Figma and its many uses beyond prototyping

I have been an avid Figma user since 2016 and over the years this tool has only gotten better and better. Fast forward 5 years, I literally cannot imagine my life without this tool. And I

think it is high time everyone else saw the magic that I do. Now, you must be thinking to yourself… > Duh! Of course you cannot imagine your life without Figma. You are a > UI designer

 after all. But why should I read this article? What am I > going to use this for? I am not a designer. That is the fun part about Figma. Even if you are not a UI designer, there are

numerous way you can use it to make your life a lot easier. That too for free! Let’s take a look at what those ways are. #1. USER INTERFACE DESIGN This is what Figma was originally designed

for and to this day, it is still the primary purpose that it is used for. #2. PRINT MATERIAL DESIGN Need to create posters, flyers, invoices, wedding card, brochure or stickers? But don’t

have an Adobe license or the skill set to work your way around such tools? Fear not. Figma is here to save the day with its extremely simple interface and the flexibility to download in all

the common formats in the size of your choice. #3. ILLUSTRATION DESIGN Need to create illustrations for your presentation and cannot find the ideal ones online? Well then, try making them

yourself using Figma. You can use the plethora of shapes and the pen tool (for custom shapes) to create the geometry you want. You can work with solid colours as well as gradients to spruce

up your illustration. Want to make your illustrations a little livelier? Let’s add some shadows and blur effects to make that happen. #4. PRESENTATION DESIGN Powerpoint has been one of the

most commonly used tool for presentation and pitch deck design for the longest time. But Figma can make it a lot easier and fun to use. Not only can you ADD CUSTOM EFFECTS that give you FULL

FREEDOM to animate your slides however you please. You can also ADD LINKED SLIDES AND CHAPTERS (commonly known as flow in Figma) to navigate quickly from slide to slide and point to point

during presentation. You can COLLABORATE with your friends and peers too. Another cool thing about making presentations on Figma is the ability to create MASTER SLIDES AND ICONS in the form

of reusable components that can be reused throughout the presentation. It speeds up the process 10x. #5. VIDEO MAKING If you are NOT INTO MOTION GRAPHICS but need to whip up a QUICK

EXPLAINER OR ANIMATED VIDEO with your limited skillset then Figma is the tool for you. Use the SMART ANIMATE (among other animation styles) option in Figma and a few simple tricks like

SCALE, OPACITY, TYPESCALE, POSITION, COLOURS, BLUR etc. to create an easy yet effective dynamic presentation which you can then screen record and use it anywhere you please. The COOLEST

THING about this form of video making is that the animator has COMPLETE CONTROL over whether they want the TRANSITIONS IN THE VIDEO TO HAPPEN ON THEIR MANUAL COMMAND or they want to set the

delays from the get go so that ENTIRE ANIMATION PLAYS OUT WITHIN THE SPECIFIC TIME FRAME. Another way that Figma can be used for motion graphics is to build QUICK LOW FIDELITY VERSION OR

STORYBOARD for an animated sequence. The animator can get the VALIDATION AND COMMENTS on the storyboard for this low fidelity file. Using these comments they can work on the high fidelity

final output to cut down on the amount of back and forth. #6. 3D ASSETS If you need 3D views for your presentation or print material what do you do? Get the license for an expensive 3D

software or spend weeks learning Blender? You could totally do that. Or you could put your new found Figma skills to some good use. #7. PORTFOLIO AND RESUME DESIGN Applying for a NEW JOB?

Want to create a NEW AND SHINY PORTFOLIO that you could use for LIVE DEMOS as well as serve as a PRINTABLE FORMAT? Well then, the wait is over. You can even use the FIGMA COMMUNITY to share

your GALLERY OF WORK if you are comfortable and confident. #8. FILE STORAGE Who doesn’t take a MILLION SCREENSHOTS AND DOWNLOAD A BUNCH OF IMAGES to use as INSPIRATION later on? And then

cannot find what you are looking for when the time comes? Are these images also eating up all your DISK SPACE and DRIVE STORAGE? Not to worry. You can simply import all of those images onto

your Figma and SORT THEM NEATLY AND CATEGORIZE THEM USING PAGES for easy classification. #9. DAILY/WEEKLY PLANNER Tried a bunch of planners but never seem to quite get the overview of your

week that you are looking for? THEN ADD THIS FIGMA PLANNER TO YOUR EXISTING CALENDAR. This is especially beneficial when you want to DIVIDE YOUR DAY INTO A BUNCH OF TASKS and not all of

those tasks are time sensitive enough for you to add timer/calendar notifications. This planner will give you A MUCH BETTER OVERVIEW of what your day will shape up to be. You will also have

unlimited control over what colour you want to signify any specific activity.