Design program

Design programs are essential tools for a graphic developer.

Imagine that you enter a web page and your jaw drops: the color is completely harmonious, the images convey good feelings and are clear and motivating, and the company logo provides practical information and originality in equal parts.

Behind this positive experience for the user there is a great job at a graphic level that would not be possible only with the personal talent of the designer: design programs are needed to support this creative work, and in turn, it is necessary to have a firm knowledge of these tools to be able to express its full potential.

Today, however, we will not talk about technique, but we would like to reveal some curiosities about these design programs that are so widely used and well-known by professionals.

Photoshop: Image Editor

Regardless of the version used, Photoshop remains year after year at the top of all design program rankings.

But… Did you know that Photoshop was very close to being “Nikon Photohop”? Before someone else took over the commercialization of this program, Thomas and John Knoll -its creators- offered it to the Japanese company.

Although marketing teams in the US and Europe were enthusiastic about this possibility, eventually Nikon headquarters in Japan argued that they were not in the software business and that a program like Photoshop had no place in their market. And they weren’t the only ones! Kodak also rejected the possible distribution of Photoshop, losing a unique opportunity, since in September 1988 it bought the rights to distribute it exclusively.

Indesign: Professional layout

Indesign is to content what Photoshop is to images. That is to say: one of the essential design programs to master professional layout, and knowing how to use it is one of the most common requirements in job applications.

What you surely did not know is that each version before going on the market has been baptized with a “code name”, these are the ones that have been made public so far:

• Version 1.0: K2
• Version 1.5: Sherpa
• Version 2.0: Annapurna
• CS (version 3.0): Dragontail
• CS2 (version 4.0): Firedrake
• CS3 (version 5.0): Cobalt
• CS4 (version 6.0): Basil

The Company in a short time has made several name changes, as they are implementing a new brand approach aimed at serving products in the cloud under a monthly subscription.

The latest version of InDesign is CC 2014 version which coexists with its predecessors: Indesign CC 9.2 and InDesign CS6. The latter is still one of the most used versions today, since it does not require a subscription, it is a perpetual license.

Illustrator: The vector illustration specialist

oh! What would creative designers be without design programs like Illustrator? Much has been written about Illustrator very well, so we won’t insist on explaining the benefits of this software.

Now, if you are reading this, chances are that what moves your life and your emotions is design. And if this is so, surely you could use an application that works as a portable drawing pad to make drafts when inspiration strikes you in the most unexpected places. And already put to ask, that it could be combined with Illustrator later to “finish” the work.