Embarking on a career as a graphic designer is both exhilarating and unpredictable. Despite investing considerable time in mastering the intricacies of various tools and software features, recreating the dazzling maximalist or refined minimalist look that initially inspired us can prove challenging. One impediment may be the underutilisation of tools, which can be addressed by immersing oneself in tutorial videos to explore potential use cases and eventually develop a unique approach. Another challenge, albeit a painful one, is lacking an innate eye for design or a sense of aesthetics. While this realisation may sting, there are practical and enjoyable ways to discern the inexplicable and learn from it.
Coolors
Every designer, and even those who have crafted a PowerPoint presentation, has likely committed the cardinal sin of randomly selecting unappealing colour combinations from the colour wheel, compromising both design and readability. The website coolors.co offers millions of colour palettes, allowing users to search based on colour type, style, and topic.
Alternatively, users can generate their own palette of harmonious colours. A noteworthy feature of Coolors is its ease of use in copying hex codes with just one click. For enhanced text readability, the Contrast Checker feature assesses the chosen text and background colour, subtly adjusting it for significantly improved readability. The Palette Visualiser, Coolors’ latest feature, is a premium tool enabling users to apply any palette—random or customised—over the SVG file they upload. Free version users can apply palettes over the existing library of designs to gain a better understanding of various styles.
Font Brief
An incompatible font choice can undermine the intended emotional impact of a design. With an overwhelming array of font options, manually assessing each one’s suitability can be inefficient. Fontbrief.com allows users to search for fonts based on personality, utilising 8 sets of dichotomous spectra to recommend the most fitting font for a given design. Users also have the option to narrow down their search to free fonts for added convenience.
Background Generators
Selecting a background colour, gradient, or pattern and then creating or finding one online can be a tedious process. Several websites streamline this task:
- Meshgradient.in: Generate beautiful mesh gradients by choosing four colours.
- Trianglify.io: A sophisticated low-poly pattern generator offering customisation in intensity, variance, cell size, and colour.
- Haikei.app: Offers 15 different background styles, such as blob scene and layer peak, with specialised customisation for each. Allows export in SVG or PNG format.
- BGJar.com: A comprehensive site offering various background styles, including animated ones, with customised code options.
- Tabbied.com: Provides pre-made geometric patterns with customisation options for colour, columns, and frequency. Patterns can be exported in PNG format.
- Superdesigner.co: Limited quantity colour, pattern, and background generators. Additionally, it can generate blobs for graphic designers and CSS patterns and backgrounds for site designers.
- Heropatterns.com: Boasts an extensive collection of exclusive pattern styles, including dominos, temple, floating cogs, and Moroccan. Customisation options are available, and patterns can be exported as SVG files or CSS code.
For new designers facing the challenge of starting from a blank canvas, leveraging these sites efficiently can serve as a crucial first step toward creating their masterpiece.