When I started with Webflow I was still doing 1:1 websites in Balsamiq Mockup and I continued for a bit. I’d design graphic intentions in PS, Xd or Sketch. i’d still do a lot of graphic design in those tools if it wasn’t for Webflow.
Then the CMS came and everything changed. I very rarely use PS, Xd or Sketch anymore. I design vector pieces in AI and export them to IconJar. From Iconjar, it goes into Webflow.
http://vincent.polenordstudio.fr/snap/IconJar_2018-08-08_09-34-17.png
(IconJar with a website project folder)
CMS changed everything because I now design the content model first. It means the actual site, with real content, with the CMS structure, in Webflow, without graphic design at all. When it works there, when all the strucure decisions have been taken, when all the lists, sorting, behaviors have been secured, I switch to graphic design.
http://vincent.polenordstudio.fr/snap/Untitled-4__100_RGBPreview__2018-08-08_09-36-36.png
It’s life changing for designers and clients. Clients get to see their site with content at a very early stage, can start to add new content and use the site. It looks like this:
(That’s a homepage. On this site there’s close to 2000 CMS items already imported)
Weeks later I actually graphic design the site, then hompage looks like this:
Another page looks like this at content model design stage (all the content is CMS):
Then after graphic design:
The live site sits at: http://www.compagnie-vendeenne.com/
So I never go full graphic design in a graphic software anymore. I start designing the content model during the first meeting with clients, on Webflow directly. I project my screen and everybody participate (they love it).
I can’t go back to Sketch or Xd and start deisgning a CMS with fake content… I can’t, it’s too long, it’s cumbersome, it’s… stupid. It’s at the same time difficult to create fake content and easy because you can cheat so much. Since Webflow CMS, I’ve been wishing softwares like Xd, Ai, Indesign had some real, easy, Webflow like CMS.