Am I right or am I right? The word “free” resonate deep with any artist or creative type for sure. Which is exactly why I am doing this post. This is a post dedicated to free, high quality resources on the net that are staples in my repertoire.

Let’s start with stock images. If you’ve designed any sort of print document, you’ve probably had to find some free images (or pay through the nose for paid stock). Gone are these days. Sounds crazy, but true (legal too.).

First, we have www.iStockPhoto.com. You’re probably thinking “What?? That’s a prestigious paid stock site!”. Yes and no. If you sign up (for free!) you get access to the free photo of the week. And free vector/HD video clip of the month. Pretty sweet if you ask me. Just stop in every week/month for your freebie to fill up your library.

Another awesome opportunity like the one at iStock is at ShutterStock (www.shutterstock.com). They also are a paid site, however they offer a free weekly image and vector for your library’s hungry taste buds. Awesome.

Next we have my favourite. The Stock Exchange (www.sxc.hu). This Hungarian website is now owned by iStockPhoto, but provide free, high quality images. I visit almost daily. It’s a really great resource. One note, you have to watch for images with extra conditions (e.g. “must notify author when used”) however most images are without such restrictions.

Now lets move on to texture. If you like grunge, or do any sort of 3D modeling, you’ll love this. CG Textures (www.cgtextures.com) is a site with thousands of high quality textures (woods, bricks, wall, metals, everything essentially). They even provide tailing texture. A very nice collection indeed. However, you do need to sign up, and will be limited to a “small” (or really not so small) version of the textures.

Moving on to types, we have DaFont (www.dafont.com). If I ever need a font for anything, this is my first stop. They have tons of awesome, free, Open Type and TTF fonts for download. It’s great for that interesting font you need for your new project. There isn’t a ton in the realm of professional (serious) fonts, but there are often some hidden gems.

These are just a few of the many, many free online resources for a designer, but these are the ones I use most. If you need stock images, textures or fonts, check these places out first. You won’t be disappointed.

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