Design Resources

This page consists of downloads and links which I hope you find useful. I will try to keep adding to this page. Please note some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you decide to buy through my link I will get a commission.

RECOMMENDED HOSTING

Hostgator – I have tried a few hosting packages, but by far the best for both customer service and price for me so far has been Hostgator.

FOR FREELANCE DESIGNERS

• Free guide to setting up a WordPress blog - this includes basic SEO techniques too which will help get you found in the search engines.
• job book page (pdf) A job book page – helps to keep track of your current jobs, what you need to bill at the end of the month and which jobs have been paid.
• design brief sheet (pdf) A general design brief questionnaire for your client
• sample invoice For new freelancers – use as a guide to create your own invoice
• work planner pdf A blank schedule to help plan a weeks work
• freelance rates calculator PDF Gives you a guide to how much you would need to charge to cover all your living expenses – created by Lauren Krause of Creative Curio

BOOKS ON FREELANCING

• How to be a Rockstar Freelancer – from Freelance Switch
• 10 Steps to Powerful Online Self Promotion for Creatives
• How To Get Clients – A guide to using powerful free tools of blogging, internet marketing, social media and networking to get more business – by freelancer Rob Cubbon.

FOR DESIGN STUDENTS

• sample design brief – battery packaging (zip file) A real design brief – to create a brand name, logo and battery packaging. The zip file includes reference files, cutter and brief.
• more Sample Design Briefs Please also help other by submitting your sample design briefs
• http://www.desktoppub.about.com A series of sample design briefs ideal for design students and recently qualified designers looking to build their portfolios.
• Free guide to setting up a WordPress blog - this includes basic SEO techniques too which will help get you found in the search engines.

KEYWORD RESEARCH

Market Samurai is an amazing tool that helps you find keywords, check the competition, find content, create ads etc etc. Plus the company website also has loads of great videos to teach you about SEO (worth watching even if you don’t get the software) you can get a free trial of the Mac and PC software here

Traffic travis (PC only) is a great little keyword tool which not only helps you find keywords but check how well your page is optimised there are two versions
Free version click here Pro version click here

GRAPHIC DESIGN RESOURCES

Cheap/Free – Royalty Free Photo libraries and Vector Graphics

• Fotolia A large collection of low price images stating from £1
• morguefile A largish collection of free photos for personal or commercial use
• istockphoto A large selection of royalty free images from a few dollars
• 123rf A large selection of photo, a bit cheaper than istock, you can purchase with credits or subscription
• dreamstime Royalty free pics from a few dollars
• Go Media Royalty Free Vector Images and Textures A good selection of good quality vector image packs (containing several images) and texture packs starting at $14.99. Also some freebie vector images and textures you can download
• Texture King A selection of free downloadable textures such as brick, rust and grunge
• Digital Vector Maps As the name suggest vector maps including globes and countries average price about $40

Weekly Deals on Designs Apps, Software, Graphics and Courses

• Mighty Deals
• Appsumo

General

• lorem ipsumA text (txt) file of lorem ipsum for greeking in body copy
• LipsumA lorem ipsum generator that produces lorem ipsum based on your spec – number of paragraphs, words etc

WordPress

• wordpress theme generator Generate your own wordpress theme quickly without coding. The theme can then be customised as required
• 83 wordpress themes you probably haven’t seen Smashing Magazine shows 83 lesser known wordpress themes

Colour pickers

• colour lovers Show loads of different colour combinations, you can vote for your favourites and create your own swatches. There is also a useful section on colour trends
• colorjack A colour theory visualiser
• colorblender Similar to colour lovers helps offers palletes of colours
• colorschemer

Type and Fonts

• Type Tester Test readability on fonts online
• DaFont A large selection of free fonts organised really well by style
• Indentifont Identify a font with a series of questions
• What the Font Identify a font by uploading its image

Graphic Design Forums and Web Design Forums

Please see my post getting help online for more information on each forum

• http://www.graphicdesignforums.co.uk
• http://www.sitepoint.com/forums
• http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/phpBB2
• http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/index.php
• http://www.forum.computerarts.co.uk
• http://www.estetica-design-forum.com/
• http://www.forum.howdesign.com/
• http://www.forums.digitalpoint.com/
• http://www.designforums.co.uk/

Tutorials

• http://www.thelearnlist.com A site which lists and rates tutorials in photoshop, flash, fireworks, illustrator, dreamweaver, actionscript, php, CSS and XML