All marketers – listen up! I would like to share some hot tools and resources, which will make your life as an all-in-one marketer a whole lot easier.
In times in which DIY is proclaimed, smartphone pictures come very close to professional photoshoots and all of a sudden everyone seems to be a marketing expert, I will show you
where to get beautiful and free pictures
how to browse for free fonts
why making an explainer video today only takes as much as 5 minutes
who hosts the largest free icon library and
an easy-to-use free software for creating amazing designs
Having read this blog post you will be able to create the most beautiful and witty marketing layouts. Your friends and colleagues will give you that “Did YOU do that?” – look, while desperately trying to find out how you did this.
It is time for a brief overview of where to look for good and free marketing tools and resources, so that you can score and bring your graphic design skills to that upper new level.
Free pictures
This article says that in times in which we switch off once we are bored, it is crucial to maintain your audience’s attention via powerful imagery.
We are more likely to remember content that goes with nice pictures. According to Shutterstock.com an astonishing 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual.
So we understand: pictures do matter. The other question is: where do we get them? Especially if we are on a budget.
My favorite resources for free imagery are
All of them can be searched intuitively (on pixabay.com you can even search by color) and offer a great range of pictures, both for professional and private needs.
You can search for photographs only or for free video and vector files, submit your own masterpieces and download free imagery as long as you credit the author.
Free fonts
Fonts matter just as much as pictures. If you want your text to be easy to read on screens, then you should be using clean sans-serif fonts like Arial, Helvetica or Verdana. Every font has its own character and carries a subtle message when used.
No matter what font you choose, you should have the right to choose from a wide range of fonts. Every time I look for new fonts, I refer to
Tip: When you need to create designs that contain a foreign language, like for example copy in Russian, make sure to check that your desired font if also available for the Cyrillic alphabet.
Animaker – Free video maker
Animaker.com (www.animaker.com) is another favorite marketing tool of mine: with Animaker you can create animated videos in a few minutes.
There are 6 different styles of videos you can choose from:
Simple 2D video
2,5D video (with shadows)
Animated infographics
Animated typography (much like Power Point)
Handcrafted videos
And whiteboard videos
The drag-and-drop editors makes it super easy to create and edit your videos. The library of introduction tutorials comes in handy whenever you are in doubt.
A grand library of free characters, icons, colors and fonts suddenly make creating videos feel like a fun game.
You will be surprised how many companies are using this resource, among which are Google, Adidas, Walmart, Deloitte, ebay and many more.
Note: when using this tool without payment, then the little Animaker logo will remain after you export your video. You can remove it by switching to a paid account.
Free icons
Icons are small, simple symbols, which are used for representing certain ideas and items. A great pool to get free icons from is Flaticon.com (www.flaticon.com).
On this website, you can download free icons both in different formats, which make it super handy when working with vector files. Available download formats are:
PNG
SVG
EPS
PSD
Color and style can also be customized for most icons.
What I also like about Flaticons.com is that you can download many icon packs, so that all of them come in one style, which will make your design look coherent.
As with all free resources, do not forget to credit the author. The website explains how to do that, too.
Canva – Free design program
According to its website, Canva (www.canva.com) is “the easiest-to-use design program in the world”. And I can say that this true!
With many ready-to-use templates, free fonts, images and elements, Canva makes designing great fun! You can fully customize colors and download your masterpiece as a PDF and PNG.
Ready-made templates include:
social media posts (exact the right pixel size for Facebook, Instagram & co.)
CVs
photo collage
presentations
event invitations
posters
calendars
magazine covers
web banners
infographics and more
No matter whether you want to polish your Instagram account with a few professional looking designs or are organizing a corporate event for over 100 participants – do take a look at canva.com, as I tell you, you won’t regret it.
There are options to customize colors, text and imagery. Canva even has its own library of images and fonts you can use – many of which are at no cost.
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All these tools come in handy when you have a great idea, lots of energy but little money. I invite you to explore these resources and try something new every day.
Be inspired by what other people do and find out for yourself how easy designing can be!