✏ Issue #491: Google Page Experience Update, 22 Exciting New Tools for Designers, Diversity In Design, Invision Freehand, and more…

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The long-anticipated Google algorithm update that focuses on Page Experience metrics has begun rolling out across the Web. Allaying fears of a rollercoaster for SERPs over the next few weeks, Google has confirmed that the slow release will take until the end of August to complete, and sudden jumps in page ranking are not anticipated.

Each month we publish this roundup of the most exciting new tools we’ve discovered on the Web in the previous four weeks. In June 2021’s edition, you’ll find tools to help you be a better coder, apps for manipulating images, browser extensions, color scheme generators, some tutorials, and a whole bunch of UI Kits and icon sets.

Although many web professionals were born long after floppy disks became obsolete, the little plastic disk is still synonymous with save icons. This week, Samsung, in collaboration with PR agency Edelman, revealed a redesigned, up-to-date icon. The updated design is an elegant solution that deserves widespread adoption.

Ecommerce giant Stripe has continued its recent run of product releases with Identity, an API product that allows you to confirm the identity of a user, protecting your app or site from fraudsters. Stripe’s reputation for simple integration is well deserved here, and it’s an effective solution for anyone running know-your-customer processes.

Design is an overwhelmingly white industry. To address that imbalance, dozens of global design companies, including Adobe, Dropbox, Pentagram, and Work & Co, have joined forces to launch DID (Diversity in Design). Its mission is to increase representation and perspective in design via education, internships, and career support.

InVision Freehand is a collaborative tool for planning user journeys, generating information architecture, and planning projects. It’s a cross between a whiteboard and a set of post-its that opens the planning process up to whole teams. Freehand is now free until the end of September, with a paid plan starting at $8 per user after that.

After images, fonts are one of the biggest sources of slow sites. In this easy-to-follow guide, Katie Hempenius walks us through web font best practices, helping us speed up perceived and actual load times ready for Google’s Web Vitals Core Update.

Anima is an awesome app that translates designs into Vue code, shortening the gap between designers and developers. With plugins for Figma, Sketch, and XD, designers can create interactive prototypes, then export high-fidelity code to get the developers off to a flying start. There’s a free plan, and paid plans start at $25/month.