As with just about everything, the internet has completely skewed the world of graphic design. There is no more working in silos! We are part of a global community that can provide critique, support, or inspiration; in no time at all.
In this ever changing landscape, there are resources for designers becoming available that were unheard of even a few years ago. Here are some of my favourites that really help with my workflow, and amazingly they are free of charge.
Unsplash
Photography
unsplash.com
Began in 2013, this is probably my favourite online resource. As of 2018, there are more than 300,000 photographs on the site, provided by a community of over 50,000 contributors. The images are free, and can be used for anything you like. You don’t even have to credit the author – although sending a tweet to say thanks is appreciated!
And above all of that, because the collection is curated by people with great taste, the images are quality. Seriously. Top notch.
Images by Becca Tapert on Unsplash.com
At least initially, most Unsplash images had a dreamy retro camera ‘look’ to them. Although this is visually appealing, they’re not going to be appropriate for everything you ever work on. However, if you quickly need to add images to a presentation or a blog post, this is a tremendous website that can save you the expense of turning to stock every time.
Raw Pixel
Images
rawpixel.com
Raw Pixel provide over a million design resources, including stock photography, add-ons for Adobe software, and even cut-out images for making digital collages. There is a very reasonably priced premium membership that you can sign up to, to unlock everything on the site, but what I wanted to mention today was the huge collection of public domain art, available to use with a Creative Commons CC0 license.
So, what’s in the Public Domain Art collection? Digitally-enhanced captures of output from the likes of da Vinci, Vermeer, van Gogh, Mucha, and Hokusai; that you are basically free to do with as you please.
Three examples of public domain artwork from Raw Pixel — from left-right: Wheat Field with Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh; Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci; and Yoro Waterfall in Mino Province by Katsushika Hokusai.
Also available is the Raw Pixel Collection, which consists of high quality scans from various public domain books. It’s not difficult to imagine numerous applications for these vintage illustrations.
Four examples of public domain scans from Raw Pixel — clockwise from top-left: Male brook trout (Salvelinus Fontinalis) illustrated by Sherman F. Denton; Sleeping cat by Kōno Bairei; Diagram no.6 from Solar Biology by Hiram Erastus Butler; and Fahrrader 1 (1894) from the German series, Meyers Konversations Lexikon.
The Noun Project
Symbols
thenounproject.com
The Noun Project is a comprehensive library of over 1 million well designed symbols. You can freely download anything you like, but must either credit the designer, or sign up to the paid NounPro scheme.
The quality of the symbols within are ensured by design guidelines, and have to be signed off by a curator before they become available for download.
Example icons by Vitaly Gorbachev
I find The Noun Project to be an excellent aid in the early stages of any project. You can search for just about any term, and immediately be presented with a range of visual interpretations of that word or phrase. A brainstormer’s dream!
Graphic Burger
Graphic Assets
graphicburger.com
GraphicBurger is a website created and maintained by Romanian designer Raul Taciu. The site hosts a collection of free, premium quality design resources. These take the form of mockups, icons, and effects.
A shopfront Photoshop mockup found on Graphic Burger
The mockups — files that help you to comp your work onto photographs of physical applications (eg: wine bottles, or a billboard) — in particular, are of a very high quality.
Inspiration
pinterest.com
Before Pinterest, I used to gather examples of cool graphics work I’d seen, document the author, and then compile it all into a PDF ‘scrapbook’ that I could refer to on my phone.
Now it just all goes straight onto Pinterest.
A site which laughs in the face of my primitive method, by being searchable, and suggesting a multitude of similar pins and boards to follow. Check out NStudio on Pinterest.
This is often one of the first places I come to at the start of a project… Follow the right people and it can be easy to end up spending a long time browsing! Upon tackling a brief, Pinterest is great for developing mood boards – relevant visuals that you can refer back to throughout the project, ensuring that your response is appropriate.
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Header Image: Štefan Štefančík on Unsplash.
