Figma is holding its 4th annual Config Conference in 2023—and, if you’re reading this in the future, you totally missed out, it was incredible—featuring training sessions and seminars from leading designers and developers across the tech spectrum, from GitHub to Netflix. Figma has come a long way since their “Aha!” moment in 2011, and their work with some of the biggest names in website development is the proof. Case in point: the Figma to Webflow plugin.
We here at Slam Media Lab are certified Webflow Expert partners, employing the web design software to become an award-winning B2B web design agency. Over the last few years, we have designed, optimized, and launched dozens of Webflow sites, helping everyone from nonprofits to Fortune 500 companies rank on SERPs, improve UX, and build a website they love. Our processes have only improved through Figma and Webflow—as well as the new Figma to Webflow plugin—and we want to share how yours can, too, through such features as:
- Figma’s collaborative design and flexible workflows
- Webflow’s no-code platform, with ease-of-use SEO
- The new and convenient Figma to Webflow plugin
First, let’s check out the basics of Figma and Webflow, and detail how these software can improve your website builds.
Get to Know Figma & Webflow
Building a website requires a seemingly endless amount of decision-making, from minutia like CTA button shape to major choices, such as choosing a web design agency. And, with nearly 95% of first impressions relating to the design of your site, isn’t it a no-brainer to trust your site build to design-oriented software? Simplifying and improving your processes should be the foremost functions of any software you use. Enter Figma and Webflow.
What is Figma?
Before diving into all the amazing uses for the new Figma to Webflow plugin, we should probably answer some big questions: namely, what are Figma and Webflow?
Figma, in their own words, is a “vector design tool” made to operate in your web browser. What does this mean? Figma incorporates vector paths and graphics—or, graphics based on mathematical formulas—that serve as the building blocks for your web design. These building blocks consist of two main features, which are:
- Canvases: Figma’s canvases are the starting backdrop for all your frames, graphics, shapes, and text; as the name implies, this is the blank starting point for all of your designs.
- Wireframes: You need containers within your canvas for your headers, images, and designs, which is where wireframes work their magic; as Figma puts it, each frame acts as a “single screen of your design.”
These beginning tools are essential to building your site, and getting comfortable and familiar with them can open up your designer prowess quickly. Still, a couple hundred web designer software out there offer similar features, so what sets Figma apart?
What Sets Figma Apart?
Figma’s model is all about collaboration. Once you’re comfortable with the initial build, you can invite co-designers or coworkers in to assist with your design. Initial launch of this model met with expected resistance, but Figma devotees like ourselves can’t imagine working any other way. The value added capabilities of Figma include:
- Collaboration that’s specifically built for web and UX design
- Flexibility for almost all design workflows
- Huge and helpful community of users
- Fast, efficient, and easy-to-use interface
Collaboration Built for Web and UX Design
Figma is all about collaboration, but not just collaboration. What we mean is, Figma’s collab style workflows promote web and UX design during your build process. Other software we here at Slam love and employ daily—Notion, Slack, Airtable—promote collaboration, but are more focused on teamwork and project synergy than final outcomes. Figma allows developers to experience their designs and builds as users will during the collaboration process, keeping the focus at all times on UX and web design.
Figma’s signature collaboration tool, FigJam is the “whiteboard” where your team can brainstorm, plan, map out, and collab on your next projects, as well as invite feedback, assistance, and updates to other teams, clients, and/or stakeholders. Figma streamlines the collaboration process, keeping your brand strategy on point and enabling you and your team to build your best possible website.
Flexibility for Your Workflow
Starting out in Figma, most designers will realize the potential for streamlined UX and web design right off the bat. Still, the flexibility for workflows may go undiscovered, as Figma offers more than convenient design capabilities. We deploy Figma across almost all of our workflows, including for:
- Social media content and planning, such as TikTok and Instagram
- Presentations and pitch decks
- PDFs and other documents
- Graphic design
Virtually no limits exist on Figma’s design possibilities, giving you the best collaboration interface to unlock your, and your team’s, designer superpowers.
A Vast and Growing Community
Naturally, a company built on the value of collaboration also supports communities of designers, developers, and creators. From Figma’s own featured community of developers to offshoots of Figma and Webflow like Relume, the resources are practically endless for those looking to start building through Figma. The Figma Community includes:
- Community Files: These are design files published to the Community boards for Figma users to review, remix, and duplicate for shared use or general inspo.
- Plugins: One of the best features of Figma, Community Plugins offer extensive functionality designed and tested by other Figma developers and Community members. Swap out design themes fast as hell with Themer, animate objects within wireframes through Figmotion, and customize your entire UX with Figma Community plugins.
- Playground Files: Extensions of Community plugins, playground files give developers extra guidance on how and when to deploy a specific plugin.
- Widgets: Custom objects you can add to Figma or FigJam boards, widgets add additional customizability and usability to your collaboration process, making your Figma workspace entirely your own.
- Community Resources: Increase your knowledge on a specific file or plugin, check usage metrics, and create or view Community profiles to get the complete experience out of your Figma Community.
Fast, Efficient, and Easy-to-Use Interface
On top of all the impressive and useful plugins, Community resources, and collaborative features, Figma is just downright easy to use. You don’t need to be a seasoned developer to jump into Figma’s design interface and start creating; our clients—from restaurant owners to venture capitalists—have expressed to us, repeatedly, how easy and enjoyable it is to work in Figma.
Still, we prefer Figma’s interface to that of similar software like Adobe XD or Sketch for one main reason: it’s fast as hell. Design responsiveness, code embeds, teamwork processes—you name it, Figma cuts down the time it takes to accomplish it.
Check out why we love working with Figma and Webflow on all of our website builds at Slam!
What is Webflow?
We covered the basics of Figma; now, let’s take a look at the bread and butter of our website designs: Webflow. We wouldn’t have the success we’ve achieved building fast, scalable, and engaging websites without Webflow. So…what is it?
Webflow is a no-code, visual website design and development platform that enables its users to design without needing a Computer Science degree. To quote Webflow: “Build with the power of code, without writing any.” Webflow generates the code for you, so you are able to implement your site’s design faster and, if we’re being honest, more enjoyably.
Founded in 2013 by Vlad and Sergie Magdalin with Bryant Chou, Webflow was designed to give more accessibility to startups during the site design phase. No longer needing a comprehensive tech background or coding knowledge, Webflow helped remove blocks for non-coders and -programmers, opening up web development to everyone with Wi-Fi and a good idea.
Today, startups, nonprofits, SMBs, and Fortune 500 companies still need to hire developers to manage their CMS and website design, especially those building on WordPress. Webflow instead offers solutions to developers through their drag-and-drop tools and an easy-to-use visual interface effectively making anyone and everyone a potential web designer. Webflow also provides a powerful CMS that lets users manage and update their website's content without add-ons, extra downloads, or additional software.
Webflow’s ease-of-use and drag-and-drop features aren't the only draws. You can also choose from a wide range of templates, or design your own custom layouts from scratch, using Webflow's visual editor to add and edit content, style specific elements, and manage site structure. Along with aesthetically pleasing templates, Webflow’s resources include:
- Webflow Marketplace: Join a community hub full of member-created resources such as apps, expert matching, and curated libraries of templates and layouts.
- #MadeInWebflow: See what other designers have built at #MadeInWebflow—from first attempts at design to fully-realized and stunning websites.
- Webflow Apps: Boost your site’s UX with helpful apps, including publishing tools like LetterDrop, programmatic SEO assistance through PageFactory, and two-way software sync with Whalesync.
- Libraries: Discover a bevy of resources through Webflow’s free libraries full of useful components, ideas, or features for website design, from free avatar kits to uDesign components.
- Webflow TV: Explore curated and original Webflow content, such as past Webflow conferences, follow-along website designs, and useful AMAs.
Webflow's core tech stack is built on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which means that it produces clean, efficient code that is engineered for SEO and optimized for mobile. Webflow is the ideal platform for founders, designers, developers, and marketers who want to create high-quality, responsive websites that rank well on Google from day one.
Over the past decade, Webflow has grown its loyal following among designers, developers, marketers, and small business owners (not to mention yours truly) looking to create professional websites without needing to learn how to code and without breaking the bank.
Discover why Slam is a Webflow Certified Expert. Contact us today to learn about everything we offer for your next Webflow website build!
Why Slam Swears By Using Figma and Webflow
WIth all the useful collaboration tools of Figma and the design capabilities of Webflow, why do you need both? We here at Slam have employed Figma and Webflow for years, creating award-winning B2B designs and fast ranking websites. Each software has the ability to boost your web design prowess, but using them in tandem can unlock your designer superpowers.
Let’s take a look at how combining Figma and Webflow in your workflow can improve your website builds through:
- Streamlined design system for rapid builds
- Easy-to-use interfaces for even the least tech-savvy users
- Figma to Webflow plugin
Streamline Your Design System With Figma to Webflow
Getting started with any new product—especially software—can be daunting, requiring hours of tutorials, manual reading, and trial-and-error test runs. While both Figma and Webflow do offer useful introductory lessons—Figma for Beginners and Webflow 101, respectively—the biggest draw of each may be the option of jumping in and picking up the design interfaces as you go.
With helpful tools to guide you through the startup, Figma and Webflow both enable users to create a design system and move fast. Figma makes this possible through features such as:
- Components: Broken between two options, main components and instances, Figma components allow you to define each component’s properties, as well as copy and reuse component designs
- Styles: Define and connect styles across your designs, such as effects, layout grids, text, and colors, without having to adjust every feature individually.
- Auto layouts: Streamline your wireframe and component designs with auto layouts, easing your workflow through such features as buttons that adapt to text size, lists that adjust with additions and deletions, and combination frames to extend or complete your interface.
Figma’s updates and innovations all keep ease-of-use and streamlined processes as the main focus. We put these features to use crafting a design system that promotes collaboration across our entire team without missing a beat.
Webflow also offers convenient features to maximize your workflow speed and efficiency, especially when transferring your designs from Figma. These features include:
- No-code design: Years ago, only coders could build fully functional websites, but Webflow’s no-code structure allows your entire team—from web developers to copywriters—to contribute without disrupting workflows.
- Class-based build: Webflow incorporates classes across its design software, allowing you to structure and save layouts and styling information across your entire cache of website design elements.
Since Webflow operates through no-code and class-based design, transferring your work from Figma to finalize and launch in Webflow is not only possible, but it’s pretty damn easy, too.
Improve Your Collab Process With Easy-to-Use Figma and Webflow
Do we love the speedy builds made possible by Figma and Webflow? Of course. SEO-focused software for quick and effective SERP ranking? You bet. But, if we had to pick our #1 selling point for using Figma and Webflow in all of our website builds, we know exactly what we’d say: they’re really f@!#ing easy to use!
With visual-based interfaces, drag-and-drop design functionality, and plenty of assistance and tutorials along the way, both Figma and Webflow push back against the tech gatekeepers, inviting everyone to translate their winning website ideas to the page. On top of the ease-of-use features of both software, each one offers a FREE account option to get you started designing before committing any of the budget to your project.
Put the Figma to Webflow Plugin to Good Use for Your Next Build
Want the ultimate tool for streamlining your Figma to Webflow site builds? Webflow Labs has developed a beta plugin expressly for the purpose of copy-pasting your Figma designs directly into Webflow. Rather than transfer every single element from Figma into Webflow, the Figma to Webflow plugin quickly translates Figma’s data into CSS and HTML equivalents, streamlining the upload process and enabling your team to focus on design and site launch. The Figma to Webflow plugin currently allows you to translate features between the software including:
- Auto layouts
- Border styles
- Background images
- Linear gradients
- Images
- Opacity
- Absolute position
As with almost all Webflow upgrades, the Figma to Webflow plugin is still incorporating new ways and features to improve and streamline your design process. Stay tuned to see what the Figma to Webflow plugin will be able to achieve next!
Ready to Take Your Designs From Figma to Webflow? Slam Can Help!
Ready to get started building in Figma and Webflow with Slam? Contact us and we’ll give you all the info you need to start designing your next website today! Need more information? Check out all of our FREE products and resources, as well as even more articles to guide you in how Figma and Webflow can boost your workflows.
Reach out to us today with any questions or concerns you have, and take a look at all of our services while you’re here!
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