Quick Story of How Photoshop Made My Workflow Rusty.
And why it’s not its fault.
Some time ago Darin Dimitroff wrote a great story about his concerns with Adobe software. He hit the nail on the head in so many places. For most designers, our first contact with Photoshop was, in the long run, a life changing experience. However, time has passed and designers face different problems which require different tool sets.
Times have changed and our thinking about designing digital experiences have changed as well. Industry evolves and designers need different tool sets than they did a few years ago because of this, Photoshop is not enough anymore.
Industry evolves, but not our old PS (at least not as much). Of course Adobe continues to add more design centered features but the core workflow and even interface remains the same.
What you get out of the box looks like photo editing software with tons of patches and plugins…
Let’s be honest. Photoshop is used as widely as any UI design tool. Not because it was made to do so but due to a lack of any real alternative. It’s photo editing software at its core after all and it’s the best in this field.
There’s one thought that struck me recently.
It occurred to me after using Sketch for the first time and came back with even bigger impact after using Affinity Designer. Before that I wasn’t even able to realize it. Until I tried software that offered a different perspective on design workflow, you can’t tell that cold is cold until you experience warmth!
The thing is: modern UI design workflow should resemble the way software is developed.
Apart from the UX thing. Good UI should be developable. Designers must be as close to the final medium and development process as possible. We should focus on the product as a product, not as a canvas for creating beautiful art.
We’re not painting, we’re designing. Design is not about beautiful images, it’s about solving problems.
When working in Photoshop I’m tempted to paint.
That’s not the Adobe app’s fault. It’s about the almost limitless possibilities offered by PS that make it easy to lose focus from the most important thing. At least in my case.
When working in Sketch or Affinity Designer it’s easier for me to focus on important stuff.
To design more user experience centered apps or websites. I also feel closer to the development process. For example, while working in Sketch you’re forced to think first. Why? Sketch UI centered workflow makes you unable to modify raster graphics in any way. That means you can’t even change photo exposure or saturation. Because of that you’ll need to think about using elements you place in your design first.
This kind of design logic is nice. But it’s not perfect, I found it difficult to use due to a lack of these features.
When I was using Sketch it was hard for me to look at design as on one entirety.
There are times when you need to adjust, e.g. image brightness in your actual design, with other elements in place. Nevertheless, it’s great to see that state of UI design software is changing. After Adobe killing Fireworks there was only Photoshop. Then Sketch emerged.
My newest discovery is Affinity Designer. This nice piece of software from Serif is my greatest hope. It misses some important functionality like artboards. Some stuff must be improved (like typography when exporting to PSDs) but I fell in love with its workflow logic. Let’s say it’s the middle ground between PS and Sketch.
I said that Photoshop made my workflow rusty. That’s how I feel. I wasn’t eager enough to explore new possibilities because of my familiarity with Adobe software. To look at the design process from another perspective. I was stuck in my comfort zone.
Because of my familiarity with Adobe software I wasn’t eager enough to explore new possibilities. To look at design process from another perspective, I was trapped in my comfort zone.
That’s changed.
We have alternatives now. Even if they’re not mature enough to switch from Creative Suite completely, we should try them. Even just to explore different perspectives and approaches. It’s priceless.
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