"Learn about Sketch, a design tool for creating user interfaces for webpages and mobile applications, and the various classes and careers in this area. Discover how Sketch can optimize your design workflow and improve collaboration among teams."
Key Insights
- Sketch is a design tool that creates user interface layouts for websites and mobile applications. It's known for its customization tools, digital collaboration features, and Sketch symbols enabling the creation of reusable design elements.
- The program is native to macOS, offering functionalities like touch bar support, Retina, and non-Retina displays, and native font rendering.
- Sketch offers robust collaboration and prototyping features, enabling designers to build and test clickable prototypes of webpages.
- For individual users, Sketch costs about $9 per month or $99 annually. The subscription model includes regular updates to keep users up to date with the latest features.
- Noble Desktop offers Sketch classes and bootcamps to help users master the tool. The courses range from short seminars to in-depth career skills training courses, and are available both in-person and online.
- The median salary for a web designer in the United States is around $69,430 per year. With the help of Sketch and other related tools, designers can potentially boost their marketability and earning potential.
Since leaving the Apple App Store in 2016, Sketch has been available through a subscription licensing model. Each year, users re-license the program and receive regular program updates while their license remains current. At the time of writing, licensing Sketch costs individual editors $99/year. Sketch currently offers a 30-day free trial.
What is Sketch?
Sketch is a design tool for creating user interface (UI) layouts for webpages and mobile applications. Sketch is a vector-graphics design program, meaning that the assets created can be modified and resized for optimal performance on screens of any size. Sketch’s significant features include its easy customization tools, digital collaboration tools, and, most importantly, Sketch symbols. Sketch symbols let users create reusable design elements that can be modified individually, allowing users to build layout assets like buttons and drop-down menus, which all look the same but function differently as the design demands. Advanced Sketch users can use the built-in tools to make even more complex, interactive symbols to optimize their workflow and the functionality of their design.
Sketch originated on the macOS app store and is only available on machines that run off macOS. Therefore, the program can be slightly limiting but is built with the specific functionalities of this operating system in mind. Sketch has features common to almost all macOS native programs, such as touch bar support, Retina and non-Retina displays, and native font rendering. These features allow macOS device users to learn Sketch more efficiently and quickly pick up advanced skills. Web designers can also create layouts designed to operate on devices like next-generation iPhones. The functionalities of Sketch designs won’t be limited to these devices, but the program gives users the tools to optimize their layouts for specific platforms.
In recent updates, Sketch has added new features to make collaboration and prototyping easier for teams of users. Sketch lets designers work together to build clickable prototypes of their webpages that designers can distribute for testing and iteration, a crucial feature of any user-interface design software. And Sketch is constantly evolving to meet the needs of its users.
Read more about what Sketch is and why you should learn it.
What Can You Do with Sketch?
Sketch allows web designers to create layouts for webpages and mobile applications. Users can create vibrant, interactive webpage models for testing and development using text, images, graphic designs, and artboards. Because Sketch is a vector graphics illustration tool, these designs are easily reusable and scalable. They can be optimized to work on any-sized screen and used in multiple contexts in any design layout. Sketch also recently added advanced features for collaboration and prototyping, allowing team members to work together more efficiently to build model user interfaces.
Sketch’s most unique features are symbols and reusable digital interface assets that can be replicated across multiple pages. Sketch lets users define symbol characteristics to repurpose them as the design warrants. In addition, users can manually override the function of individual symbols, letting users give each asset a different interactive functionality without having to start from scratch. More advanced users can build complicated, multi-purpose symbols that make designing interfaces a breeze.
Sketch also has a robust community of designers and developers who are constantly building new adds-on and templates for Sketch. Users who learn Sketch can take advantage of these resources to make working with the program more straightforward and efficient. Since this community is so active, new resources are available daily.
In-Depth Review of the Cost
Sketch is currently only available through a license agreement wherein the user pays a monthly fee to access the program and receive regular updates. This fee varies depending on the subscription model and the number of editors linked to a license. But for individual users, Sketch costs about $9 per month or $99 annually. Since this is a subscription fee, the price is subject to change, but the program is updated regularly, so subscribers always have the most current version.
Sketch offers a full version of the program as part of a free trial (currently one month) during which users can take advantage of the free resources and tutorials made available through Sketch and Noble. This free version of the program is comparable to the full version of Sketch.
Since Sketch is only available on macOS devices, users may need to change or upgrade their hardware in order to use Sketch. However, the program is not system intensive, so any machine running macOS should suffice.
Pricing is one of the major differences between Sketch, Figma, and Adobe. Users who want to learn more can consult Noble’s free seminar outlining the differences between Sketch, Figma, and Adobe XD.
Why Learn Sketch?
Web Designers looking to build interactive prototypes of their layouts will need to learn a user interface (UI) tool to create their designs. Sketch is ideal for experienced designers and novices who aspire to become Web Designers. It is an accessible, customizable program that lets users build unique and functional prototypes using an array of tools. Sketch symbols enable users to create a customized collection of reusable interactive assets. And Sketch’s website boasts approximately six thousand add-ons and plug-ins for the program, with more being added daily.
Additionally, even though Sketch is among the older dedicated UI design tools on the market, it is constantly updated with new features and functionality. So, a growing number of designers are picking up Sketch, particularly now that it has more robust collaboration features. Sketch is among the more cost-effective tools relative to its market share and features list, making it ideal for small teams working on individual projects or for individual users hoping to break into the world of web design. Finally, because Sketch is native to macOS, it is an excellent skill for aspiring Web Designers who are mac users since they will have a leg up with the program’s features and tools.
Read more about why you should learn Sketch.
Free Introductory Sketch Course Online
Students who want to learn Sketch but are undecided about investing in an immersive training course may wish to consider exploring the free online options available. While these courses won’t replace professional skills training for those looking to build a career using Sketch, they are great for familiarizing users with the program in preparation for an in-depth training course.
Noble offers free seminars and training courses through the free seminars page on its website and the Web Design and Development playlist on its official YouTube channel. These videos guide users through the basic principles of user interface (UI) design, user experience (UX) design philosophies, and the differences between Sketch and other major UX design platforms. These tools are ideal for students just entering the world of web design as they are built to give new users necessary background training in advance of more in-depth skills instruction. Noble also provides blog posts, interviews, and other articles through the Sketch tag on its official blog.
Sketch also offers free tutorials through their website. These micro tutorials and blog posts will help users get a handle on the Sketch interface and set them on the right path as they begin designing their first UI project. These tutorials are ideal for students who aren’t familiar with navigating design interfaces or aren’t sure what kinds of projects Sketch is optimized to build.
Free course options are also available through other service providers, such as General Assembly and Udemy.
Read about more free Sketch videos and online tutorials.
Learn Sketch with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop
Students looking to master Sketch may wish to consider any Sketch classes and bootcamps offered through Noble Desktop. These classes, which range from short seminars offering students a basic understanding of Sketch to in-depth career skills training courses, give students the tools they need to use Sketch in their personal and professional lives. These courses are available in person at Noble’s Manhattan campus or live online from anywhere in the United States. Courses are taught by experts with whom students can interface directly, and class sizes are kept small, even online. So, students can ask questions and receive timely, personalized feedback on their work. Plus, courses include a one-year free retake option. Students can repeat the course to review a lesson that gave them trouble, attend a seminar they missed, or just get more hands-on practice with Sketch.
Students seeking in-depth training in Sketch should consider Noble’s Sketch Bootcamp. This intensive skills training course teaches students to use the basic and advanced features of Sketch, such as its layout design tools, interactive elements, and prototyping capabilities. Students get hands-on instruction in building web layouts using text, shapes, and images, all built with Sketch’s vector graphics illustration tools. They then learn how to optimize those illustrations for web and mobile viewing, including Hi-res and Retina displays. Finally, students receive hands-on training in using Sketch symbols, including how to override symbol functions to make them work differently and how to alter their functions universally after they have been implemented.
Noble also offers Sketch training as part of its immersive, career-focused UX & UI Design Certificate program. This course is designed to help aspiring Web and user experience (UX) Designers receive comprehensive career training and mentorship. Students learn to use an array of design tools, including Sketch, Figma, and Adobe XD, and receive hands-on training by working through practical exercises that reflect the work they will do professionally. Students also learn the best practices of UX design and how to best conduct user research and analysis. By the end of the course, students get the opportunity to have one-on-one career mentorship discussions with trained experts in the field of UX/UI design, and they will have built a sample design portfolio to take with them into the job market.