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Day 1 with Webflow

I've recently discovered the power of Webflow; an app for designing, developing, animating and hosting websites. Primarily a designer, I find the concepts behind web development often complicated and confusing. Using Webflow, I hope to expand my knowledge.
IT
Ian Thompson
10/18/2019
I have been using WordPress for a long time and every client site I've worked on and published remains in the WordPress eco-system. I'm a big fan and still am.
But I am also tech curious. So when alternative options pop up, I take a peak. Webflow is just one such alternative; a design and development environment with the bonus of fast hosting to boot.
Using WordPress, I like to think that I create "bespoke" designed websites. I don't use off the shelf themes unless clients really, really want them. The majority of the sites I make are created with Beaver Builder. It's a tool that lets me layout websites in just about any way. Of course, there are limitations to what can be done, especially when it comes to UX.
Essentially you are designing within the Beaver Builder framework, using tools created by a growing community of amazing developers. So you're limited in a way by what's available, supplemented by your knowledge of CSS and Javascript to push the boundaries if needs be.
There are plenty of plugins for Beaver Builder, so you get lots of variations of modern website interface elements, like grids, sliders, galleries, maps and more. But as a designer you soon start to hit limitations.
With Webflow, I find myself able to think outside of the box model. Despite my obvious lack of coding skills, I do have some knowledge of HTML and CSS so I can just about appreciate what's on offer with Webflow. When you open the Webflow designer, there is nothing on the page; a very daunting blank screen. Your development pathway is at the very beginning and you really are starting from scratch. That tends to expand your imagination a lot, but it also leaves you with the dreaded designer's blank canvas - where do you start?
It is quite the opposite with Beaver Builder and its associated theme and theme builder. At the outset, there is a framework to start working from. Headers, footers, sidebars, content areas. It's all set out for you. But this technique can also be limiting as it tends to funnel you into the same design direction every time. As a result you may end up producing similar results every time.
I have a lot to discover and learn with Webflow - to me it's a perfect sandpit for a novice web developer. It makes you think more about the framework of your design. Without much coding knowledge it's easy to get your hands dirty figuring out how to set up divs, sections, containers, margins, padding, positions and tons of CSS options. Admittedly, It's quite overwhelming at first. Especially when you're confronted by that initial blank and empty design screen...
The learning is what is important for me - understanding the basic background of web design and development and how that can open up further design horizons. I'm looking forward to developing this personal site of mine as a diary of learning and I'll share my progress, tips and tricks along the way.
Let's get started...
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