50 EssentialFree Resourcesfor Graphic Designers

When it comes to being a designer, you’ll always need to stock up on graphics, stock photography and fonts as well as rely on other helpful tools to successfully get your work done.

The list might seem daunting and endless, but it doesn’t have to cost you the earth. From choosing the perfect typography and finding the right visual assets to selecting the best colour palette, there is a wealth of free resources out there to make your work shine.

Our designers and teachers at Shillington, along with the Creative Boom team, helped us put together this fresh list of 50 essential resources for graphic designers—and they won’t cost you a penny.

Free Graphic Resources

How would we survive without having access to those crucial visual assets that help to add polish to our designs? The following resources bring you everything from web icons and templates to vectors and textures – and even better, they’re free. So you can save money while meeting that deadline.

1. Pixeden

Looking for lots of free graphics and web resources all in one place? Pixeden has a little bit of everything. With plenty of graphic design and web design templates, icons and vectors – you’ll be spoilt for choice. You can join for free but if you want a little extra, you can upgrade to one of their premium plans too.

www.pixeden.com

2. Design Instruct

Design Instruct offers lots of free resources including icons, vectors, fonts, stock images and textures – everything you might need for your projects. Simply head to their Freebies section where you can take your pick and download for free.

www.designinstruct.com

3. FindGuidelin.es

“The fastest way to brand assets” – that’s the claim of FindGuidelin.es which provides helpful links to some of the world’s biggest brand identities. Get quick access to logos, buttons, icons and colour palettes from companies as big as Facebook, Spotify and Dropbox.

www.findguidelin.es

4. Sketch App Sources

Get Sketch resources in your inbox, courtesy of Sketch App Sources. We particularly like the “free resources” where you can download free icons, wireframes, buttons, forms and logos. Sign up and get alerts to free and premium design resources from this excellently curated collection.

www.sketchappsources.com

5. 365PSD

Check out this collection of free vector images, logo designs and PSD graphics for your next projects. From business icon sets and free flat UI kits to image screens and Facebook covers, there is plenty to browse and download without spending a penny.

www.365psd.com

6. Endless Icons

Doing exactly what it says on the tin, Endless Icons brings you a wealth of free icons to suit your design projects. From the usual suspects of web, corporate and social to more unusual themes such as beauty, food and fun icons – this is the place to find what you need.

www.endlessicons.com

7. Noun Project

Millions use Noun Project to access new icons added daily by its creative community. A free membership is available, giving you access to over 100,000 icons of various themes. There’s also an option to upgrade and get unlimited access to the directory.

www.thenounproject.com

8. Designer Mill

We love this clean, minimal resource full of quality free UI kits, icons, mockups, templates and fonts. There’s always something fresh and interesting to add to your library. And you can submit your own creations too.

www.designermill.com

9. FreePik

Need some free vector designs? FreePik is the place for you. Claiming to be the leading search engine for such graphics, there are over a million free vectors and photographs at your fingertips.

www.freepik.com

10. FlatIcon

Over 130,000 vector icons grouped together in 1,849 packs – that’s the promise from FlatIcon that brings you a ton of free icons to download and keep.

www.flaticon.com

<a href="http://www.thenounproject.com/" target="_blank">www.thenounproject.com</a>

Free Typography Resources

Need some decent typefaces for your print or digital projects? Typography can get expensive rather quickly. So if money’s tight, check out the following leading resources that offer plenty of gorgeous fonts for free.

11. Font Squirrel

Font Squirrel is the king of all font websites, bringing you hundreds of free typefaces that you can use across all your commercial work. Whatever style you’re after, from a more corporate font to softer calligraphic lettering, there is something to suit.

www.fontsquirrel.com

12. Fontshop

Whether you’re a seasoned designer or just getting started, Fontshop gives a nice digest of design terms relating to fonts in their glossary. It’s also a good place to start if you’re unsure about how to search for the font you want. Here’s the full A-Z of terminology so you can get clued up:

www.fontshop.com

13. Typewolf

Created with the purpose of gathering together the best typography resources, Typewolf makes finding the perfect font super easy. There are tons of lists summing up certain types of fonts, guides and resources about typography, and other recommendations. The website even has a catalogue of where different fonts are used, so you can get a feel of what they look like in print or online.

www.typewolf.com

14. Typecast

A free account on Typecast gives you access to over 3,650 web fonts, including some of the most celebrated and influential typefaces. It also lets you design a working prototype that can be exported ready for production in HTML and CSS. Nice.

www.typecast.com

15. Free Typography

There are a lot of fonts to choose from on Free Typography, whether you’re searching for something simple or a more unique typeface. The website also invites you to submit your own font, which is a good way to build up your portfolio.

www.freetypography.com

16. Open Foundry

Open Foundry is a new platform for open-source fonts in a noise-free environment; to highlight their beauty and encourage further exploration. Founded by Stefan Endress and Alastair O’Shea – the site offers hundreds of free open-source fonts optimised for the web.

www.open-foundry.com

17. FontStruct

FontStruct is a free font-building tool which helps you easily create fonts using geometrical shapes. You can keep your creations private, or share with its online community. You can even download fonts made by other FontStruct users.

www.fontstruct.com

<a href="http://www.fontsquirrel.com/" target="_blank">Font Squirrel</a>

Free Stock Photography

A photograph can often complete a design. But because so many stock imagery sites cost a small fortune to purchase from, how can you find copyright-free pictures for free? The following solutions will become essential bookmarks.

18. Death to the Stock Photo

Founded by two rogue photographers Allie and David, Death to the Stock Photo was launched in 2014 to help creatives struggling to find images that fit their “vibe and tribe”. There are plenty of free photos to choose from, but there’s also an option to upgrade and go premium.

www. deathtothestockphoto.com

19. Pexels

Described as the website with the ‘best free stock photos in one place’, Pexels adds five new high-quality photos daily – copyright-free and available for commercial use.

www.pexels.com

20. Little Visuals

Little Visuals is a simple, free resource where you can sign up to get seven high-res images zipped to your inbox every Thursday. Think quality city scenes and rolling landscapes, and you’re able to use the images any way you want.

www.littlevisuals.co

21. Life of Pix

Life of Pix offers high-resolution photos with no copyright restrictions. Added weekly, all images are donated to the public domain, courtesy of Leeroy, an advertising agency in Montreal and its trusted network of photographers.

www.lifeofpix.com

22. Stocksnap

Calling itself the number one source for beautiful free stock photos, Stocksnap offers hundreds of high-resolution images, added weekly – and not one would be considered cheesy.

www.stocksnap.io

<a href="http://www.fancycrave.com/" target="_blank">Fancy Crave</a>

23. Unsplash

Another great little website, Unsplash adds 10 new photos every 10 days. From portraits and landscapes to architectural imagery, this will become an essential bookmarked site.

www.unsplash.com

24. PicJumbo

Created by Viktor, a web designer who “understands the requirement for decent stock photography”, PicJumbo offers high-quality photos for free. An attribution is appreciated but not necessary.

www.picjumbo.com

25. Gratisography

Gratisography provides free high-resolution pictures you can use for both your personal and commercial projects. All images have been taken by Ryan McGuire and are free of copyright restrictions.

www.gratisography.com

26. SplitShare

Photographer Daniel Nanescu loves photography so much that he gives his shots away for free. He’s the driving force behind SplitShare, a website that’s already had 80,000 downloads and over a million page views. And if you love the free images that you can access, there’s also a premium service where you can get even more. The thing we love most about this particular site is the helpful categorisation of images. Browse through fashion and food, wedding and technology – to find the free pic you need to complete your project.

www.splitshare.com

27. Pixabay

On Pixabay you can find and share images free of all copyrights, as they’re released under Creative Commons CC0 into the public domain. You can copy, modify, distribute, and use the images even for commercial purposes – all without asking permission and without paying attribution. Add this essential site to your list.

www.pixabay.com

28. FancyCrave

FancyCrave is a great source for designers and developers, offering high-resolution photos that you can use for your personal and commercial projects. Every single picture is free of copyright restrictions. All they ask if you can is provide attribution.

www.fancycrave.com

29. Mazwai

Need a moving image instead? Check out Mazwai – a website with lots of free videos that you can access for free. From short snippets to longer engaging films – this collection will help to bring your web design alive.

www.mazwai.com

30. Tech & All

Over on Tech & All, you’ll be able to search free HD stock photos and design mockups, covering themes on pretty much anything. There are a few other design resources like fonts and templates, but this site is mainly about the imagery.

www.techandall.com

31. Magdeleine

There’s a nice filter system on Magdeleine that allows you to find the right stock photograph for your project. You can filter by category, including city and architecture, objects and food. Perfect for when you need something visual and fast.

www. magdeleine.co

 

 

<a href="http://www.lifeofpix.com" target="_blank" >Life of Pix</a>

Free Web Design Resources

If web design is your thing, there’s a wealth of helpful assets freely available at your fingertips. From icons and Photoshop freebies to website templates and background textures – the following free suggestions will become an essential part of your daily toolkit.

32. Fly Pixel

Similar to Pixeden, Fly Pixel has hundreds of user interface, template and icon resources, available for free. If you have something particular in mind for a specific project, its handy search filters can help you narrow down the resources by colour.

www.flypixel.com

33. Freebiesbug

From fonts and icons to Illustrator and Photoshop freebies, Freebiesbug has got a vast amount of resources for every designer. There’s a large selection of unique fonts, as well as mockups and website templates.

www.freebiesbug.com

34. WebdesignerDepot

The WebdesignerDepot covers popular web design trends, with tutorials and free stuff along the way too. There are articles covering all aspects of web design from branding and UX design, right up to marketing and social media, while the WebdesignerDepot freebies include UI kits, WordPress themes, mockups, icons and vectors.

www.webdesignerdepot.com

35. Screen Siz.es

Sick of searching Google to find out the precise widths of different screens? Screen Siz.es is your go-to resource to find out every single screen size of every type of smartphone, tablet and monitor. Problem solved.

www.screensiz.es

36. Psddd

Best for Photoshop downloads, Psddd has a variety of icons, UI kits, backgrounds, and mockups too. Their Photoshop elements include textures and brushes to layer onto your design, as well as a few free extensions and tips.

www.psddd.co

37. FltDesign

This helpful community focuses on

www.fltdsgn.com

<a href="http://screensiz.es/" target="_blank">Screensiz.es</a>

Free Design Inspiration Resources

From mood boards and colour picking tools to helpful how-to sites and palette creators – this selection of free design inspiration resources will help you out when you’re creatively stuck.

38. Adobe Color CC

Need inspiration for colour? The free Adobe Color CC allows you to import any image to generate a colour theme or you can use its “color wheel” to come up with endless themes based on different harmonies: analogous, monochromatic, triad, complementary, compound and shades.

www.color.adobe.com

39. Niice

The ultimate inspiration boosting tool, Niice let’s you build mood boards to look back on when you’re running low on ideas. There’s even an app available to download so you can access the mood boards when you’re out and about. Simply a private inspiration space, the website is designed to help you spark that next big idea.

www.niice.co

40. BrandColors

Claiming to be the biggest collection of official brand color codes around, BrandColors literally brings you the identity colours of the world’s biggest household names. Click on the colour you like and it’s instantly copied to your clipboard.

www.brandcolors.net

41. Coolors

This “super fast” colour schemes generator lets you create, save and share different palettes in seconds. We especially like the ready-made schemes that you can browse and pick for your own projects.

www.coolors.co

42. Flat UI Colours

Just need some gorgeous flat colours for your web design? Flat UI Colours is a simple, straightforward delicious resource that you’ll revisit again and again. Just click to copy the hex colour codes and you’re away.

www.flatuicolors.com

43. Colour Lovers

Love colour? Colour Lovers is an international community that provides a wealth of user created and shared colour inspiration as well as tools that make the creative process as simple as possible. Whether you need a colour palette to kickstart your next project or want to create a piece of vector art, this website has the tools you need to go from design inspiration to execution.

www.colourlovers.com

44. Palette Creator

Do you want to create a colour palette that matches an image you’ve found online? Or maybe you just want to grab some colours for inspiration? Then Palette Creator is the Chrome extension for you. Just right-click on the desired picture, select the ‘Palette Creator’ option, and choose the number of colours you want the palette to have. Simple.

www.chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/palette-creator

<a href="https://color.adobe.com/create/color-wheel/" target="_blank">www.color.adobe.com</a>

Free Mockup Templates

Once you’ve got your projects successfully launched, you’ll want to show off your design talents to the world via your own online portfolio. This list of free mockup templates will help you showcase your proudest work in style.

45. Granite Stationery Bundle

Granite Stationery is a mockup PSD bundle, free to use for commercial and personal use. All of the images were created in Cinema4D and rendered with Octane Render. Brought to you generously by American designer Aaron Covrett.

www.behance.net/Free-Granite-Stationery-Bundle

46. Screely

Every designer needs the ability to showcase a website with a beautiful visual. For those of you pushed for time, Screely instantly turns your screenshot or design into a beautiful image you can share anywhere. No Photoshop or Sketch templates necessary! And with a background colour that’s changeable, it’s a very helpful mockup.

www.screely.com

47. Retro Screen Mockups

Fancy taking a step back in time and honouring some earlier computers? These PSD retro screen mockups are free and available for both personal and commercial use.

www.yoarts.com

48. Business Card Mockup

If you need a decent business card mockup, designer Alex Andr has offered four such templates for free. Available for both personal and commercial use, these slick cards will really add finesse to showcasing your project.

www.behance.net/4-Free-Business-Card-Mockup

49. MacBook Pro Photo Mockup

Show It Better offers this completely free MacBook Pro photo mockup, so you can display your web design projects quite beautifully.

www.showitbetter.com

50. Free iPhone 5 Photo Mockup

Need to display a design on an iPhone? No problem. Here’s another great free resource from Show It Better – a website that offers loads of decent mockups to help you showcase your professional work. Check out their Freebies for more delicious templates.

www.showitbetter.com

Do you have a favourite free resource that should be on this list? Comment below or tweet us!

Banner artwork by Shillington Melbourne teacher Wayne Smith.

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