Blog posts

I just wanted to write a quick post on some design resources I have found to be invaluable as a newspaper designer. This blog post is from my website, newspaperdesigners.com. Here is a list and breakdown of the resources I currently use:

1. Adobe Creative Cloud Subscription

This is a must have for every serious newspaper designer. With a yearly subscription you'll get access to all the Adobe products - specifically Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. These 3 killer apps are what I use primarily and often only for making newspaper templates. Get your subscription here.

The Creative Cloud logo

2. Typekit and Skyfonts Subscription

Don't break your bank account by buying individual fonts! Sign up for a Typekit and Skyfonts subscription. I believe Typekit comes with Adobe Creative Cloud so you won't have to "sign up" per se, just having a subscription to Creative Cloud will do. These two font retailers look after all my font needs for designing newspaper templates. Subscribe to Skyfonts here.

An animation showing different fonts

3. Subscribe to Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock has a great selection to high quality images, for a relatively good monthly price. Subscribe to Adobe Stock here.

Adobe Stock images can be searched from within Photoshop

4. Use Pixabay

I've had some good success in finding images on Pixabay. The images and the photos are high resolution. Best of all, they cost nothing! Visit their website here.

Free, high resolution images from Pixabay

5. Download and try some newspaper templates

Need I say more? It will save you time in producing a newspaper. Newspaper templates are super easy to customize and include all the fonts and images. Get newspaper templates here.

Newspaper template from newspaperdesigners.com

6. Try a customization service

To further ease the pain of creating a template from scratch, get the first page of your newspaper template developed here, with the template thrown in for free!

If you are a graphic designer who is just starting his freelance career and making a single project takes you days, you better read along because this post is about to reveal the top secret art websites every designer should use.

Geometric Shapes:

In the past few years, along with the Metro Style, there has been a new trend on the visual market covering all spheres of the art world. 

From fashion to pure hand-crafting, geometrical shapes seem to have conquered the global graphics market. Making the perfect triangular texture is quite difficult, if you don't have the right tools in hand. Illustrator and Photoshop might be your best friends when it comes to designing your raster or vector project, still the Triangles Github project of Maksim Surguy will take your geometric pieces to the next level.

Mock-Up Graphics:

I've spent hours upon hours in search for the perfect HERO image or mock-up PSD for my print designs.

Little did I know there is an online tool to answer all my design prayers. MockupEverything is a premium free online app which will help you mockup just about anything. Books, magazines, T-shirts and all sorts of devices can be the canvas of your new project. The tool has a free and paid version which allows you full access to customization options for only $12 a month.

UIfest Creativity Bundle:

If MockupEverything hasn't got what you need, you should definitely check out UIfest.

Wrapped up in a gorgeous design, the UIfest website comprises everything a graphics designer needs in its first months. No, we are not talking about design tutorials, but rather a complete collection of PSD and AI files from icons to backgrounds and shapes all free for both personal and commercial use. Featuring a one-of-a-kind DIY HERO image bundle, this design hub will most definitely become one of your favorites with lots more resources coming along.

The Lazy Designer's Hub:

I'm gonna share a secret with you and I bet you've probably thought about it either, but never had the courage to try it out yourself.

When you are pushed by deadlines or are just too lazy to take upon the project yourself, there is an easy and relatively cheap way to deal with the situation. Fiverr and lots of sites like it, which have popped up on the web market in the past few years give you the perfect opportunity not only to sell your work, but buy yourself time, on a quite competitive price. Just like carpet & upholstery cleaning companies provide service which saves customers time and efforts on a job they could often do themselves, hiring a designer for a small project could help you keep up with the sleep or meetup with friends for a cup of coffee. For just $5, you could get that Logo done in an hour, spruce it up according to your client's taste and forget about your troubles.