Unlocking Moncur’s Digital Tool Chest

We’re in an era of digital tool overload, people! In 2017 alone, an estimated 197 billion mobile apps were downloaded, plus, the Android app count on Google Play topped 3 million, according to Business of Apps.

Gone are the simpler days of using paper dictionaries and Rolodexes to make work easier. Today, we have so many digital tools available to enhance productivity right at our fingertips, how does one even know where to start?

As a humble group of digital marketing mavens, cutting-edge creatives, and technology extraordinaires, we took this challenge into our own hands. Here you’ll find our hand-picked selection of the best digital tools that we’re using right here, right now.

Ghostlab

With Ghostlab, I can test any website on various browsers and mobile devices simultaneously.

— Chris Vermeren, Senior Programmer

Photoshop Fix

When myself or someone else needs a quick fix to a photo, I can edit it with Photoshop tools directly in my phone instead of moving it to my computer. Makes it fast and easy, especially if I’m away from my desk. ☺️

— Laynie Perry, Junior Content Designer

Wunderlist

I’m Type A to the core, and I don’t know if I could function without my Wunderlist app. It’s a super simple list making app. What I like about it is that I can have the app on all my devices, so I’m never without my to-do list! You can set due dates (and get notified if you want), easily drag things around to prioritize them, share your lists (my husband is NOT thrilled that I have a running to-do list for him, lol), and so much more!

— Megan Zale, Senior Copywriter

Procreate

Lately my favorite app has been Procreate on the iPad. Aside from quickly being able to thumbnail sketches and concepts, the features are robust and easily navigable, mimicking many of Photoshop’s tools. It is awesome to use the app on-the-go, and helpful to be able to digitize sketches instantaneously and easily integrate illustrations into my digital work.

— Claire Barber, Designer

Slack

Honestly, my favorite work app is Slack. Slack is our office instant messenger channel and it’s a big part of our daily culture and collaboration. Slack lets you send a quick message or file to someone without clogging up their inbox or having an ongoing conversation about something. I love that we can create a group chat room for specific projects or initiatives and community chat rooms where our team can share #general updates, team #encouragements, and #random questions, ideas, or inspiration.

— Beth Smith, Senior Copywriter

Andy’s Wiki

One of our team members built a Wiki that contains all of our clients’ website info / logins / server locations / build notes / etc. The programming team uses it every day.

— Ken Svoboda, Partner, CTO

Airtable

I’m rather excited about this new app/software I’ll be getting to test out shortly for in-house project management. Part of why I already feel in love with this platform is because it functions similarly to the project management log I’ve built in excel and use every day. They have the same look (I love utilizing color coding in my management in the log), but Airtable has more functionality and lives in the cloud. It is also able to take full uploaded documents, including graphics.

— Angeline D’Balentine, Project Manager

We are still working through the details of it, and deciding if/how to use it for sure, but I’ve been checking out Airtable for our digital content planning. It’s billed as the best of a spreadsheet and a database, and that’s pretty cool. You can list out and organize things by lines, but because it treats them more like a database, you can connect entries to other fields, sort and order into different views, etc…

— Kim Oermann, Creative Director

LastPass

LastPass is a password manager that I use daily. I only have one of my passwords memorized: my LastPass password. For every other site/app that requires a password, LastPass generates a unique password specifically for that app. On desktop, I use the LastPass Chrome extension so that it automatically populates my passwords when required, and auto-generates a strong password for me. On my Android phone, it does the same thing: when a password field appears on a website or in an app, the LastPass window pops up and automatically populates both my username and password. The best part of the Android integration is that I don’t need to use my LastPass password, as the fingerprint reader allows me to quickly authenticate.

— Andy McIntire, Lead Software Engineer

Google Drive + Docs

Google Drive stores all the files I need to work on in one place, no matter the file size. The Google Drive + Docs apps are installed on both my laptop and phone, which allows me to collaborate with teams in real time, and simplify the task of editing large projects by utilizing the many editing/sharing tools that Docs provides. I also store all my important files here for safe keeping, and I love how easy it is to include large attachments in emails. I also use Docs for invoicing, creating spreadsheets, and storing important documents that I need easily accessible. Without Drive, my files would be much more disorganized!

— Casey Nesterowich, Senior Copywriter

Color Picker

Color Picker is an oldie, but still a go-to for me when I need to convert a color from hex to rgba for programming purposes.

— Jon Cumberworth, Front-End Developer

Just Press Record

I use this app on my iPhone and Apple watch—it allows INSTANT recording and stealth mode! So when I find myself with a client or in a meeting where I can’t take notes fast enough, I can tap the record button “stealthily” so it doesn’t make for awkward moments. Also having it on my watch allows for me to record phone calls when I’m using my iPhone. Then everything is very easily movable/shareable within the app that is on my phone. It also syncs to iCloud or can easily transfer to Dropbox, and will also transcribe shorter conversations.

— Kelly Gehart, Account Executive

Help us expand our list—share your favorite digital tools in the comments below!

Moncur is a branding + digital agency. Leveraging our specialized expertise in strategic messaging, branding, advanced technology website development and integrated digital marketing, we help large B2B companies brand, market and sell what they do online. Learn more at www.thinkmoncur.com.