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Easel (YC S12) launches as an easier way to design for the web in your browser

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Re: Easel (YC S12) launches as an easier way to design for the web in your browser

#4

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

Great, now it's even easier for people like me with no talent for design to make horrendous UIs.

Edit: For a more helpful comment, they really need some things in there. You now, TSpinEdits (any Delphi users out there?). Number controls.

Re: Easel (YC S12) launches as an easier way to design for the web in your browser

#5

Post by jenntoda »

Excited to see where this goes - the team is spot on that

"The current web design process is broken. People use image editing tools for creation, share screenshots/flat exports over email, and spend more time than necessary manually translating the design into a working product."

Certainly the future of application design should be with tools that understand the medium and the process.

Re: Easel (YC S12) launches as an easier way to design for the web in your browser

#6

Post by mnicole »

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #4

Great, now it's even easier for people like me with no talent for design to make horrendous UIs. Edit: For a more helpful comment, they really need some things in there. You now, TSpinEdits (any Delphi users out there?). Number controls.

I've gotta agree on this one. Generally all I can think when I use browser-based design tools is how much faster/easier it would be for me to go into Photoshop or better, the code itself.

I think the biggest flaw in these apps is they start people with either an amateur design or a blank template instead of exposing the grids and guides that define a website (and further define the limitations of web design) right off the bat. Even though it starts as a blank page, I love Alex Maccaw's Stylo (http://styloapp.com/) because the tools are simple and familiar, they don't overburden the page I'm focusing on and it creates smart guides that show up when I've got two elements on the same plane. It's the only one of these apps I've tried that actually extends my creativity and doesn't end up taking me longer to design something I like between clunky UI elements or trying to figure out what everything does.

Re: Easel (YC S12) launches as an easier way to design for the web in your browser

#7

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

mnicole wrote: post #6
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #4

Great, now it's even easier for people like me with no talent for design to make horrendous UIs. Edit: For a more helpful comment, they really need some things in there. You now, TSpinEdits (any Delphi users out there?). Number controls.

I've gotta agree on this one. Generally all I can think when I use browser-based design tools is how much faster/easier it would be for me to go into Photoshop or better, the code itself. I think the biggest flaw in these apps is they start people with either an amateur design or a blank template instead of exposing the grids and guides that define a website (and further define the limitations of web design) right of…

Stylo is very nice. The fact it has, well, grid lines is very helpful. It's more limited, sure, but it looks like I can actually build layouts with this thing, not just fancy gradients.

Re: Easel (YC S12) launches as an easier way to design for the web in your browser

#8

Post by yesimahuman »

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #4

Great, now it's even easier for people like me with no talent for design to make horrendous UIs. Edit: For a more helpful comment, they really need some things in there. You now, TSpinEdits (any Delphi users out there?). Number controls.

I've been using it regularly and I find the opposite is true. Right now it's great for generating snippets of styled elements, and I know they are working on making it easier to do much more. I'm really excited about where they are going. Good luck!

Re: Easel (YC S12) launches as an easier way to design for the web in your browser

#10

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

codegeek wrote: post #9

Just tried it. Really cool. I have one question though. The option to right click and "Export HTML/CSS" only exports the current selected widget and not the entire grid/layout. That would be awesome if possible :)

I think that's intentional. The web doesn't need more fixed-size, absolutely-positioned-everything sites.

Easel aims to be a design tool, I think, to help you in coding and designing sites, but won't do all of the former for you.

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