During the course of a website development project, you occasionally have to go to various resources to search for design elements that will make the final product as appealing and professional looking as possible. Some of these elements can be genuine time savers, as they save you the trouble of having to create your own. On the other hand, your search for quality photos, vectors, patterns, and the like can often involve a significant amount of wasted time.
Free design downloads are readily available, but the quality of the material provided will vary. 1001FreeDownloads can save you hours of lost time and a great deal of frustration. They offer a wealth of top-quality photos, fonts, icons, and much more. Several of their offerings are shown here; beginning with a category designers have a definite interest in – Fonts.
Fonts – What You Select can make a Difference
Fonts often play a good role in website design, and in many instances a commonly used font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, will not suffice. The choice you make may affect the overall look of your website, positively or negatively, or it may contribute little to its general appearance. On the other hand, there is much to be gained by considering fonts as a part of your design, and taking the time to see which font or fonts can make a definite contribution to that design.
Some fonts, like Walkway, can be attention-grabbers that tend to be most effective when used somewhat sparingly. Some fonts are better suited for use in corporate or professional websites, while others can give your website a more personal touch. Make selecting fonts that best support your site’s theme one of your objectives..
Icons – No Website can Work without Them
Icons are often looked upon as being purely functional. You click on a shopping cart icon, and your product finds its way to the shopping cart. Icons are key user interface elements, but that does not mean they cannot be used creatively.
An icon can be quite plain. It indicates its functionality, and not much else. It does its job, but does not contribute all that much to a web page’s look and feel. On the other hand, icons can be colorful, animated, playful, or amusing.
An icon that reflects a websites theme can convey a great deal of information. A globe can take you to a list of cities, a magnifying glass take you to a search function, but where does a microscope take you? It all depends on your theme.
Brushes – Adding a Lot in a Short Time
Brushes are commonly used to add depth and fullness to a home page or a header, quickly and effectively. Attempting to achieve manually what brushes can do for a presentation, could take hours instead of seconds or minutes.
One of the better selections of brushes is found in Photoshop, but there are other sources of free brushes as well, including here. If your creations seem to be lacking something, and you haven’t quite been able to put your finger on it, you might look into what brushes can bring to the table, and what they can contribute to your presentations.
Textures- Leather can be Beautiful; so can Cement
The right use of textures can result in a stunning web page, while a poor choice can serve as a distraction, or in extreme cases make text unreadable. If you are going to use texture, you want to choose carefully, but if you take the time to do so, the end result can be extremely rewarding. You can use texture to make your presentations more attractive or appealing.
You can also use texture to emphasize your design’s theme. Adding a free, high-quality texture resource to your toolbox is never a bad idea.
Patterns – Choose Wisely, and be Rewarded
A carefully chose pattern can turn a dull or uninspiring website into a work of art. Patterns need to be selected with care, but that is true of many other design elements as well. The best choice for a pattern is one that complements the information presented in a website, or one that adds emphasis to a website’s theme, while a poor choice can detract from the website’s message or theme. Patterns, like textures, and for that matter like fonts, need to be chosen carefully, but a proper choice can make a powerful difference.
Spend some time looking into what is available. If you browse through what we have to offer, you should not have to look for very long.
Vectors to the Rescue
Vectors can serve a critical need. If you have a deadline looming, and your website or web page is in dire need of imagery or graphics; having a vector library close a hand can be an absolute life saver. Vectors are superb at giving a design an innovative touch. Their use can suggest an innovative mind has been at work, and the simplest vector designs can, when used in the right places, convey a ton of information, or give the website visitor a chuckle.
As far as having a library of vectors is concerned, the more you have, the better off you are; or so it would seem. In practice, a reasonably-sized collection will in most cases give you plenty to work with.
Photos Attract Visitors
Photos can convey a great deal of information; or they can simply be used to draw a visitor’s attention. One of the objectives a website developer strives for is to create a product that will not only attract visitors, but encourage them to linger for a while. Photos can play a major role in meeting that objective.
There are two problems with using photos; both of which are fairly significant. The first is the sheer number that are available; free or otherwise. The second is the time it takes to find a top-quality photo that is exactly what you are looking for. Whether you are looking for an image that will make visits to your website a pleasant experience, or you are looking for a real attention grabber, you will most likely find what you want right here.
You can spend a great deal of time searching for free elements that will assist you in creating high-quality websites, especially if those you are looking for must in themselves be of superior quality. If can sometimes take a great deal of time sifting through good, but not exceptional, material before you come across a gem, or an element that definitely contributes to what your website is all about.
High-quality free or affordable design elements are not difficult to find if you look in the right place, which is what you have been doing here.
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