Here’s all the design tools news that’s crossed my desk over the past two weeks or so. First up, the cavalcade of new software tools from indie developers continues unabated—which is awesome, if you ask me.
- Principle, a new OS X application that “makes it easy to create animated and interactive user interface designs,” emerged from beta this week. Principle is focused on prototyping and is well suited for designing individual animations and interactions or multi-screen user flows. Beta tester Benjamin Berger wrote about his experiences with the app in this Medium article. Based on feedback I’ve heard from designers who have been trying it this week, it seems like a solid release, and I’ll be giving it a spin myself soon. If you’re using it, email me and let me know what you think. Principle is available for trial and purchase at principleformac.com
- Wake is a new app and service billing itself as “A private space to share and discuss design work with your team.” It too is out of beta this week. Wired wrote about it in this article. You may or may not find the app’s promotional video to be incredibly obnoxious. wake.io
- FlySolo is a new project management tool for designers that’s in private beta. It promises “an individual environment” for each project as well as extensive integrations with the third-party tools popular with designers. Sign up for access at flysolo.co.
Prototyping rivals InVision and Marvel are on a tear.
- InVision unveiled Workflow, a “design project management tool” that integrates with the company’s flagship prototyping features, and Boards, a tool that lets you “Create custom moodboards and brand boards, share image galleries, present in-progress or final design assets” and more.
- InVision also debuted usability testing features for prototypes on mobile, currently in beta. This is the first of what the company promises will be a series of testing-oriented features that they will unveil in the near future. Read about it in this blog post.
- Not to be outdone, Marvel also released user testing tools for iOS integrated into their core product. Read about it in this blog post.
- Marvel also announced integration with Google Drive as well as the ability to embed media from YouTube, Vimeo, SoundCloud and Spotify. Whew!
Finally, some miscellaneous items that caught my eye because I have so much free time to surf the web looking for fun stuff.
- Are you interested in learning Framer? Are you interested in doing so via the cartoon likeness of a surprisingly divisive pop star? Lucky for you, designer Michael Lee wrote this post at Medium that shows you how to “Learn Framer with Kanye.”
- I wrote about the impressive work that the Photoshop team has been doing with that application’s Design Space feature in this blog post from June. The team has continued to develop it in sprint form and they’ve been posting video of the results of each sprint. It’s a fascinating look into some major rewiring of one of the most important software applications ever. See all the videos to date at youtube.com
Here is Principle’s marketing video. It’s worth watching to see how they’re tackling the process of applying animation to user interface elements.
Read the last installment in this series here, and send me any tips and recommendations via the form below.
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