Design Resources

This page consists of downloads and links which I hope you find useful. I will try to keep adding to this page.

RECOMMENDED HOSTING

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

• 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 invoiceFor 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

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.(if you want more sample briefs please contact me on the contact page and I will try and sort out some more and upload them)
• 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.

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
• dreamstimeRoyalty free pics from a few dollars
• Go Media Royalty Free Vector Images and TexturesA 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 KingA 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

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 generatorGenerate 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
• colorjackA 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
• IndentifontIdentify a font with a series of questions
• What the FontIdentify 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/

Tutorials

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