Google recently launched Web Designer, a “professional-quality design tool,” now officially in public beta for Mac and Windows. Google created Web Designer to allow advertisers to easily create HTML5 ads for mobile and desktop. Web Designer aims to be the tool to create content fit for cross-screen experiences.
While the default layouts in Web Designer are for DoubleClick rich media ads and for AdMob mobile ads, the tool also allows for creating single-page landing pages and timeline animations. And while Web Designer is a visual tool, designers can also work with the code through a built-in editor and preview their work in every browser installed on their machine. Web Designer's tool set includes a pen tool for free drawing, a timeline for managing animations. and a set of pre-built modules for galleries, maps and videos. Web Developer also features a Quick mode for building scene by scene animations and an Advanced mode to give designers control over the individual elements they've put on the page.
By making Web Designer available for free, Google is putting quite a bit of pressure on the other software solutions currently in this space. It will be interesting to see how the community adapts this tool.
