My Favourite Tools & Resources
Since retiring from teaching and starting my design business in 2008, I’ve tested, crashed and loved a lot of design tools! Below is my list of favourites that have helped me streamline my process, define my business and build my skills.
DIY Social Media + Graphics
I've been using Adobe Indesign and Illustrator in almost all of my projects for decades, so I was blown away when I was introduced to CANVA, which has a free subscription option and great templates. It's my GO TO app for social media graphics and even for just quick design play.
Templates, Brushes & Fonts
Creative Market is a great source for fonts, templates, Procreate brushes and other digital ready-to-use products.
Photography
Of course, your own original images are always more authentic but when you need stock photos for any topics, I rely on these:
ISTOCK BY GETTY IMAGES — Extensive collection of stock photos on any topic but not inexpensive
DEPOSIT PHOTOS — Inexpensive stock photos for any topic
PIXABAY — Free!
LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHERS — Definitely not free but a local photographer can always capture exactly what you're after with an authentic, local eye
Website Design
Wix is a free, user-friendly, website building platform with both an excellent drag-and-drop site builder and an editor for more control. Sites are built to be search engine friendly! 100s of free templates make good use of spacing and typefaces to create impact. Wix also provides a large library of professionally shot images that you can use for free.
Learning
I took advantage of the downtime during COVID-19 lockdowns and signed up for Skillshare to learn everything from improving SEO on websites to hand lettering, taking hand drawn sketches into Illustrator and illustrating for letterpress printing. Skillshare has thousands of online classes for creative and curious people. You can see my projects on Skillshare >>