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No designer can push boundaries without having the right graphic design tools by their side. In fact, think of graphic design tools as your right-hand man. You see, the graphic design industry comes with a lot of surprises—good surprises, of course. Aspiring graphic designer’s often enter into the industry expecting one thing, only to have their education and experience shed a new light on what a career in graphic design could actually be.

In order to stay agile and easily adapt to whatever the situation calls for, you’ll find yourself using a wide range of graphic design tools and hardware. That’s why we put together this list of the 24 most important tools no designer should live without in 2023.

Notebooks

This is a no-brainer. No creative is ever without a notebook at home or in their bag. Smart notepads and other digital tools are great tools for graphic designers to have, but nothing can beat a good old-fashioned paper notebook.

Every creative has a preference between softcover or hardcover; between a small or large-sized notebook. Whatever your preferences, you need something that works for you—the perfect place for your spontaneous doodles, sketches, ideas and notes.

The quality of the paper needs to be strong enough to handle whatever type of medium you regularly use, while also convenient enough to carry around with you to school, a coffee shop or on a bus. Take your time and invest in a high-quality notebook. Many companies have come up with a variety of notebook designs that include grids, lines, dotted pages, pockets, page markers and more.

It can be tempting to simply pick up a Moleskine at the nearest kiosk and call it a day, but with very little effort you can find a few gems that will not only warehouse all of your best ideas but might inspire a few as well.

Creative Software

You can sketch out a lot of designs and ideas in your notebook, but every designer should consider creative software as a necessary piece of graphic design equipment.

Whether you’re a little newer to graphic design software or an experienced designer, having the right digital graphic design tools can make a significant difference to your finished designs.

Most are easy-to-use while also having more superior features depending on your experience level, but all give you more control in how you create. We'll break each important software tool down a bit

InDesign

Adobe InDesign is a leading graphic design tool used by millions of designers worldwide, and it is easy to see why.

For one, it provides a variety of advanced tools and features such as typography controls, page layout controls, and pre-designed templates, that make designing graphic layouts and documents an easy and intuitive process.

Additionally, InDesign is specially developed for print and publishing design, allowing designers to create designs for magazines, brochures and other publications. In addition to this, InDesign supports interactivity and multimedia features, which make it possible to create interactive PDFs, e-books, and other digital documents.

Photoshop

Photoshop, also developed by Adobe, is one of the world's most popular graphic design tools, used by millions of designers worldwide.

Photoshop's foremost feature is its image-editing capabilities. It is a versatile tool for manipulating, enhancing, and creating images with high precision and detail.

Users can crop images, adjust colour tones, retouch blemishes, improve the clarity of photos, among other features. Additionally, Photoshop can be used to create complex designs that integrate images, shapes, texts and drawing tools.

It also offers a wide range of pre-designed templates and presets that aid in accelerating the design process.

Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is one of the most popular graphic design tools used by designers from all over the world.

The tool is particularly well-suited for vector graphics design, and it is used to create digital artwork, logos, icons, typography and other illustrations that can be used for a wide range of applications.

One of the most significant benefits of Adobe Illustrator is its flexibility, which allows designers to create vector graphics that are scalable and adaptable to different platforms and devices.

The tool's powerful typography tools allow designers to experiment with different fonts and effects to create unique designs. Illustrator offers a wide range of features such as brushes, gradients and templates, making it easy for designers to create stunning and detailed designs.

Figma

Figma is an excellent graphic design tool that has gained immense popularity among designers in recent years, owing to its unique capabilities and features.

One of Figma's greatest strengths is its ability to allow multiple designers to collaborate in real-time, making it ideal for teamwork and design collaboration. It is also cloud-based, so designers can work from anywhere and at any time, making it highly convenient.

Moreover, Figma provides a variety of useful features, such as vector networks, prototyping, and animated GIFs, that are useful in creating stunning designs.

Large High Definition Monitor

A large high-end monitor can seem more like a luxury than a necessity. However, the quality of the monitor you use can make a dramatic difference in the work you produce.

When it comes to monitors, most people are pretty clueless about what to look for. It’s easy to get lost in the jargon, we know. Regardless of whether or not you buy a 4K monitor, you will need to pay attention to the resolution.

Most graphic designers will choose a UHD (3840X2160 pixels) or a QHD resolution. In this case, size does matter, so most designers will tell you that between 27 and 32 inches are ideal. There are a number of other bells and whistles that you can get when setting up your workstation, but the monitor isn't the place to cut corners.

Wacom Tools

No list of tools for graphic designers would be complete without a serious nod to Wacom and its line of digital tablets, styluses and software that have become an industry standard.

As far as graphic design hardware is concerned, Wacom is a great fit for designers of all levels. Graphic designers love how well Wacom pens and tablets are integrated with Adobe's suite of products, including Illustrator.

Wacom's pens deliver precision performance and a natural feel. Animations become richer and other visual effects are much simpler with pressure-sensitive pens and tablets.

External Hard Drive

Having a reliable external hard drive is a necessity for anybody whose work uses a lot of data or whose work depends on so many external files.

Hard drives are portable, easy to use and can provide an immense amount of storage. Even if you don't use them to backup existing files, they can expand your computer's storage exponentially, which is especially important for projects that include animation, film or other large files.

Although external hard drives aren't explicitly graphic design tools, no serious designer could function without at least one.

Monitor Calibrator

Another piece of graphic design hardware that often goes without mentioning but is such an invaluable tool is a monitor calibrator.

No matter how beautiful your photos or video turns out, your project may suffer if you find yourself working with a monitor that warps colors (I know, we just shuddered at the thought too!).

Unfortunately, this kind of warping can be hard to spot with your naked eye and, at times, nearly impossible to adjust after the fact. Of course, this assumes that you are also using a quality camera and lens and that your monitor is up to the task of displaying images that are true to life.

No amount of calibration can compensate for poor-quality tools. However, using a monitor calibrator ensures that your images are just as beautiful after editing as they were when you took them, if not even more so.

iMac

Of all of the graphic design equipment you may have thought would be on the list, of course, the iMac Pro is one of them.

How could it not be? It’s so commonly used in the creative community that it’s become the go-to hardware for design houses and ad agencies the world over.

Whether you are a freelancer, student or employed by an agency, it is worth investing in an iMac. And it is an investment. This powerful tool is easily one of the most expensive all-in-one computers available to graphic designers, especially if you get the extras.