[Re]Encoded.com

6 Low-Cost Design Tools

A popular design phenomenon is that of “office porn”. No, it’s not anything sexual or sinister, but the seemingly never-ending desire of every designer out there to have an office that’s slicker, sexier, and more loaded than technology than the last. From Flickr home office competitions to design firms loaded with Mac Pros and 32 inch displays, the design industry has a major crush on shiny high-performance equipment.

Unfortunately for newbie designers, furnishing a swanky design office requires a lot of money. A top design rig costs several thousands of dollars, and a multi-screen set-up can increase costs even further. Add in a huge executive desk, flashy lamps, and a high quality office chair and you’ve exhausted all your startup capital.

These six low-cost design tools go against the “expensive is best” idea that seems to flow through the design industry. Cheap, simple, and very designer-friendly, these gadgets, applications, resources, and services are perfect for bootstrapping designers and budding design firms.

1. The WordPress Thesis Theme

No WordPress theme is as flexible and user-friendly as Thesis. It’s 100% SEO optimized from the get-go, includes a range of awesome tools for developers, and is available with a multi-use developer license for just over a hundred bucks. Add to that the huge list of pre-built templates and themes, the massive support community, and the endless flexibility on offer and you’re left with one of the best WordPress themes out there.

Sure, it’s not free, but it’s very cheap for the amount of value that it offers. If you’re a WordPress developer or designer, pick it up today and cut down on development time and project-related stress.

2. Color Scheme Designer 3

It’s 100% free, incredibly useful, and perfect for picking out website color themes. Color Scheme Designer 3 is a combined color wheel, website layout designer, and image and header color picker. If you need some help or inspiration deciding on a client’s website design theme, this free utility is one of the best out there.

3. TimeSvr

TimeSvr is one of the most simple outsourcing services out there. Simply put, you sign up for a month-by-month or long-term plan, are put in contact with an online virtual assistant, and are assigned a range of potential tasks to complete. What you select is up to you, but don’t think it’s limited to design tasks – most virtual assistants can help you with almost anything.

Need a hotel booked? Ask your assistant to do it. Need help finding a new apartment? Your assistant can check over all the major housing websites while you focus on work. Need some research done for a new website design? Send your assistant search terms, templates, and competitor websites to look at. Total cost for this amazing service: at little as $69 per month.

4. Typetester

If your work involves a lot of offline design, you’re sure to know how irritating it can be to compare fonts once work has already printed. Typetester allows designers to check their fonts on-screen and in their browser, saving valuable time that’s often wasted comparing fonts side-by-side. Input your data, check out the samples below, and decide which font is best for your website, promotional materials, or written content.

5. iStockphoto

Sourcing stock photos can be a pain. Thankfully, iStockphoto have almost every stock photo you could think of, all archived and searchable for use in website designs and commercial online presences. With images priced as low as $1 and long-term plans starting at just $.30 per file, iStockphoto is one of the most inexpensive and valuable photo archives out there for designers.

6. The Web Developer’s Handbook

This free online resource could be the most complete collection of web design materials out there. Covering everything from page design to SEO, server-side work to the finishing touches of a great WordPress theme, the Web Developer’s Handbook is home to more information than any web designer could possibly need. If you’re short on knowledge or in need of a very quick web design answer, check out this directory before anywhere else.

• Tweet