Plugins are third-party scripts that add to the functionality of an application. They’re just like the applications on your phone. You have to install to use them in your design tool. Plugins are the one of the best things that happened to figma. With plugins, designing is smoother and even seamless.
When I started designing, I had no idea what plugins were. Designing felt so stressful and was mentally tiring. A lot of design beginners don’t know about plugins and how useful they are.
There are plugins that every designer should have. These plugins add to the functionality of your design and make work easier for you.
Here’s a list of them
1. Iconify
This plugin is known to have 5000+ icons and emojis. Iconify imports these icons in svg format to your design without having to go to the website, giving full edit access to its user.
2. Unsplash
Unsplash is a website that provides high-resolution free images. Using the plugin saves you the stress of going to the website to download those images. They give free access to the public usage of these images as long as you don't claim ownership to them.
3. Content Reel
This plugin import readymade content, such as avatars, texts, phone numbers, locations and more, into your design.
4. Mapsicle
When you need to put a map in your design, all you need is the mapsicle plugin. It lets you create a map and puts it in your design.
5. Wirebox
Wirebox is a used to create wireframes of your design. It simply duplicates your design as a wireframe.
6. Stories by Freepik
Freepik is a widely known image and vector art resource. Freepik recently created an extension, stories.freepik.com, for amazing illustrations. This plugin imports your chosen illustration in svg format which allows you to edit it’s contents.
7. Lorem Ipsum
This is most widely used dummy text. When you lack content or you’re not ready to put in your content, it’s best to use Lorem Ipsum text.
8. Palette
This plugin is used to simply generate and select color palettes inside your figma file.
9. Charts
When your design requires a chart, this plugin makes it easy for you. You choose the specifications of your chart and import to your file.
10. Find and Replace
The Ctrl+F command only works for frames on figma. To quickly change texts on figma, it’s best to use the find and replace plugin.
11. Mockuups Studio
When presenting your work and sharing on platforms, it’s best to use mockups to give an idea of how it would look like on devices.
Installing these plugins are fast and as easy as using them. There are thousands of plugins on figma to use and explore. I advice you start exploring them now.