Pushing my design creativity with Figma

Design means to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan. That is according to Merriam-Webster. In that sense, I guess I have always been a designer. When the plan only exists in my head, and the purpose is funciton, and not beauty, I feel I am in my wheelhouse.

Working on projects where you work from exactly what you want the user to see, whether that is a table, a website, a leather good, or a restaurant build, all the way back to the planning phase is how I view modern design. When the design is excellent, every piece and part serves that design. It’s not to say that the design can’t evolve over time, but form and function must meet hand in hand.

This might seem a bit esoteric, but I feel like this is where a design tool like Figma really shines. This software works from a design focused start, and gives you many tools to take that project and apply it to whatever construct you are working with.

I have so much to learn about design principles and aesthetics, but when working in web applicaitons, I feel like Figma is an great way to get started. If I am not using Figma, I tend to piece things together and build things more as a jigsaw. Sometimes it works, sometimes I spend hours just trying to make things look good. If I felt stronger about my artistic ability, I would lean heavily on a tool like Figma to get started. Then I would use my other skills to execute my plan. It is just so hard to get my brain to work that way.

I will continue to use Figma to push my design creativity, but most likely I will use all of its integrated tools to turn the designs ready for me into code. I am not sure I will ever be a great designer of beauty, but I am sure I will continue to learn and grow in that area.