Creating effective and visually stunning website templates is an art, and at Duda, this art is masterfully led by Anath Abenzour. With over a decade of experience in UI and product design, Anath has been instrumental in shaping the aesthetic and functional aspects of Duda’s templates for the past seven years. She brings a wealth of knowledge from her studies in graphic and web design in Brussels and London and has a keen eye for detail that ensures every template not only meets but exceeds user expectations.

In this interview, we dive deep into Anath's design process, exploring how she decides which templates to create, the tools she uses, and the challenges she faces. From initial research to the final quality assurance checks, Anath shares her insights and tips for creating templates that are both beautiful and highly functional. Whether you’re a seasoned designer, a beginner, or with no special design skills, you’ll find valuable nuggets of wisdom to enhance your design practice. 

Let's dive into the mind of a design expert and discover how Duda's templates come to life.

Anath, What's your professional background?

I have been the UI Design Lead and Product Designer at Duda for the past seven years, with a total of eleven years of experience in various companies. I studied graphic design and web design in Brussels and London.

How do you decide which template to create? Is there a request board for templates?

We gather user requests for templates from various sources, such as the Duda community, UserVoice (our idea board), Facebook group, and account managers. The decision also depends on the features we are releasing and if they need to be highlighted in a template. We analyze data to see what types of sites users are creating with our templates. For example, we've noticed a high rate of apparel stores on Duda’s native eCommerce platform, so we decided to create a specific template for small fashion merchants, like watches.

How much time does it take to create a template?

Creating a template takes approximately two weeks from start to release. This includes: 

• Research
• Wireframing
• Branding
• Design & images
• Building
• Copywriting
• And quality assurance.

Which tools do you use?

I find that a variety of tools are essential in creating a seamless and effective template. 

Here’s a breakdown of the main tools I rely on throughout the design process:

• Research: I look for real websites from the specific industry to map the template. For example, for plumbers, I analyze what services are on their homepage, contact forms, the number of pages, and essential visible information. Google and ChatGPT are invaluable for this.
• Wireframe/Brand/Design: I use Figma and search for design inspiration on platforms like Pinterest, Dribble, Land-book, Awwwards, and Muzli.
• Images: High-quality images are crucial and must be royalty-free with a reusable license. I source them from Pexels, Pixabay, Kaboompics, and Adobe Stock Images. Since Midjourney's licensing is unclear for endlessly reusable images, we do not use it for templates. However, if it’s just for a client site, that’s a different story.
  * As an agency building a template, you can also look at competitors within the industry to gain insights and inspiration.
  
• Building: We use Duda’s Editor 2.0 and leverage Duda’s AI tools.
• Copywriting: Inspiration comes from various sources, including my own writing and AI-powered tools.
• Quality Assurance: I handle this part personally to ensure everything meets our standards.

How do you start?

When I start building in the editor, I begin with the theme: colors, text, and buttons. Then, I create the header, followed by the hero images, and proceed section by section across three breakpoints.

Do you start with a blank template, or do you edit an existing one?

I always start with an empty template.

Which features are you using?

I use all the widgets and features depending on the design I've created, such as text, images, galleries, buttons, and accordions. Features like stores and blogs are also included.

How do you select colors? Do you use any specific tools or methods?

While looking for inspiration, I select colors relevant to the theme. Dark colors, for example, suit industries like cars and watches. For those less experienced, I recommend tools like Color Selector. The choice of colors also depends on the site's images, the color contrast with those images, and complementary colors to the logo.

How do you populate content?

I use inspiration and AI tools, such as Duda’s AI Assistant, to populate content.

What do you struggle with?

Finding images that match together is the hardest part. I can spend days looking for the perfect image for a hero section, for example.

Do you know any tricks and hacks you can share?

• Start with the theme and fill in all the theme settings before beginning the design to connect all the text and colors, allowing for easy changes in one place.
• Use pre-designed sections from Duda to avoid building from scratch.
• Upload all media (images, icons, videos, files) into the media manager and create organized folders.
• Review each section in all breakpoints before moving to the next to ensure efficiency.
• Use dynamic pages and collections for multi-page designs like real estate listings or business services.
• Utilize Duda’s extensive and free icon library to illustrate features effectively.

What's your favorite part about creating Duda's templates?

I love using my creativity to benefit our customers, creating templates that are accurate, aesthetic, and practical. It’s incredibly rewarding to see how our work resonates with users once the templates are released.

Looking for a specific template you want us to create? Reach out to our community!