How does a designer work? Are all ideas born in his head? Such questions are often asked by people far from the work of a web designer. We know that ideas need to be drawn from different sources, and content for future sites or interfaces also needs to be taken somewhere.
I made a selection of sites that I use every day in my work.
Incredible number of professional photos in very high resolution. I often use photos from here, due to the large size they are ideal even for the background of the blocks on the site.
An analogue of Unsplash, the photos are just as stylish. The database is growing every day, and now there are a lot of topics available. Free license to use and modify photos.
Similar to the previous two sites, but the photo base is much smaller. There are few specific shots here, but at the same time, you can find really cool pictures on general topics.
Lots of free photos and illustrations. Other types of content are also available on the site: icons, mockups, and more.
I love this site. Lots of free illustrations on various topics. To adapt one of them to your style, just enter the color HEX code in the top menu.
PNG aggregator with transparent background. There are both photos and illustrations on a large number of topics. Minus the site: often the pictures are not in the highest resolution.
This site can be called a reference point for many web designers around the world. Here you will find a free catalog of great fonts that you can filter by type and view font combinations. Well, free fonts can be downloaded. Bad fonts don't end up on Google Fonts. That is why the site is ideal for beginners, in those situations when you still cannot distinguish a bad font from a normal one by eye.
On the site you can find good options for Cyrillic fonts. There is also a section with free fonts or demos.
A good site if you're looking for out-of-the-ordinary fonts and logo fonts. Almost all presented in the catalog can be downloaded for free in one click.
A good site where you can find examples of products using fonts, as well as dates of creation, region and history. More suitable for inspiration.
Using this resource, you can easily recognize the font in the picture and immediately find it in the catalog. He helped me out many times when a customer asks to restore a logo or printed matter from a picture.
One of the most popular sites in this subject. Despite having a premium account, there are plenty of free icons. They can be downloaded in png, svg, eps and psd format. For monochromatic icons, there is a built-in color editor, which allows you to save time on recoloring in the graphic editor.
A large database of icons in various styles: outline, glyph, flat and even 3D. There is a convenient filter and free content.
More than two million files are already on the site. Registration is required to download. I always go to this site in search of unusual icons that are not found anywhere else. Once at work, my team and I had to work on e-commerce on the topic of adult toys. So on this site there was a complete list of icons of this kind :)
Quite interesting and free icons.
The font option is perfect if you need small icons. They are designed in such a way that they do not lose the quality of the lines, that is, they do not blur. It's pretty easy to work with this:
- Download and install the appropriate FontAwesome fonts on your computer.
- Search the site to find suitable icons.
- On the inner page of the icon there is a button “Copy Unicode Glyph”. Click it.
- Go to layout and make a container for the text.
- Paste the copied icon (Ctrl (Cmd) + V) and select Font Awesome (suitable style) from the list of fonts. You should now see the selected icon.
Color wheel from Adobe to select different combinations.
Amazing selection of ready-made gradients.
A selection of interesting color palettes.
Nice site for color selection. You can change the color mode in the settings: CMYK, RGB, HEX, etc.
The site contains ready-made projects of landing pages. You can go to each of them and see not only the design, but also adaptability, animation, etc.
Another site with a selection of cool landing pages on various topics.
Social network for designers around the world. Here you can not only look for inspiration in the works of others, but also publish your own. The resource allows you to make full-fledged presentations and use your profile as a portfolio. Behance has long been one of the ways designers are promoted. Often, the site is used to search for HR employees of various companies. This is one of the reasons why bihans can be an important part of a design career.
Another network for designers from all over the world. The essence of the publication of small shots: one or more pictures that show the concept or the coolest features of the project. Viewing works is available to everyone, but the publication is only after an invitation from an existing participant. Very good for finding inspiration. I often look at color combinations here.
This is more than just a resource for inspiration. Here are collected only the best works, marked by experts. If you are looking for something unusual, trendy and fresh, then you are definitely here. Every design studio is proud to be labeled by Awwwards.
The resource has collected images on any subject, including design. Allows you to create your own boards on topics and fill them with the pictures you like.
Examples of ready-made solutions for mobile applications. A good hint if you do not know how to display this or that function.
An excellent and fairly fresh resource about UX in Russian.
A checklist that will come in handy on large projects. Each component of a high-quality user-experience is described in detail.
A resource for creating a clickable prototype or presenting an already finished website or application to the customer. There is a free account with the ability to create one prototype for free. In addition, to quickly integrate your layout into the InVision environment, there is a special Craft plugin.
An excellent analogue of InVision, which also allows you to make a prototype online or download existing layouts. One project – is free.
Useful articles, collections of cool designs, tips and links from designers around the world. On the medium you can find almost everything.
Harb – a unique storehouse of useful articles in Russian. I immediately give a link to the design theme, although the site format itself is wider.
Good articles on design and reviews of current trends.
Advice section on the Gorbunov Bureau website. You can find detailed answers to non-standard questions of designers.
Website in Ukrainian from Projector design school. It covers not only general topics, but also interesting events in the world of the Ukrainian design community.
Follow me on Instagram - @frusia.pro - stay up to date with announcements of new lessons, check homework in stories, ask questions, and you will also find many useful posts about design.