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Necessary Tools

The CreativeBloq recently wrote an article about the 12 tools every graphic designer should have. I am always interested in useful items that can improve your productivity and make creating easier. Here is a quick summary of the 12 tools from the article below:1. Desktop Apple 21.5" iMac, Retina 4K Display2. Laptop Microsoft Surface Book3. Software Adobe’s Creative Cloud4. Tablet Wacom Cintiq 13HD Interactive Pen Display5. Colour Library PANTONE REFERENCE LIBRARY6. A Top-end smartphone:

7. Calibrated monitor: Datacolor Spyder5 PRO8. Variable Desk: VARIDESK9. Ergonomic chair: Herman Miller B Size Aeron Chair10. Compact system camera: Fujifilm X-Pro211. An (interactive) sketchpad: Wacom Bamboo Digital Notebook12. Reliable Storage: Samsung T3 External SSD - 500GB

Tools Every Graphic Designer Should Have: My Recommendations

I think this is a great comprehensive list. One thing I would have liked the article to touch on are the different stages of Graphic Designer. For a student or someone who is just starting out I would go with the bare essentials tools. From the list above here are my top five tools to select from this list:1. Laptop Microsoft Surface BookThis laptop provides double duty as both a laptop and as a tablet. You can take your work machine on the go and can show your work to potential clients.2. Software Adobe’s Creative CloudAdobe’s Creative Cloud is the industry standard for the creation of design projects so having this software is a must have for designers.3. A Top-end smartphone:

More users today are viewing design and content on mobile devices over laptop or desktop devices. It is always important to have a reliable device to test your work on. Emulation software exist but nothing compares to having the ability to test on a real device.4. Compact system camera: Fujifilm X-Pro2I rented the Fujifilm X-Pro2 several months ago from Borrowlenses and the quality of the images it produced were amazing. It has a smaller image sensor compared to a DSLR but it's lightweight allowing you to bring it along to any photo shoot.5. Reliable Storage: Samsung T3 External SSD - 500GBIt is always important to have a backup of your work. There are many options to backup your work in a cloud environment such as Dropbox or Google Drive. However for video projects and large files, go with a portable hard drive.

Honorable Mention

Printer: Brother HL-L2340DW Compact Laser Printer, WirelessA printer suggestion was not referenced in the article but I think this is a great resource to have as a Graphic Designer. As the rise of the Internet and viewing content on digital devices it may seem as though having a printer is not necessary anymore. I think having a simple black & white printer is useful for printing contracts or receipts if you're dealing with clients in person. Also great to print out resumes or copies of project briefs before meetings.Source: CreativeBloq