Whether you’re a business owner with zero design skills or a professional graphic designer of 10 years, I think we can all agree that free design resources are great to have. When I say “design resources” I specifically mean:
- fonts
- images
- icons
- design tools (like photo editors and colour pickers)
- templates and mockups
Back in the day, you’d need a significant financial investment to acquire different elements for design purposes. Now? Well, thanks to a host of online resources, anyone can design high-quality graphics with ease. After you watch a few tutorials to learn the different terms and techniques, take a look at this article for some useful websites.
But just because something’s free, doesn’t mean it’s easy – amirite? They can be confusing as some require you to create an account, some have download limits, and some have watermarks. The websites in this article have all been tried, tested, and loved by the members of the LeKAC team – we’d only share the best with you!
Even if you already have a sizeable collection of assets, it never hurts to have more design resources within easy reach. Make sure you bookmark this page for future reference!
Free Fonts
Font Bundles
First up on our list? Take a look at fontbundles.net. There are different tiers of membership here, but they do offer a lot of free unique fonts. We’ve gotten some of our favourites off of this site, and the best part is that they’re all licensed for commercial use. You’re always guaranteed new resources as the fonts are offered by independent designers!
What’s the Catch? Sign up for a free account.
Google Fonts
Google Fonts is another great resource for fonts. The best thing is that they’re all open source, so developers can adjust any font to suit their needs. They have fonts available in more than 135 languages and add the personal touch of connecting the fonts with their respective creators. Collections can be shared with other collaborators, making it almost too easy to work on a project together.
What’s the Catch? None that we can identify.
DaFont.com
Dafont.com has been around for a long time… and with good reason. If you’re looking for a diverse set of fonts, this is the place to go. There’s everything from typewriter to elvish. Not many websites will offer the range that this resource will. Best of all: no account needed in order to download!
What’s the Catch? Some fonts are only for personal use. Read the terms carefully!
FontPair
Fontpair.co is probably one of my personal favourites. How many times have you tried designing something (say…I don’t know… a rigid box) and you know what the content should be, but have no idea how to present it in a way that’s attractive? This website shows you popular and unexpected pairings from around the world and through submissions from their page. With weekly updates, you’re always guaranteed to be in the know in the design world.
What’s the Catch? They only offer Google Font pairings (but as we mentioned, there’s an extensive collection on that platform!)
Free Images
Unsplash
With over 1 million free high-res images from photographers around the world, unsplash.com has a unique advantage. Sign up… or don’t… they don’t care! You can access and download a huge gallery of images under the Unsplash license – that means you can do whatever you want with the images!
What’s the Catch? Releases can be a bit tricky in terms of trademarked products in images (for example, an iPhone) and they don’t provide a direct answer.
Pixabay
Pixabay is another great website for free images – like they say on their homepage, they offer royalty free stock. This site has a lot of business friendly images and you don’t need an account to sign up!
What’s the Catch? If you don’t sign up for a free account, you have to enter a captcha for each image you download. Not a huge deal, just something that can become annoying if you need to download a lot of images.
Free Design Tools
Canva
Two words: absolutely amazing. Canva allows individuals that have no design experience to create professional files like logos, videos, presentations, flyers and more. They offer a lot of templates, fonts, images and more on a simple-to-use platform. There are a lot of additional features not offered on other platforms as well: automatic resizing, transparent backgrounds and photo editing. Bump up your social media game for your brand with attractive story highlights, Instagram posts and more!
What’s the Catch? It’s a really popular option, so even with their expansive resources, you run the risk of having your content look similar to other businesses in your industry.
Design Bundles
Like Font Bundles, Design Bundles offers a unique assortment of design elements. This includes graphic packs, icons, templates, and other elements that can be downloaded for free. Yes, there are some that you have to pay for, but they have graciously divided their free elements from the rest of their supply. Most of their elements are even licensed for commercial use, so there’s no issues there!
What’s the Catch? You may fall in love with some elements that aren’t for free!
Freepik
Freepik is a cult favourite. They’ve got both premium and free elements available for download and have a wide assortment of vectors, photos, templates and icons up for grabs. The platform is regularly updating their inventory (over 80k free resources every month) and work with a community of graphic designers, photographers and artist contributors.
What’s the Catch? If you don’t sign up for an account then you’re limited to only 2 downloads per day.
Free Design Resources
FDR has top of the line design resources at your fingertips! If you’re looking for a combination of fonts, mockups, graphics and more, then this is a great source. It’s popular with budding bloggers, but can also help start-up companies that don’t necessarily have the budget for creative design. They’ve got a close-knit community where they share their elements without judgement or negative critique.
What’s the Catch? No clue.
Coolors
Coolors is a great introductory source for choosing colour combinations. You can view other colour schemes that users have uploaded or create your own. You can export the exact code to design projects and save your very own library of combinations for future use.
What’s the Catch? If you’re looking for an in-depth analysis or extra content/features… this ain’t it. Take it for what it is – a colour chooser.
Adobe Color CC
Adobe Color (formerly Adobe Kuler) not only helps you choose colours, it also has a bunch of different categories. You can choose from complementary, custom, monochromatic colours and more. You can view your colour codes in CMYK, RGB, Hex and Lab formats which is super useful for larger design projects. They’ve got a great bonus feature: their eyedropper tool. Have a picture that you want to make a colour scheme out of? Upload the image to their website and generate the exact colour codes from there.
What’s the Catch? Beats us.
Free Mockups/Templates
Frrames
Frrames offers free vector window mockups for your presentations, whether it’s to a client or internal. Their mockups are fully responsive and get the job done.
What’s the Catch? Limited library to choose from.
Need Inspiration?
Dribbble
Dribbble is a social networking site with creatives can upload and comment on projects that they are currently working on for feedback. It’s a great tool for seeing your project from another’s point of view, and catching mistakes before you submit your final draft.
What’s the Catch? You need a pro account in order to access the majority of features.
Behance
Sort of working in collaboration with Dribbble, Behance is the place to upload completed projects. A lot of beginners use this platform as an online portfolio and it’s a great way to get seen. There is a high possibility of being offered jobs or freelancing work as the engagement is that high.
What’s the Catch? It’s a little simple – your work has to do all of the talking for you as everyone has a sort of uniform look. But that could be a good thing too?
LeKAC Sourcing Limited
Looking for custom packaging inspiration? Check out the different sections on our website, conveniently separated by product. Or better yet – come visit our office! The best part? Our in-house designers take the pressure off of you by creating multiple packaging concepts specifically for you!
What’s the Catch? Obviously nothing. Contact us today for your free quotation and custom mockup.
