Why you should wireframe

My first wireframe.

What? You design your webpages without wireframing? It’s okay. I was like you once, and by once I mean about 4 weeks ago. I hated the thought of wireframing. Layer effects and things seem so easy to do in Photoshop, it didn’t seem to make any sense to wireframe everything. It was faster to design everything as I went along.

I learned, though, that speed isn’t everything. Being able to structure your webpage, figure out your typography, and align everything to a grid (you use grids, right?) without distracting images makes a huge difference in the overall look of the website. It can also help a lot when you’re designing a website for a client, because they won’t be talking about color while you’re still worried about alignment and fonts.

Wireframining isn’t just for websites, by the way. It can be useful for printed materials like brochures, pamphlets, flyers, resumes, and anything that requires a degree of organization.

I’m a wireframing convert, you should try it too. You might find these wireframing resources helpfult. I use Photoshop, but you can do it in Illustrator, Fireworks, GIMP, or Inkscape. Give it a shot!