Top Design Resources in 2021 
Tags: webdev, devjournal, beginners, ux
Published: 2021-08-13 15:08:43

Nowadays, there’s no shortage of resources for designers, in fact, you could almost argue there’s too many! From vintage posters, movie posters, to concept art and design from various industries there’s no end to the inspiration found online. Bloggers, digital creators and marketers can also use the internet to find inspiration and current trends in design, giving them a starting point for their own work.

To give back to the design community—and to fulfil the wish of so many of you out there, here’s a carefully curated collection of the __best free design resources__ on the internet:

#Illustrations

Let’s face it. We all love to see good illustrations on the digital content we view. They can be incredibly powerful. Illustrations can establish a connection with your reader and bring a story to life. Their power comes from simplicity where a single image is packed with meaning behind it. 

With an emerging trend of 3D illustrations, lets jump on the bandwagon to explore websites that offer free and high-quality resources.

##1. [3D Bay](https://clouddevs.com/3dbay/)

![3D Bay - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6ex13dwqk2ty75sct2oa.jpg)

Bring some colour and spunk to your landing pages or blog content with the use of these cool three-dimensional illustrations. Not only are they completely free to use for personal and commercial purposes, this is a growing collection of high-quality illustrations in a wide range of categories that suit most trending topics.

![3D Illustration of a couple taking selfies](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/zxipknhmfy42j2ylexfg.png)

One thing is for sure, a 3D illustration on your website or social media will make you stand out on the internet. 

Illustrations, in general, are very captivating. So we have to include a 2D illustration provider in the list.

##2. [DrawKit](https://www.drawkit.io/)

They offer a growing collection of hand-drawn vector illustrations to choose from. However, not all of their fantastic collections are available for free as some are only available as paid options.

![DrawKit - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/lqvzkw79639dvyxcvauu.jpg)

#Fonts

If you’re a frontend web developer or designer, you’ve probably been using free fonts. There is undeniably a handful of sites that offer free fonts. However, here’s our go-to top 2 for all things font-related:

##3. [Google Fonts](https://fonts.google.com/)

![Google Fonts - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6rtm9v4364n6wi7wxltk.jpg)

They offer a sleek and user-friendly interface that allows you to browse through over a 1000 different font families to find something suited to your needs.

##4. [Font Squirrel](https://www.fontsquirrel.com/)

![Font Squirrel - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/uu1t88dsolq336lzf1o4.jpg)

This neat tool for fonts is unique in the sense that it compiles a list of free fonts available through other sites based on your filtered text, and provides you the links to the relevant sites.

#Colour Palettes

UI designers are well aware of the need for these nifty tools that allow them to maintain consistency across their designs. So here’s a look at some of the top colour palette generating resources that are available for free:

##5. [Coolors](https://coolors.co/)

![Coolors - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/g9b394na8k0026dijjlk.jpg)

One of the easiest to use (beginner-friendly) colour scheme generators out there, it allows you to set the tone for your content giving it a lasting impression.

##6. [ColorSpace](https://mycolor.space/)

![ColorSpace - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/qkupfda87x1g81ivgddy.jpg)

The perfect resource to find the fitting colour scheme for your needs. They offer additional features such as colour gradient generation and matching.

#Icons

Icons are a fun way of making your content more memorable. Here are some convenient free icon resources to keep in mind:

##7. [Icon Finder](https://www.iconfinder.com/)

![Icon Finder - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vspgskhtf7pubwmsh68y.jpg)

Its free option allows you access to over 300,000 icons. Although, keep in mind that attribution is required for the use of some of these.

##8. [Flaticon](https://www.flaticon.com/)

![Flaticon - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/uvcrnpw7wh9atw658fhi.jpg)

Choose from thousands of free icon sets and stickers to glam up your content. The paid option will gain you access to over 5 million designs.

#Stock Images

##9. [Rawpixel] (https://www.rawpixel.com/?sort=shuffle&page=1&feed=creative-feed)

![Rawpixel - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/lm8sajeaasq3fhdcjmn2.jpg)

Explore a range of royalty-free stock images and download for personal and commercial use.

##10. [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/)

![Unsplash - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/zgohygfbbxe4yv7o62px.jpg)

A stunning collection of royalty-free stock images to choose from.

#Stock Videos

#11. [Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/videos/)

![Pexels - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/yvmwnvi1ae2jmfiwlpo6.jpg)

A vast collection of high-quality stock videos that can be used without attribution.

#12. [Mixkit](https://mixkit.co/free-stock-video/)

![Mixkit - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/8quo1n4k46tmcynz19e1.jpg)

A collection of stock video footage for free download.

#Photo Editing

What use would all these resources be if there are no free tools to edit them online? Well lucky for you we have selected some of the best free editing tools available that makes your design process an easy breeze.

##13. [Pixlr](https://pixlr.com/)

![Pixlr - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ysnrpcvjkt8drdjrh1o6.jpg)

Their free to use basic online editor offers a convenient set of tools and resources for image editing inclusive of filters and layering options.

##14. [Remove.bg](https://www.remove.bg/)

![Remove.bg - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/v8lk5imfrl34apx5v5lu.jpg)

A convenient tool to automatically remove the background of an image with just a click.

##15. [Duotone](https://duotone.shapefactory.co/)

![Duotone - Screenshot](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/du0g2xfcto2sw6xul7th.jpg)

Within just seconds, this tool can convert your photos to eye catching duotone images.

Hope you find this selection useful. Drop us a line if you know of something cool that we should add to our list! 

![Design Inspiration](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/1ebe2gcy6mnx4q2bhwk4.png)