You take pride in your work, and you take whatever time may be needed to make your work as attractive and professional looking as possible. There are times however, when you wish you could speed things up a bit, without sacrificing quality, and without flattening your wallet.
There are a number of sites that feature free design downloads and get vector files, and that number is in fact fairly large. The quality of these offerings will naturally vary, and moving from site to site to find something you can use can be a time-consuming process. Fortunately, there is a single resource you can rely on. 1001freedownloads is where you will find as useful a compilation of photos, icons, vectors, and other free design elements; beginning with a category of interest to most website designers –  free photos.
Photos can Draw Visitors to a Page
Have you ever come across a photo that fits in perfectly with your website’s theme, or an image that causes visitors to linger awhile, rather than moving on? Maybe you have, and maybe you haven’t, but searching for such a photo can take some time.
Some photos you will reject because of low resolution, or poor photographic work. Some are picture perfect, except for the dreaded watermark that can at times make them useless for your purposes. Others, like the examples shown here, are definite attention grabbers. We know where to look for photos that are free, and for also for those that may cost a few pennies, but are nevertheless affordable.
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Fonts – Little Things can make a Difference
Sticking with a favorite font can be fine in some types of work, and some clients will even insist on your using specific fonts. Whatever font is chosen can, and often will, affect the overall quality of a website. A poor choice can make the content appear boring, even if it is not; and some fonts are eminently suitable for some themes and totally unfit for others.
Some fonts are definite attention-grabbers, but should be used sparingly; some lend themselves to professional and corporate themes; and some have a way of giving your content a personal touch. Picking the right font may take some time, and occasionally a little experimenting, but it will be time well spent. If you do it right, visitors to your website may find it restful, appealing, or impressive, without knowing exactly why they feel that way
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Brushes – Time Savers that can add a Flourish
Brushes can add fullness, depth, and fine detail to a home page or a landing page, and can do so in a minimal amount of time. Photoshop users are aware of this, and Photoshop has a nice selection of brushes to work with, but there are plenty of other sources of free brushes and related design flourishes as well, including right here.
If you haven’t taken advantages of what brushes have to offer, now may be a good time to start. You may be surprised at what they can add to your presentations.
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Icons – A Website’s Little Workhorses
Icons are elements you click on. When you do, they do what they are intended to do. They can be thought of as being purely functional, and if that’s how you want to make use of them, that’s OK. After all, they are designed to carry a simple message or instruction, and perform a simple function.
Icons can also display a sense of creativity, they can be playful, amusing or colorful. In fact, the only negative thing about them is that the sheer number that are readily available could give you a case of information overload if you were to browse through enough examples. Better yet, focus on finding a few icons you can use that are colorful, whimsical, or just seem to convey their meaning in a little more detail than usual – starting here.
Icon Set - Beautiful Flat Icons by ElegantThemes
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Patterns can Show You Care
The right choice of a background pattern can turn a so-so website into a work of art. Like any other design element, a pattern must be selected with care. It can define the theme of your website, but an improper choice or use can just as easily detract from your theme. One thing the right choice of pattern can do for you is to show you care about what you have created. That message can come through loud and clear, and it can suggest you have something to say.
You should spend some time looking for just the right pattern or patterns for your website creations, but if you look at what we can offer, you should not have to look far or for long.
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Textures – An Alternative to Patterns
There are plenty of free textures you can download, most of which are relatively easy to incorporate into your design. If you are going to go take the time to add texture however, you need to be careful in your choices. The use of texture should either enhance your theme, or make your presentations more attractive, or both. Like any other design element, quality is important. Having a free texture resource, such as this one, at your fingertips is never a bad idea.
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Vectors – Aids for the Deadline-Challenged Designer
Working with vectors can be fun. Vectors can also be life-savers if you are faced with a deadline to produce something that is creative and are not sure where to turn. Vectors can display creativity or innovation in ways that photos sometimes cannot. They have a way of suggesting a creative mind at work. There are even occasions when a stick figure can convey the same message as a photograph, and convey it just as well. Having a selection of vectors in your toolbox should be a must. A reasonably-sized selection of vectors can give you plenty of ideas to work with, as the example shown here suggest.
Beach Cocktail Party Illustrator Vector
Family Strolling through Airport
Finding free elements and features to assist you in creating top-quality websites should not be all that difficult or time-consuming if you go about it right. About the only elements you may need to pay for on occasion are stock photos, but there are still large numbers that are extremely affordable. As we have shown you here, high quality is yours for the asking.
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