Top 7 Design Tools Every Developer Needs in 2025 (Part 1)
Web development isn’t just about writing lines of code. It’s about creating something functional, beautiful, and impactful. Whether you’re prototyping an app, designing a website, or fine-tuning visual details, having the right tools can make all the difference.
In this first part of our series, we’ll explore 7 essential tools that will gassed up your design and creativity workflow. From icons to color palettes, these resources will help you create stunning visuals with ease.
1. Iconify
What it does:
Iconify brings together thousands of open-source icon sets in one place. Think of it as your one-stop shop for scalable vector icons.
Why you’ll love it:
Massive library: With over 100,000 icons, chances are you’ll find exactly what you need.
Customizable: Change the size, color, or even mix and match icons to fit your design effortlessly.
Integration-ready: Whether you’re building in React, Angular, or JavaScript, Iconify’s integrations make adding icons to your project easy.
Ready to explore Iconify? Check it out here.
2. UI Faces
What it does:
Need avatars to bring a design to life? UI Faces provides AI-generated faces that are diverse, customizable, and free to use.
Why you’ll love it:
Custom filters: Choose faces based on gender, age, emotion, or even skin tone to match your project’s persona.
No copyright headaches: All faces are free to use for commercial and personal projects.
Bring your mockups to life: Using real-looking avatars instead of generic placeholders can elevate your designs and help you communicate your vision better.
Add a human touch to your designs with UI Faces.
3. WickedBackgrounds
What it does:
WicketBackgrounds helps you create stunning, wave-style SVG backgrounds perfect for hero sections, banners, or landing pages.
Why you’ll love it:
Interactive editor: You don’t need to code your gradients, just use their tool to tweak colors, waves, and intensity, then grab the SVG code.
Responsive design: The backgrounds adapt beautifully, whether you’re on desktop or mobile.
Lightweight and fast: SVG backgrounds mean no heavy image files slowing down your page.
Create modern designs with WickedBackgrounds.
4. Tailwind CSS Color Generator | UI Colors
What it does:
This tool simplifies generating perfect color palettes tailored for Tailwind CSS, making it easy to create a cohesive design system.
Why you’ll love it:
Tailored for Tailwind: Get palettes in formats ready to drop straight into your Tailwind config file.
Customizable shades: Quickly generate variations of a base color (e.g., lighter, darker) for nuanced designs.
Ease of use: Even if you’re new to Tailwind, the tool makes understanding and applying colors intuitive.
Try the Tailwind CSS Color Generator today!
5. Glass UI
What it does:
This CSS generator focuses on the glassmorphism trend, a visually stunning effect combining transparency, blur, and light shadowing.
Why you’ll love it:
Instant previews: See your design updates in real-time.
Easy-to-use interface: No CSS knowledge? No problem. Adjust sliders for blur, transparency, and colors to generate code in seconds.
Trendy aesthetic: Perfect for creating that modern, futuristic look for dashboards, cards, or app UIs.
Dive into glassmorphism with Glass UI.
6. Carbon Now
What it does:
Carbon Now turns your code snippets into shareable, beautifully styled images.
Why you’ll love it:
Dozens of themes: Choose from various themes to match your aesthetic or branding.
Customization galore: Adjust the font, background color, and even the padding for a polished look.
Developer-approved: Perfect for sharing snippets on social media, in presentations, or as documentation visuals.
Make your code stand out with Carbon Now.
7. Responsively-app
What it does:
This modified web browser lets you test and tweak responsive designs across multiple screen sizes in real-time.
Why you’ll love it:
Time-saver: No more manually resizing your browser window or using clunky emulators.
Real-time changes: Watch how your designs adapt as you code, ensuring a seamless user experience across devices.
Open-source: It’s free, continually improved by the developer community, and has a growing list of features.
Test your designs with Responsively-app.
Ready to Explore More?
These are just a handful of tools that can make your development process smoother and more enjoyable. Whether you’re hunting for the perfect icon, tweaking color palettes, or making your designs pop with modern effects, these resources have you covered.
What’s your favorite tool from this list? And don’t forget to check out arol.dev for more insights, resources, and tips to level up your skills.