lie to you since it was my preferred app in high school, but honestly, I didn't give it enough of a chance. When I first discovered it a few years ago, I used to love it. I loved how you can adjust your photos using elements such as gradients and apply effects, plus I loved the fact that I could also publish them on my blog and other places. But after I started learning Illustrator, I realized that Photoshop sometimes got a bad reputation because it was considered for much more sophisticated work. Still, I don't think that's the case. I knew that Illustrator could be used in different kinds of illustrations, but for simple logos, business cards, and such, I think Photoshop is better than Illustrator.

№4: Sketchbook

As the name suggests, yes, this is a digital sketchbook. But now you must be wondering what is so special about it. The special part is that the way this app is designed, it's done so well, and my personal favourite feature of this app is the brush strokes. There are ranges of options available for you. You can have so much fun, and you can create something just quite realistic looking. You can use this for character sketching, cartoons sketching. At the same time, you can use it for 3D sketching, products sketching, a perspective tool, a grid tool, a symmetry tool, and smoothen any uneven lines, which is another one of my favourite features.

№5: Flipaclip

This is for all animation lovers, and this app is called Flipaclip. If you have any project in your mind, but you don't know where to start, you don't have any formal design training, but you want to do something in animation, then this app has to be on your phone. I have personally used this app, and let me tell you; I had so much fun. You can upload your own pictures, audio, video and add that extra custom that gives a personal touch to your project, and it's not just about having just fun. Still, you would also learn a lot with your own experiences, and you will see that as you progress, as you keep doing more projects, there will be a lot of improvement in your animations in how you are designing your characters. So overall, it's quite a wholesome app, and I'm pretty confident that you will like it.

№6: LazyDog

If you want to learn about calligraphy at home without spending any money, you must download this app, and it is called as LazyDog. Remember when we were in first grade, we were given these books to trace every single alphabet, improving our handwriting. So we had to write A above the A and then B and then C.. So this app is just like that. You can choose what kind of font you want to learn, what kind of style you want to learn and then you have to trace every single alphabet, at least five to six times and once you get the hang of that, once it gets in your memory, then you can actually translate that. Then, you can repeat that on a piece of sheet, and you can learn simple calligraphy. It's as simple as that—a very humble to the Point app, definitely worth a try.

№7: Sololearn

If you love the technical side of things or want to learn a new technical skill, you must check out Sololearn. It is a super useful platform for you to learn Java, Python, HTML, CSS, Web development, and the list just goes on and on. You can choose which skill you want to learn, which skill you want to master, and you can start right from scratch. Even if you have your basics right, you can use the same platform to get some advanced tips and if you don't understand anything while your course of study, you can post your questions, your doubts in something known as a community forum.

Once you feel that you're ready to face the world and have a lot of confidence in yourself, there's something known as a coding match. You can actually participate in this match, and you can compete with a fellow user of Sololearn and see who wins this race or who wins this competition. So that's another feature that you can have fun with.

№8: 3DTuning

Have you ever thought to yourself that if you can customize your favourite luxury car and change the overall theme and design of it, how would you go about it? What would your new car look like?

If that interests you, then I can assure you that you will have so much fun with 3DTuning, you can choose what kind of car you want to redesign, and then you will have a list of presets available for you. So, for example, you can customize a car's headlamp, tail lights, wheels and also, and the car's colour to keep in mind that once the design is done, we can't add this to our portfolio and claim that this is our work because technically, we are using presets, which means we are using things that are designed by somebody else. But we can definitely use this app to brainstorm new car design ideas, come up with more innovative solutions, or simply just have fun with cars.

№9: DailyArt

This app is for all story lovers, and this is called DailyArt. If you've ever looked at masterpieces and wondered what was the story behind them? Who made it possible? Who's the artist?

Then you must try out the app. You must download it. It's a very humble, simple, non-glamorous up, but it's surely beneficial. Every day this app will share one artwork with you and share some interesting facts about it. What was the story behind it? Who was the artist? And not just you can use this to expand your knowledge, but it will also help you increase your chances of doing really well while you appear for the GK round for your design entrance test.

№10: Anatomy Sketching

Last but definitely not least app on our list is called Anatomy Sketching, and this is for everybody who has never sketched a human being in their life and you don't know where to start. If you want an app to guide you on sketching your fingers, hands, arms, torso, or overall human body, this app will surely help you out. It's going to share some fundamental easy tips that you can follow along, and you can brush up your basics; while we are in this lockdown phase and we cannot go outside, you can take help of this app and keep that practice going. This is a great way to increase your chances of doing pretty well while you appear for your design entrance test—a straightforward but beneficial app.

With that, guys, we come to an end of today's article; I hope this was helpful in some way. You like at least one of the ten options that I shared with you and Thanks for Reading.

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