Creative Resources to Elevate Your Brand Online

Making the right impression on your audience involves a lot of creativity. But you don’t need to have all of the fancy tools and software to achieve attractive content. There are so many incredible tools and creative resources available for you that can instantly take your business’ online presence to the next level 🙌

Even as a creative professional who spends much of my time designing in the Adobe Creative Cloud, I still rely on many of these creative resources below for both my own business and for my clients. The best part is, most of these are available for FREE!

I have put together a list of over 20 creative resources from stock photos and videos to mock ups and illustrations that you can use to bring your A game to your business’ creative content.

FREE STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY

This list of free stock photography websites offers seemingly endless selections of great royalty-free imagery that can be used on your website, in your marketing, and for your social media content.

1. UNSPLASH — This is definitely my go-to for photography. They have so many talented contributors and a wide selection for nearly everything you’d be looking for.
2. PEXELS
3. PIXABAY
4. RAWPIXEL — If you are a free user you must always include the attribution line “Designed by Freepik”. Be sure to visit their FAQ section.
5. STOCK UP
6. STOCK SNAP
7. FREE PIK—If you are a free user you must always include the attribution line “Designed by Freepik”. Be sure to visit their FAQ section.
8. NEGATIVE SPACE
9. BURST

Free from Unsplash

FREE VIDEO STOCK

Adding professional video to your website is a captivating feature that will wow your audience. Using free video stock is a great way to achieve this without breaking the bank.

1. MAZWAI
2. VIDEEZY
3. VIDVEO

FREE ILLUSTRATIONS, GRAPHICS, AND ICONS

1. UNDRAW Undraw is a unique platform with a fun illustration library that can be customized to match your brand colours.
2. RAWPIXEL — You can upgrade to access all of their content. However, they have a huge free library of imagery and other creative assets.
3. PIXABAY
4. FONTELLO
5. ROUND ICONS
6. TO [ICON] — This is a great platform for icons but they do ask that you attribute the author or link to to [icon]
7. FLAT ICONS
8. ENDLESS ICONS
9. STREAM LINE ICONS

Free illustration from Undraw customized with my brand colour

FREE CREATIVE APPS

These three free apps are perfect for creating and editing designs for social media, brochures, lead magnets and any other creative asset you may need.

1. CANVA — By far the most popular out there, Canva is very easy to use and offers an array of templates to get you going. This is an extremely user-friendly platform. You can download my free lead magnet template in Canva to try for yourself.
2. PABLO — Pablo is a great app to create stunning social media posts. They have preset social media sizes, links directly to Pixabay’s stock library and you can easily customize text and add filters.
3. ADOBE XD — If you’re familiar with Adobe’s interfaces you will find this design platform handy. Intended for web and app design, this design app will help you create amazing visuals with the high caliber interface Adobe is known for.

FREE FONTS

1. DAFONT — A huge selection of free fonts. Under each font category you can filter the free fonts by selecting “100% free” under the More Options menu
2. GOOGLE FONTS
3. PIXEL SURPLUS — You have to subscribe to download their fonts, however, I receive weekly emails with new fonts that are free for commercial use and I enjoy having new options to discover each week.
4. FONT SQUIRREL — All fonts available here are free for commercial use! Nice and easy!

PAID CURATED PHOTOS

While free stock photography saves you money, there are paid-for photography sources that are worth the investment. These can be one-time payments for a limited collection or membership pricing that gives you access to ongoing photo bundles. Many of them also offer a free photo bundle just for subscribing.

1. MOYO STUDIO — I look forward to their new releases! They have unique and stunning photography content that is sure to impress your audience especially if you are an entrepreneur or freelancer. Subscribe for 50 free photos and then keep an eye out for promotional bundles!
2. STYLED STOCK SOCIETY — Specifically catered to women entrepreneurs, they release high-quality curated photo bundles several times a month and have a huge library. Perfect for elevating your brand online.
3. SOCIAL CURATOR — Created by Jasmine Star, this is perfect for those who need some help with their social media content creation. Not only do you get monthly photos bundles but she offers social media caption prompts and tips to bring your content creation A game.
4. CREATIVE MARKET — Not just for photography, they have all creative assets available to purchase. You can purchase individual bundles (even Styled Stock Society sells here) and set your budget to filter your options.

Image from Styled Stock Society

PAID ILLUSTRATIONS, GRAPHICS, AND ICONS

1. THE NOUN PROJECT — The biggest library of icons and you can adjust colours and orientation as well.
2. RAWPIXEL — You can upgrade to access all of their content but they have a large selection of free graphics, illustrations and icons as well.
3. CREATIVE MARKET–This website sells all creative assets you can imagine. From illustration bundles to social media and PowerPoint templates. They are the Target of creative resources.

PAID MOCKUPS

Product mockups are something I use for my own business and are a great way to elevate how you showcase your brand online. Anything you can put a logo on you’ll find a product mockup for. However, these generally require Photoshop to use.

1. GRAPHIC PEAR — The biggest collection of product mockups by far. You can get limited free access but their pricing is pretty great considering their volume of assets.
2. MOYO STUDIO — Beyond their styled photo bundles they also release mockups to go with them. These are typically devices (ipads, computers, phones) as well as business cards, invitations and stationary. My personal favourite.
3. CREATIVE MARKET — Here again, these guys also offer mockups, including those by Moyo Studios and other companies on this list.
4. RAWPIXEL — Another repeat to the list, but they too offer mockups on their platform. I don’t find them to be of the same caliber as those listed above but you can also find some free mockups here as well.

I use Moyo Studio mockups to showcase my branding work

As you can see, there are so many creative resources at your disposal. Even without your own creative team to help you, you can easily elevate your brand online to compete with the best of them.

Be sure to download my FREE lead magnet template in Canva to get started on your next creative project. It’s so easy you’ll wonder why you’ve waited so long.

Download my FREE lead magnet template

Disclaimer: Always double check licensing before using stock imagery, illustrations, mock ups or other resources as things may change.

Originally published at https://www.jennyhendersonstudio.com on August 5, 2020.