What’s new for designers, October 2015

Default avatar.
October 12, 2015
What’s new for designers, October 2015.

In this month’s edition of what’s new for designers and developers, we’ve included lots of startup resources, productivity tools, educational tools, freelancing resources, JavaScript resources, podcasts, inspiration sources, CSS resources, and much more. And as always, we’ve also included some awesome new free fonts!

Almost everything on the list this month is free, with a few high-value paid apps and tools also included. They’re sure to be useful to designers and developers, from beginners to experts. If we’ve missed something that you think should have been on the list, let us know in the comments. And if you know of a new app or resource that should be featured next month, tweet it to [@cameron_chapman](http://​twitter​.com/​c​a​m​e​r​o​n​_​c​h​apman) to be considered!

Fizzle

Fizzle

offers online business training and a community of entrepreneurs for support. You can get one month for free, with monthly subscriptions for only $35. fizzle

Annex

Annex

is a simple task tracking and productivity app. It’s not smart”, doesn’t offer automation, and it doesn’t have AI, so it requires your attention (just like your productivity). annex

DayDeed

DayDeed

helps you build habits to reach your goals. You can log things as you want, whether it’s daily tasks or weekly sessions, and use it just as a check-in or to measure your performance. daydeed

Zube

Zube

is a virtual task board that lets you effortlessly manage your GitHub issues. You can sort, prioritize, and assign issues, and it offers both free and paid plans (as well as an open source version). zube

Symu

Symu

is a fast way to collaborate with your clients on designs. Just upload your project for free, and then let your clients leave comments. Every comment then becomes a task. symu

The Freelancer Podcast

The Freelancer Podcast

is a short, weekly podcast for designers, developers, and writers. It’s hosted by Paul Jarvis of Creative Class. freelancer podcast

Webflow

Webflow

is the world’s first visual CMS for building custom, dynamic websites. You can easily structure your content, create custom designs, edit right on the page, and more. webflow

BoxBox

BoxBox

is an upcoming design tool created just for screens. It implements reusable components, responsive design, and more. boxbox

Project Comet

Project Comet

, from Adobe, offers a new way to design and prototype websites and mobile apps. It integrates directly with Photoshop and Illustrator, while remaining an all-in-one wireframing and prototyping app. project comet

Adobe Portfolio

Adobe Portfolio

lets you create a simple, beautiful portfolio showcasing your creative projects. It syncs with Behance and can be set up in just minutes. Adobe Portfolio

Popmotion

Popmotion

is a 12kb JavaScript motion engine with support for animation, physics, and input tracking. Popmotion

Corpus

Corpus

is a CSS toolkit that uses Flexbox for the grid and is heavily influenced by Basscss’s White Space module. It includes typography, buttons, forms, colors, borders, images, and more. corpus

Vectr

Vectr

is a free design app for print and web. You can download the desktop version, or use it right in your browser. vectr

ContentTools

ContentTools

is a small, beautiful content editor. It’s fully documented with an API for expanding its usage. contenttools

Rookie Guide: How to Convert iOS UI to Android

The Rookie Guide: How to Convert iOS UI to Android explains the differences in UI designs between iOS and Android, and how to convert from one platform to the other, while creating a cohesive look with each operating system. rookie guide

Sketch Palettes

Sketch Palettes

is a Sketch plugin that lets you save and load colors in the color picker. sketch palettes

Storehouse 2.0

Storehouse 2.0

is here, with a bunch of new features, including increased privacy control and without most of the social media features the original Storehouse included (but with plenty of options to share your stories by text, email, or social media). storehouse 2.0

VSCO Keys

VSCO Keys

is an open source Adobe Photoshop Lightroom app for giving users a speed boost. It was a paid app originally, but is now open source. vsco keys

Primer

Primer

is a free app that teaches you marketing lessons from Google. They add new topics every week, and they use a learn-by-doing approach. primer

Land​.io

Land​.io

is a free UI kit and landing page design for Sketch. It includes a fullscreen/​modular hero image section, video player, pricing table, profile card, social sharing buttons, and more. landio

Stripe Relay

Relay

, from Stripe, lets your customers buy products directly within other mobile apps. It lets you sell your products in a number of apps, including selling directly through Twitter, or in apps like ShopStyle and Spring. stripe relay

Web Field Manual

The Web Field Manual has been updated, with an overhaul of their design and code sections. It includes resources, inspiration, style guides, and much more. web field manual

Medium

Medium

has undergone a design overhaul, with a new logo design, new apps, and new features like mentions, editor updates, and a publishing APImedium

Alex

Alex

lets you catch insensitive, incosiderate writing automatically. It picks up on writing that is gender favoring, polarizing, race related, religion inconsiderate, or otherwise unequal. alex

PageSpeed Insights

Google’s PageSpeed Insights gives you tools to make your website fast on all devices. Just enter your URL and click analyze to get started. pagespeed insights

Twit Ninja

Twit Ninja

is a set of tools for growing your Twitter following. It lets you find non-followers, build leads, find content, and more. Twit Ninja

Growth Hacking Experiments Template

This Growth Hacking Experiments Template lets you try out growth hacking strategies that have been refined across more than 1200 startups. It breaks down everything into a step-by-step process for trying these growth hacks on your own projects. growth hacking experiments template

Productivity Planner

The Productivity Planner, from the makers of the Five Minute Notebook, is a new way to plan your day and beat procrastination. Share their Kickstarter campaign and get a free PDF download of the planner! productivity planner

Padlock

Padlock

is a minimalist open source password manager. It places simplicity and usability above all else. padlock

Accelerated Mobile Pages Project

The Accelerated Mobile Pages Project is an architectural framework that was built for speed. The goal is to make it easy to provide mobile-optimized content everywhere. Accelerated Mobile Pages Project

Creative Tim

Creative Tim

is a community of creatives with tons of free tools for building better websites. They have over 43,000 members, and have had over 60,000 downloads to date. creative tim

Linkdropper

Linkdropper

is a resource platform for designers and developers. It includes blogs, tools, Twitter accounts, and more. linkdropper

Glacial Indifference (free)

Glacial Indifference

is a free, open source sans serif typeface that comes in two weights: regular and bold. glacial indifference

Genome (free)

Genome

is a clean, open source typeface that’s proportioned for increased readability on screen. genome

HK Explorer Regular (free)

HK Explorer Regular

is a sans serif typeface that was developed in tandem with Arca Majora and Glacial Indifference. hk explorer regular

Ansley Display (free)

Ansley Display

is a free slab serif typeface with a retro look. It’s designed for headlines and large type. ansley display

Stilu (free)

Stilu

is a free sans serif typeface that comes in four weights, with italics for each. It includes a number of OpenType features, and is free for both personal and commercial use. stilu

Arcadia (free)

Arcadia

is a modern hairline font. It’s great for magazine titles, logos, and other display uses. arcadia

Simple (free)

Simple

is a geometric display font with simple lines and unique shapes. simple

Pelmeshka (free)

Pelmeshka

is an upbeat, funny display font that would be perfect for things like children’s books. pelmeshka

Gant (free)

Gant

is a free handdrawn display font that’s classy and bold. gant

Devious (free)

Devious

is a handmade display font with flourished alternates. devious

Cameron Chapman

Cameron Chapman is a freelance writer and designer from New England. You can visit her site or follow her on Twitter.

Read Next

15 Best New Fonts, March 2023

Fonts are one of the most critical tools in any designer’s toolbox. With clever use, you can transform a design from hu…

20 Best New Websites, March 2023

We have another exciting collection of the best new sites on the web for you. In this month’s episode, there are severa…

Exciting New Tools for Designers, March 2023

We have invoicing apps and scheduling tools. Some resources will save you the trouble of hiring a designer or developer…

Free Download: Budget Planner UI Kit

Designing an onboarding process can be tricky; there are so many different options, and if you get it wrong, you could …

3 Essential Design Trends, February 2023

There’s a common theme in this month’s collection of website design trends – typography. All three of these trends show…

Free Download: Education Icons

Icons are essential for successful web design. They provide an eye-catching, unobtrusive way to communicate important i…

15 Best New Fonts, February 2023

The fonts you embed in your website transform the design and can mean the difference between an extraordinary brand exp…

Unlocking the Power of Design to Help Users Make Smart Decisions

Users are faced with decision-making on websites every day. The decision-making process can be far more complex than it…

20 Best New Websites, February 2023

The quality of websites in 2023 has moved up a gear, with designers cherry-picking trends as tools, embracing new ideas…

AI’s Impact on the Web Is Growing

Despite the massive strides tech has taken in the last few years, we rarely see a week as tumultuous as this. When your…

Exciting New Tools for Designers, February 2023

No matter what you’re working on, you can guarantee that there’s a cool app, resource, or service that will help you do…

15 Best New Fonts, January 2023

Your choice of typeface significantly impacts the tone of voice your designs adopt. Heritage, ambition, freshness, ener…