Excellent Design Resources for the Discerning Artist

There are design resources, and then there are incredible design resources. Looking for a custom brush? What about a specific texture? Need a boilerplate for a logo? What about a WordPress portfolio theme? Sure, you can Google it and see where your search takes you or you can just point your browser to the pages I’ve handpicked.

Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite design resource sites:

CreativeMarket: This is, without doubt, my top pick. Buy texture packs, brush packs, fonts, and other assorted sundry. I first discovered this site thanks to an incredible AppSumo deal and it’s been bookmarked for easy access ever since. What I like about CreativeMarket is how easy it is to find what you are looking for. The site is cleanly laid out, well organized and includes categories for Graphics, Templates, Themes, Fonts and other add-ons. You can find textures, Photoshop actions, WordPress templates, fonts, and much, much more. Everything’s reasonably priced, too.

Themeforest: This is the place to go to find custom WordPress, Tumblr, and even custom HTML templates. There’s a handy star rating guide that will give you some insight into the quality of the themes and how well the developers support them. This is my go-to for WordPress themes. Prices range from $10 all the way up to $55. Test out your favorite themes via “Live Preview”. Many of the themes include detailed documents (or, in some cases, screencasts) showing you how to apply the theme to your existing WP site. To purchase the themes, you’ll have to open a Themeforest account and deposit funds. No biggie, but a minor inconvenience.

BrushKing: Lots of great FREE Photoshop brushes to be found here. Brushes are categorized by type and it’s very easy to browse and download from the numerous options available. Want more? I’ve written about other excellent brush resources recently.

Go Media’s Arsenal: One of the first sites I stumbled upon several years ago. In addition to textures, you can find plenty of high quality vector EPS files to enhance your designs. GoMedia also sells several mockup templates you can use for hoodies, t-shirts, and other apparel. As with CreativeMarket, you’ll have to pay to download and use the design elements.

Blambot: Blambot’s all about affordable comic book styled fonts. Many of the fonts on Nate’s site are free, and the pay fonts are all very reasonably priced (many are only $20 a pop). Bonus: Don’t miss site curator Nate Piekos’ well written articles on various aspects of typography and logo design.

Those are my picks. What are some of your favorite online design resources? Share them in the comments below!

-Krishna