As a web designer, I often go through a branding consultation with clients who are setting up a new business or nonprofit. In this one-hour session, we figure out the fonts, colors, feelings, and images that best suit you and your audience- it’s kind of like setting up a design language. However, not everyone can afford the 1-4 hour strategy session that takes, so here are some tools and resources for those who would like to DIY their design.

Canva- an entirely web-based Photoshop lite.

I love Canva and recommend it to any client that wants to make their own social media graphics. It’s an easy way to put text on top of images and make some very basic image adjustments.

Google fonts- free fancy web fonts

Did you know you can go to fonts.google.com to see and filter a list of all the google fonts? These are free to use on new web projects, usually pretty easy to download for offline use, and already incorporated into your google docs and slides. Try using the drop down menus to see only certain categories of fonts (like handwriting) or put in your own sample text to see it in action.

Pexels- free stock photos that don’t suck

Of course, it is always better to hire a photographer and get custom shots. But if you’re looking for something a little cheaper, or maybe just a quickie background image for your blog post where you don’t have to worry about copyright violations, check our Pexels. Their quality is excellent.

Coolors.co- color palette generator

Just hit spacebar to make new color combinations. When you see a color you like, press the lock button. It will give you the hexadecimal color codes (those six digit numbers at the bottom) you can copy/paste over to your designer or into your design program.

Magisto – quick and easy video creation

If you want a little video for social media but don’t have the budget to hire a videographer, try Magisto– it’s an app you put on your phone. Just choose the images and videos you’d like, pick some royalty-free music, and it gives you a video! Pretty great.

GifMaker- create animated image files

Gifs can be nice for use in email (where videos are not possible), or when you’re trying to show an animation that doesn’t need audio (like the illustrations on this page! I also like https://ezgif.com.

Cartoonize.net- make photos into cartoons or paintings (for free)

Ok, I almost didn’t put this in here because I’m a designer and I like things to be well-designed (and frankly, this site’s user interface is a mess!). But, I haven’t found a better (free) service out there than this one, if you want some fancy effects on your photos. It’s not as good as hiring a real illustrator to make you a real cartoon or painting, but hey- it’s free!

Lucidchart- DIY flowcharts and infographics

Want to build flowcharts or custom infographics, but don’t have the budget to hire me? Try this site, it is pretty easy to use and has 3 free charts on the free plan. They’re not as pretty as custom-drawn infographics, but they get the job done if you just need to communicate an idea quickly.

Are you DIYing your next design project but don’t know where to start? Get in touch for a some expert help, I have 13 years of experience in web and graphic design illustration. I’d be glad to point you in the right direction and offer you 30 minutes of my best advice, totally free.