Create beautiful websites or make the relationship between developer-designer run more smoothly with Webflow. If you’ve used a no-code website builder before you’ll know the results aren’t always great. Before ‘no code’ websites were a thing, developers needed to implement everything. Then as no-code websites like Wix and Squarespace emerged, users only had underwhelming templates and inflexible modules to choose from.
The good news is, no-code design tools are finally delivering the unlimited creative control many users are craving, like Webflow.
Whether you’re looking for a no-code website to create beautiful websites on or just want to make the relationship between developer-designer run more smoothly, Webflow is a no-code platform that makes building websites easy without compromising creativity.
Webflow is a cloud-based CMS and design tool that allows users to create websites without any coding. The platform allows users to design, build and launch websites by dragging-and-dropping elements onto a front-end interface.
Unlike more basic no-code platforms like Wix and Squarespace, Webflow offers users much more creative control – so much so that it’s becoming a favourite platform of choice for designers and web agencies. Webflow is ideal for creating everything from corporate websites to blogs, eCommerce stores and creative portfolios. Here’s why we love using Webflow at Ambitious.
Traditional websites require a designer and developer to bring them to life. With Webflow, users can design and build websites by dragging and dropping coded responsive HTML elements onto the platform canvas.
Anyone can implement and create responsive designs, make changes and add elements without having to engage a developer. This allows designers more creative control while cutting down the amount of time between design and launch.
Got interactive elements on your website? Static mockups take time to create and can still be difficult for some people to visualise as functioning or interactive elements. Webflow does away with static mockups and instead allows users to create functional prototypes that will function exactly like a live website.
Now imagine sending stakeholders, clients or other departments a prototype without having to explain how each section will work. With live prototypes, users can click through links, watch animations and interactive elements that already work, and you have a whole lot less convincing to do.
You can’t have a modern website without responsive design. But creating responsive designs for tablets, landscape smartphones and portrait smartphones takes a painstaking amount of time.
With Webflow, once a user has mocked up their desktop design, they can click a button to create a completed reflow of their website for multiple devices and screen sizes. What’s even better is Webflow doesn’t assume you want to keep these exact reflows. Users can make changes and tweaks to each individual screen size and it’s super easy to switch between device specific designs. They really have thought of everything.
Before Webflow, most users mockup their interactive ideas with a mixture of Photoshop layers, videos, or GIFs which again takes time and is an imperfect art.
Webflow lets users build website animations and interactions visually with the same easy-to-use set of website building tools.
Creating multi-step animations is as simple as using PowerPoint with the added benefit of clean, working code. Adding interactive elements can be as easy as the click of a button and so much faster than spending hours in more complicated programmes like Photoshop and then writing complex code in JavaScript. Users can show their stakeholders or team members finished animations which takes any of the guesswork out of giving feedback.
Webflow also has videos and short classes that take users through interactions and animations that are easy to follow.
When it comes to content pages, most designers and developers will design one template for a blog and fill it in with lorem ipsum. Voila. Webflow encourages designing with real content, especially for pages where the length, style, photography and visual elements changes with each new piece of content.
With Webflow, users can build Collections and bring more personalisation to each different type of blog or piece of content. This gives creators more freedom and flexibility with their words without breaking the overall design of the website or forcing copy into designs that aren’t fit for purpose and end up looking ugly.
It’s up to the user what Collections to create but some useful variation of a simple blog post could include a design that works for recipes, reviews, long-form articles or photo-heavy articles.
There are a lot of cooks in the proverbial website-building kitchen once you have accounted for content writers, designers and developers. Content can take longer to create and it’s not uncommon for designers to pull ahead. As we’ve already mentioned, designing for Lorem Ipsum doesn’t always garner the best results.
Then there’s the relationship between designer and developer, although essential, can often feel like a double up. Designers need to create the visual elements while developers need to code them to match. Usually, feedback and compromise are needed to make the design actually work.
Webflow is a visual builder, designers and writers can work with it, creating webpages or tweaking content to fit without the need to engage a developer each step of the way. Whether you’re creating an entire landing page or making tweaks to a single page, Webflow bridges the gap between these three parties.
We’re big fans of using Webflow at Ambitious for the flexibility it provides our team. If you’d like to learn more about building your website on Webflow give us a call.
