Graphic Design on a Budget

John — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:45:39 +0000

While some youth pastors enjoy the luxury of hiring professional designers, others have a budget. And for those on a budget, finding tools to create graphics can be challenging. Today I present to you several options for DIY design. While I can’t give you a designer’s eye, I can certainly give you some resources to help you get started. This list is by no means the end-all be-all of resources – simply a guide , especially for those who are beginners.

Software

Pixelmator - Similar functionality as Photoshop for Mac ($59)
GIMP – Alternative to Photoshop for Mac (free)
Seashore - Basic image editing software for Mac (free)
Inkscape – Vector editing software fpr PC/Mac (free)
Photoshop Express – A limited web version of Photoshop (free)
Paint.NET – Image editor for PC (free)

Tutorials

Smashing Magazine – More free design resources than you can dig through in months. They offer tutorials, free templates/graphics/backgrounds/fonts, and more.
Gimp-tutorials.net - The name says it all
Bits and Pixels - Pixelmator tutorials
Graphic Design Tutorials (About.com) – Introduction to graphic design with tutorials

Fonts

DaFont.com – My personal favorite for free fonts
Urban Font – Clean an easy to use
Better Fonts – Also easy to use

Pictures/Graphics

iStockPhoto – The ‘default’ of stock photo site. Thousands upon thousands of images and design elements
Cyclops – The best tool for searching for stock photo. Searches across more than ten sites at once, finding the best pictures/deals
Every Stock Photo – same as Cyclops

When purchasing stock photos and fonts, please be sure they are always royalty free. Most sites specify this.

Patterns (for low resolution web graphics/banners)

Printing

(This list will be updated on a regular basis)

ThreeParts » Design

Graphic Design on a Budget