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Donny Winston
3,005 PointsLessons on open-source tools for design?
I am interested in using open-source tools for design tasks, e.g. Inkscape as opposed to Adobe Illustrator. Is this a fool's errand? Is Illustrator simply "the way to go" with design, i.e. no open-source options are mature and capable enough to be respected in the professional design community, or might Treehouse offer lessons on tools that are openly accessible without worrying about expiring trials and renewing/transferring licenses?
I appreciate that many (most?) lessons on web development/programming here use open-source ecosystems like that of Python. I would love to work on design skills to complement programming skills, but I'd also like such skills and their artifacts to be as "transferable" as possible, i.e. anyone (including myself) can open/edit my design files in the future.
3 Answers
Sarah Lorenzen
11,811 PointsThe main tools for Design purposes are currently Sketch, Photoshop and Illustrator. Sketch's popularity in the last couple years along with it's simplicity and speed, has made it the preferred tool for 80% of all design needs on a professional design team. I know that's a bold statement, it's a must now if you want to work in design in San Francisco area.
Treehouse has very good intro tutorials on those 3 mentioned above. Those tools cover the vast majority of all design you'll do. While OS tools have an attractive price point, they lack support, lack wide acceptance in the design community, and most importantly, if you're developers can't use the tools to read your design files, then it was all for naught!
Donny Winston
3,005 PointsThanks Sarah, that was helpful.
Sarah Lorenzen
11,811 PointsGlad I could help. It can be a steep learning curve and financial investment for all the tools, but there are discounts available to students. Adobe offers everything through the Creative Cloud now and they offer student discounts that give you Photoshop and Illustrator for considerably less than everyone else. Right now their Black Friday special gives you the whole suite of apps for $15.99/month. Get Deal Info Here
In terms of Sketch, Treehouse has on their Perks page, a 20% off discount for Sketch!
Hey, I'd appreciate if this was helpful to you, to mark my original answer as the 'Best Answer'. This will help me fulfill my forum contribution goal in my career track goals. :) Thanks!!
Donny Winston
3,005 PointsThanks for pointing out the 'Best Answer' feature; I didn't notice that option was available to formally thank you -- I'm new to this forum. :)