A couple of years ago an article such as this one would have been impossible. However, with the popularity, support and involvement of developers exploding it is now truly possible to run a design and development studio completely based on Open Source technologies. Below is a list of products you would need to set-up your Open Source studio.

The Gimp

The Gimp

One of the first application most design/development studios will invest in is a web design and photo manipulation application. And for the longest time users had no choice and had to fork out a huge sum of money to get the latest and greatest version of Adobe PhotoShop. For your open source studio however, you can simply head over the the Gimp website and download it for free.

The Gimp has grown up a lot since it’s early days and with all of the plugins being released for The Gimp this should be the first item in your trolley. Some of the criticism that Gimp has received mainly concerns it’s interface and if you share this, then simply download GimpShop.

Blander Sample

Blender

If you are going to step into the world of 3D design you really need a tool that has an intuitive interface and a proven track record. For your Open Source design studio you have the option of one of the best 3D design tools in the industry, Blender. Beyond Blender awesome features it runs on all of the following platforms, Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Mac OS X (PPC and Intel), Linux (i386), SGI Irix 6.5 and Sun Solaris 2.8 (sparc). Here are just some of the awesome array of features you will get from Blender:

• Rigging
• Modeling
• Rendering
• Animation
• UV Unwrapping
• Shading
• Physics and Particles
• Imaging and Compositing
• Realtime 3D/Game Creation

Download Blender

Inkscape

Inkscape

If you are going to do any kind of vector work, Illustrator would probably be the first tool that comes to mind. However, for our Open Source studio that is not an option. Inkscape, as Gimp, has come a long way since it started and is definitely my choice for an Open Source studio.  Update: Version 0.47 was officially released a short while ago and is the result of over a year of intense development resulting in the best Inkscape yet.

As mentioned on the Inkscape website: “Inkscape now features Spiro curves (Cornu spirals) introduced to design world by Raph Levien. While FontForge is the first (open source) project that has implementation of Spiro, Inkscape provides a number of features unmatched by other tools, as demonstrated by Andy Fitzsimon. Spiro curves are implemented as a live path effect and can be applied to any existing Bezier path of be drawn from scratch with either Pen or Pencil tool.”

So for your vector art needs you need not look further then Inkscape.

Scribus

Scribus

If you plan on offering any kind of publishing as part of you studio’s services, you are going to need a great page layout tool with press-ready output as well as the needed publishing features to take your digital creation to print with predictable results.

The tool of choice for our Open Source studio will have to be Scribus: “Scribus is an open-source program that brings award-winning professional page layout to Linux/Unix, MacOS X, OS/2 and Windows desktops with a combination of “press-ready” output and new approaches to page layout. Underneath the modern and user friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.”

Paint.net

Paint.NET

Sometimes you just need to quickly crop an image, make some small edits or create a new raster image put do not need all of the fancy tools something like the Gimp comes with nor do you want to launch such a large application for a small task. You want to launch the app quickly, do what you need, save and exit.

In these cases you need not look any further then Paint.NET. I have been using it personally for some time now and will definitely encourage you to download it and start seeing how quick and easy this application works.

Kompozer

KompoZer

A lot of people in the web design industry still rely on tools such as Dreamweaver for it’s WYSISYG functionality and other productivity enhancements. However, especially since Adobe bought out Macromedia, Dreamweaver has become a very expensive tool.

Yet again the open source world brings us an alternative in the form of KompoZer. Dreamweaver users will feel right at home with the interface and is it is powered by mozilla and written in XUL it is an extensible editing tool to boot. Over and above this KompoZer contains a load of feature like a FTP site manager, CSS editor, XFN support, automated spell checker cleaner markup through KompoZer’s own internal machinery as well as the ability to call the W3C’s validation service right from within Kompozer.

OpenLaszlo

OpenLaszlo

For the longest time when you wanted to develop Flash based application, well you had to use Adob’e Flash authoring environment. No more, Laszlo Systems has come to our rescue and we can now include rich internet application development to our service stack through OpenLaszlo.

OpenLaszlo has a relatively complex architecture as well as an accompanying IDE based on the Eclipse platform. The secret though lies in the OpenLaszlo compiler. You create you LZX files inside the IDE or any other editor of your choice and the compiler will take this and compile it into executable binaries for the targeted run-time environments. Currently you can target Flash versions 7 up to version 9 with the latest release of OpenLazslo. Get OpenLaszlo now and experience the magic.

Aptana Studio

Aptana Studio

If you are going to do any kind of dynamic web development using either PHP, Ruby On Rails or Python, you are going to need a robust and reliable IDE. If you are a seasoned web developer you may also not need or want a development environment that includes WYSIWYG features as for the most part these tend to just get in the way.

In this category the open source world is ripe with solution. My personal recommendation in this category would be Aptana Studio. There are a couple of reasons like, Aptana is based on the solid, robust and proven Eclipse platform. You can run with just that which you want for example, only need the default Aptana workbench and Rails support? Download the base studio and then add the RadRails plugin. Need PHP support just add the PHP plugin and the same goes for Python. Over and above this Aptana provides a host of other features and of course the huge Eclipse plugin ecosystem is there as well. Grab Aptana today and start to enjoy it’s power and flexibility.

FileZilla

FileZilla

While some of the above listed application include FTP support sometimes it is just better to have an application that is dedicated to it’s purpose. It makes for a lighter, snappier experience and more often then not also a more feature rich experience.

I have been using FileZilla forever and must say I have never felt the need to look for any other tool for my FTP needs. FileZilla is incredibly well maintained, with frequent updates to improve and secure the application. If you need an FTP client, grab FileZilla.

I can of course go on and on, but the tools that are mentioned in this is what, I believe to be, the essence of what you are going to need to get your Open Source design studio ready and open for business, just add a talented, passionate individual(s). What suggestion do you have? What have I missed? Looking forward to your comments.