g1sh · HackerTrans

13 lat temudiscuss

It is not as easy as Omnigraffle. My rudimentary way of doing this is to have a template file that I can copy/paste elements from. One function that I love from Sketch is that you can copy/paste styles, which makes the library use more flexible. You can copy CSS, but I wish that you could also past CSS into an object since we also have an ongoing UI library written in LESS

g1sh

13 lat temudiscuss

Personally, I can't design everything in code. The reason for this is that I catch myself making design decisions based on my knowledge of the technology. Which is always limited. I like to first design things, make a blue print and then figure out how to implement them. If I design based on bootstrap or any other framework, I find myself too "in the box". I think that the use of code in the ideation phase should be more of a proof of concept.

g1sh

13 lat temudiscuss

I am the designer in the video. I should say that I also used to work for Adobe. And that is not to say that I don't design in PS because I think it is crap. Quite the opposite, the PS team is an awe-inspiring team of PHD-level engineers. I would say that it is a huge tool that is still focused mainly on imaging and is decades old. They have to respond to a very large and diverse user base. I personally, don't like using big monolithic tools, like most web-oriented people I like the light-weight editors and focused tools.

I was a Fireworks user, but since Adobe decided to phase out support, I looked at what my workflow would be like. This transition came at the same time that I was moving away from detailed specs to a more lean design process, leaving the details to when I switch to code. Sketch, makes it very fast for me to create mocks and for the team to switch to code. Everything I design translates very well to web standards. I know that since Generator, Photoshop has a much better export flow to CSS but that is still not how I work.

Overall, my switch to Sketch has been very positive and I would recommend it to anyone that is doing any type of interactive design. Granted, Sketch is still pretty new and is missing a few things. Symbols or Smart Objects being the biggest thing for me.

Right now my workflow is: Omnigraffle for userflows, Sketch for wireframes and sketches, PS and AI for asset creation, Reflow for when I need to try some responsive layout, Edge Animate for motion prototypes, and I'll code with Brackets.

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