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6 Graphic Design Resources For Fashion Bloggers

IFB » Tools, Apps, Gadgets, and Resources » 6 Graphic Design Resources For Fashion Bloggers

Great graphic design is a critical part of branding your blog. It's as important as your Twitter strategies, your photography, hey, I would go as far as to say as it's as important as your text. Why? Because the way your site is designed is the first thing people notice about your blog, even if it's subconscious. Is your font difficult to read? Does it say “fashion?”

Sometimes I like to joke that since I am a blogger, that I didn't use my college education. But that is not the truth. I went to college for graphic design, and quite honestly, the skills I learned to be graphic designer are needed every day. From editing photos (and learning how to edit photos), to creating graphics for social media distribution of posts, or creating banners, buttons, hey, even the IFB Conference invitations and programmes all were designed by me. Even the logo for IFB.

Graphic design was an industry I fell into. It started by making open house flyers for real estate agents and became my profession for a decade. So you really don't have to get a degree in graphic design to start yourself. In fact, many of you already use graphic design in your blog's identity. And many of you do wonderful work, probably not even thinking it's “graphic design.”

IFB could easily write a post every day on a graphic design topic, but I figure, we have so many other topics to cover as well. So not to worry, here are a few websites that specialize in the skills that fall under the “graphic design” umbrella.

Photoshop Tutorials

I've only taken one class in Photoshop, and that was literally in 1998. Even though there are plenty of things to learn with each new version, getting started is always the tough part. I love Photoshop, and pretty much use it every day. If you would like to learn it, there are plenty of resources on the web. PSHero, has so many tutorials, from working with RAW photos, to adding brushes, to creating digtial notebooks (graphicaly… and it's not even hard!). Even if you're a Photoshop Pro, this site is a real treat to browse through.

Free Stock Photos

While it's always best to take your own photos, sometimes it's just not possible. Say, if you write a lot of introspective and abstract posts. Topics that don't fall under “fair use” when using someone else's photos without permission. I have to say Flickr Creative Commons has a great selection of photos, but I've used them for several years, and people just aren't updating like they used to. However, PhotoPin is a fantastic resource for searching both commercial and non-commercial use photos. Like with any stock search, there might be a bit of weird stuff to search through, but all in all, it's an easy to use resource with great photos.

PhotoPin

Beautiful (Free) Fonts

Free fonts have gotten a lot better these days. Sometimes you get what you pay for, a quirky typeface that has poor letter spacing. But when it comes to a single site that has free fonts, The League of Movable Type is by far my favorite. Over the last year, we've used Leauge Gothic and Ostrich Sans, and both have been really nice to work with. They have other typefaces as well!

League of Movable Type

Typography Tutorials

It's one thing to have access to amazing fonts, but making them look amazing on your website is a completely new can of worms. I have a Bachelor's degree in typography, and yet, I don't think I know that much about the craft. It's a subtle craft, and it takes years to really get it right. However, don't let that scare you off. The beauty is, you can just jump right in. Downloading fonts and playing around is a great way to get started, but if you really want to understand how to use text effectively, then it's good to brush up on the basics. Then as you learn, you can really go crazy with all of the resources they have out there for typographers. I found one AMAZING list of tutorials on Creative Bloq loaded with crash courses including the Basics of Type, and Combining Typefaces. Once you get past the basics, you can move on to tutorials on How to digitize fonts, and treat type in Photoshop. I think many wonderful hours will be lost on this page!

Creative Bloq

HTML & CSS Tutorials

If you don't know HTML or CSS, don't worry. Most everything I've learned was simply through Googling, “How do you….” We've covered HTML basics here on IFB, but if you need more, W3schools is great for learning HTML, and CSS, but if you want more comprehensive tutorials, CSSTutorial.net shows you pretty much everything you need to know about this code. I would start by figuruing out what you need to learn to make your vision happen, because just reading these sites is, frankly, boring. It will only stick in your mind if you have an immediate need and you put it to practice.

CSSTutorial.net

Graphic Inspiration

Without stating the obvious, Pinterest has a fantastic Graphic Design community. If you want something quick an dirty, or just to get started with your research, it's a wonderful place to get lost.

If you're looking for something a bit more substantial, there are loads of graphic design blogs out there. The standards are Swiss Miss, I Love Typography, and I do quite like this blog, Aisle One, which focuses on Modernist design principles, and Visuelle is a bit more eclectic, but spot on. It's enough to get your bearings, then explore from there!

Aisle One

There is so much more to get into, but this is a good start!

Do you have a favorite graphic design resource to share?

13 Responses

Olive Brown March 29, 2013

Great post! I’m really glad this has been brought up because I feel like graphic design is highly overlooked by amateur bloggers and it shouldn’t be. There are loads of free resources online to help you put together a great looking blog and it’s so important to visually express your website’s theme and personality. It’s literally the first thing I notice when I look at a website – even if the content is revolutionary, chances are I won’t spend any time reading it if it’s not presentable.

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Sabrina + Mariana March 29, 2013

Good fonts are essential 🙂 I love looking online for cool ones I like. I usually go to dafont, but it’s nice to know of more sources.
xo

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Nathalie F. March 29, 2013

Thank you SO much for providing these resources for us all in one page. I’ve been blogging since July, and I have yet to come up with some graphic design that I absolutely love. I’ve done everything (except the header illustration) myself using Paint and Picmonkey because I don’t have Photoshop yet. Where I’ve become stuck is in finding cute, free fonts (and installing them) and learning CSS. I’ve recently found some free fonts that I like through Pinterest, but I still wouldn’t know how to install them. So thanks again for including these free tutorial sites!!

-Nathy
http://earnestyle.blogspot.com/

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Ann March 30, 2013

I absolutely LOVE the blog Pugly Pixel. There are resources and tutorials for photoshop etc.
cheers,
ann.

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Aleksis March 30, 2013

This is very helpful, thank you!
I’m no pro, but I think that the design of the blog is crucial. Sometimes I spend the whole night editing pictures or making new stuff for blog.
-Aleksis
http://galaxiesandmore.blogspot.com

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Sheryl Blasnik March 31, 2013

Noble Desktop located in SOHO in NYC offers free classes in graphic and web design as well as free online classes. They video the classes and have an online archive.

You Tube has an infinite number of tutorials on everything from photoshop tips and tricks to HTML and CSS coding.

I also have gotten help with my WP blog when I get stuck on small things from Fiveer, for $5.00 you can hire a Graphic Designer or Web Developer.

Sheryl
http://fashiondevelopmentgroup.com

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Chaucee from Streets and Stripes March 31, 2013

Thank you so much for sharing this! These are great links. A very practical post, I love it!

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Wilma April 3, 2013

This post is very helpful dear. Thanks for this. Sometimes, though I have this burning desire to publish a new post, It took me time to find for resources like fonts, picture, graphics and the like that will suit for my post. Thanks for the help. I bookmarked the sites. 🙂

Happy Blogging.

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Laurie April 4, 2013

Thanks! These are some really great resources. For stock photos I like Pixmac. They have a huge library and it’s really affordable.

http://www.fashionkrush.com

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Mia April 9, 2013

Good to see all the useful aspects in a single post! Fotostock can be a great resource to find the images you need. I’d like to add Behance and Dspn too, that offer classy gallery style photos and have some really cool art works.

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MonicaP April 9, 2013

Fabulous! I’m thinking of starting another blog – have the name and idea, but graphics .. ugh, not even one idea .. this will help me find some direction.

Monica
www.pear-shaped-gal.com

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huqq May 20, 2013

really excursive post ,These graphic design resources are wonderful, very useful information ,it is helpful for me,Thanks for Regards meant for discussing

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Kotryna Bass September 8, 2013

great article and some really useful tips here! If you guys need any help with graphic design on your blog/business- feel free to check out my shop: www.etsy.com/shop/kotrynabassdesign

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