Free Photos, Vectors, Icons, Videos & Fonts From Stockio
There’s nothing like a good resource of stock images, vectors, icons and fonts to jumpstart your creative projects. Almost every designer needs a creative resource to fill image gaps from time to time.
Stockio is one of those resources. The site is packed with free image assets, including photos and video; vectors; icons and fonts that can be used for personal and commercial projects without attribution. Plus, all the resources are top-notch, high quality files.
What can you do with Stockio? We’ve got plenty of ideas to help spur a little creativity (and every example you see is from the Stockio database).
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Stock Photos Add Emphasis
Sadly, some projects just don’t come with great images. A great stock photo can give you just the visual emphasis you need.
Stock images can add an element of color, add meaning to messaging and provide a starting point for a design that’s lacking in visuals. The trick is finding a stock image that doesn’t have that cliché stock image feel.
Opt for stock images that aren’t overly posed, feature random people on white backgrounds or scenes that just don’t look realistic. Do look for stock images that are high-resolution and depict real scenes. Stay away from close-ups of faces – many stock photos use the same models – and opt for images with people doing things so that the action is the focus of the image.
Abstract stock images are a fun option as well to give the design a boost of color without linking the image to a person or place.
Stockio has an extensive database of stock photos that you can search by category – nature, abstract, models and more – with a one-click download. What’s great about these images is that every single one is real. These are real people in real place and real scenes. If you plan to use stock images, selecting something that seems authentic to your project is important.
Vectors Are a Great Project Starter
Sometimes you don’t need to draw an element from scratch in Illustrator. There are plenty of vector shapes and elements to jumpstart those ideas in the Stockio database. (And there is no shame in getting a little help from these elements.)
Whether you are planning a full-scale illustrated hero header or something simple such as a nifty button element or character set for user personas, a solid collection of vector elements can be a lifesaver.
Premade vector shapes can save you time – a lot of time, actually – and every vector from Stockio comes in an editable format so you can adjust elements to match brand colors or styles with ease. And the time savings are invaluable! (The only problem might be how long you spend browsing through all the great vector choices available.)
Icons Add Impact to Design
Whether you use them tiny or oversized, icons can add impact to almost any design project. And they are a trendy design element as well.
Adding an icon set is something that can enhance almost any type of design – digital or printed. Just look for icons that match the feel of the project, customize the colors and you are ready to go.
Stockio has a plenty of icon options to choose from, including outlined icons, icons with full-color fills and even icons for social media networks and ecommerce. Plus, every icon file comes in SVG and PNG formats.
Using Varied Fonts Aids Readability
Did you know that using multiple typefaces can actually make your design easier to read?
It’s true. Using two contrasting typefaces can help the eye move between text elements with ease. That’s why most designs use one typeface for body text and another type style for headlines or display type.
While the most common pairing is to use a serif and sans serif together, there are plenty of ways to pair typefaces. Finding the right font can be the biggest challenge.
The Stockio collection includes thousands of typefaces, grouped by category. You can search for a handwritten option and a serif or a retro font and a basic sans serif.
When pairing typefaces, look for letterforms with similar shapes. (Look at the lowercase “o” in each typeface, is it round or oval?) Opt for typefaces with somewhat similar shapes, but different weights so that there’s plenty of contrast between the fonts. Beware of picking type pairs that look too similar, it can be jarring for readers.
Videos Headers Are Trendy and Engaging
This is a free video, “Hot Cup of Coffee”, from Stockio.
Video headers are one of the most popular design elements out there. Designers and users love the highly engaging moving image format.
But planning and getting video for projects can be timely and expensive. Stock video is another option that works just like stock imagery with b-roll footage that you can use to enhance design projects.
Stockio has hundreds of short video clips to help you make the most of the trend. Use video to create an interesting hero header or as a secondary image on pages throughout the design. You can maximize the impact of stock video with a color or text overlay so that it has a more custom feel.
Just like with stock images, the key to using stock video is to match it to the brand identity and messaging. And don’t go overboard; pick one or two key videos that are representative of your brand.
Conclusion
If you are in the market for any type of stock asset, Stockio is the place to start. It’s packed with images, vectors, icons, fonts and video that you can use in projects absolutely free.
Everything is high-quality and the assets (as you can see from the examples above) are pretty amazing. You are sure to find everything you need to jumpstart projects that need a visual boost!