The Ultimate List: Free Design Resources
Web designers always need resources to help them create stunning website design Cardiff”>website designs and good resources are always hard to find. There are thousands of websites for fonts, textures and brushes and more but it can be overwhelming to browse through them all to find what you are looking for.
In this post I will be listing a collection of good free design resources for fonts, textures, icons, brushes, colour schemes, photos and web page tutorials, which have been very useful for me and hopefully will be helpful for you.
Fonts
There are hundreds of fonts available on the web and selecting the right font can make an attractive website. Here are some resources for free fonts I have used in my designs.
- Da Font – http://www.dafont.com/
- 1001 Free Fonts – http://www.1001freefonts.com/
- Urban Fonts – http://www.urbanfonts.com/
- Simply The Best Fonts – http://simplythebest.net/fonts/
- Acid Fonts – http://www.acidfonts.com/
- Abstract Fonts – http://www.abstractfonts.com/
Textures
Textures can be used to add more depth to a website design and reflect what a website is about. A good selection of textures is invaluable for any web designer but it can be hard to find the right texture. Here are some resources to find thousands of high quality textures to use for your next design.
- CG Textures – http://www.cgtextures.com/
- Grunge Textures – http://www.grungetextures.com/
- Texture King – http://www.textureking.com/
- Texturez – http://texturez.com/
- Zen Textures – http://zentextures.com/
- Texture Warehouse – http://www.texturewarehouse.com
- Image After – http://www.imageafter.com
Icons
Icons are simple but effective and are great at delivering messages on a website. They can make a website look more attractive to the user and support the creative process when designing a website.
- Icons Pedia – http://www.iconspedia.com/
- We Love Icons – http://weloveicons.com/
- Iconz World – http://iconzworld.com/
- Icon Finder – http://www.iconfinder.net/
- Icon Archive – http://www.iconarchive.com
- Icon Easy – http://www.iconeasy.com/
Photoshop Brushes
Photoshop has become an industry standard for web design and a lot of designers rely on brushes for their design projects. Here are some of the best sites to find thousands of free brushes for use in designs.
- Brusheezy – http://www.brusheezy.com/
- Brush King – http://www.brushking.eu/
- Deviant ART – http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/applications/psbrushes/
- PS Brushes – http://www.psbrushes.net/
- QBrushes – http://qbrushes.net/
- FBrushes – http://fbrushes.com/
- Obsidian Dawn – http://www.obsidiandawn.com/designs-brushes
Colour Tools
Colour has always been an important factor in web design and can make a website stand out if the right colours are used. Here is a list of several colour resources that have helped me with my designs.
- Colour Lovers – http://www.colourlovers.com/
- Color Combos – http://www.colorcombos.com/
- Adobe Kuler – http://kuler.adobe.com
- Color Zilla – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/271
- Color Blender – http://colorblender.com/
- Color Scheme Designer – http://www.colorschemedesigner.com/
Stock Photos
Photos can be used to enhance your web design and here are some of the best free resources for stock photos to use in your designs.
- Stock Xchng – http://sxc.hu/
- Morgue File – http://morguefile.com/
- Stock Vault – http://www.stockvault.net/
- Freerange Stock – http://freerangestock.com/
- Pixel Perfect Digital – http://www.pixelperfectdigital.com/
Web Layout Tutorials
These links will take you through the steps to create a great looking web page layout. I have chosen some sites with plenty of tutorials to get you started on designing a web page and there are many styles to choose from.
- Tuts Arena – http://tutsarena.com/category/tutorials/
- Six Revisions – http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/40-useful-photoshop-web-layout-tutorials/
- Dzineblog – http://dzineblog.com/2008/07/best-photoshop-layout-design-tutorials.html
- PSD Vibe – http://psdvibe.com/category/photoshop/
- Web Design Dev – http://www.webdesigndev.com/roundups/top-30-photoshop-web-design-layout-tutorials
- Grafpedia – http://www.grafpedia.com/category/tutorials/web-layouts
- Adobe Tutorialz – http://www.adobetutorialz.com/categories/Adobe-Photoshop/Web-Layout
- Area 1 – http://www.area1.info/tutorials/60-best-layout-design-tutorials/
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Posted By: Oli
I’ve been interested in web design for a while and I went to university to study a degree in media and graphics. While at university I developed my design skills using Adobe Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver and Adobe After Effects.
