HA! Caught you! You thought this was going to be something risqué, didn’t you? Go on, admit it. Truth is it’s about us non-graphic folks getting graphics into our blogs. I’m a big fan of white space. But, what I really love is nice pictures or graphics.
NOTE: I DO NOT RECEIVE ANY PAYMENT OR RECOGNITION IN EXCHANGE FOR
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING SITES IN THIS BLOG!
When I started my blog, one of my many worries was how I was going to get great photos in my posts. While I have a nice camera and can take some pretty great shots outdoors, as long as the object doesn’t move and the lighting is just right, I struggle with great indoor photography. I needed to find an alternative to my amateur photography that would appropriately depict my stories.
What’s important to consider is what the look or feel of your site will be, what kind of image you want to develop. I wanted to make sure the photography I used was of high quality. Sure, some of the photos I use aren’t so great….they are MINE! (insert frown!) See, I told you I’m not great at indoor stuff! Anyway, when I write an article I always think about what sort of graphics or photos I might include. I’m not of a mind to include a ton of photos. So often, I visit blogs, especially food blogs, and I can’t find the words for the photos. I say that with all due respect to the owners of the blog, but I’m a big girl and don’t need picture books anymore. I get a little tired of scrolling through the exact same hunk of food shot 50 times….sorry!
Anywho…because I “google like the wind” (one of my hidden talents) I started with searching for FREE sources…I think I already mentioned I’m cheap. I checked a lot out and landed on the following, and quickly bookmarked, because I thought the quality was great, the variety of FREE stock was good, and the stock they carried aligned with what I’d be putting on my blog. I did purchase a VIP membership at IvoryMix.com. Kayla does truly beautiful work, does have some stock available for free, and has a great supportive Facebook community as well.
Favorite FREE Photography Sites
Favorite FREE Graphic Design Sites
Now, let’s talk graphic design…I have no technical ability….period. It’s something I’ve always hired out, or had staff that could do for me in my “day job”. And, while I can describe what I’m aiming for, I have no idea how to get there and not look like it was done by a trained bear. Knowing I was going into this blog with little to no budget, hiring out was pretty much out of the picture. Then, by popular demand, I landed on Canva and PicMonkey as my favorites.
Canva is a terrific FREE program where you can design logos; create graphics that’ll be sized perfectly for your blog, social media platforms, etc. and do just about any graphic work you need. There are even a number of FREE templates to get you started. I do all my lead-in graphics for my posts in Canva. It’s pretty intuitive, and the FREE version has a good selection of options. I’m sure the paid version is even stronger. I’m also pretty simple at this point, so I currently just use whatever graphic I did for my lead-in photo for my social media graphics. Works for now…I’ll get more specialized someday.
PicMonkey is a great FREE photo editor. You can adjust your photos, create collages, add text…you name it. Picmonkey also has a number of templates available that include color themes, so you can really work your way to some pretty pieces. Picmonkey is pretty intuitive, even in the free version. I’ve not bought the upgrade version, but I’m sure there are a lot more powerful tools contained in it. I debated getting Adobe Photoshop or some such program, but for my level of skill…or lack of…it wasn’t worth the spend for me.
Hope this helps you find your way to great graphics. Remember…start with identifying your look and feel, how you want to present yourself. From there, the sky’s the limit when it comes to FREE resources to get you rolling.
If you have other sources you use, please share in the comments below and help your fellow bloggers out!
