Does using design freebies makes you any less of a designer? Listen to hear our thoughts on using elements other designers have made and are sharing for free. There is a time and place to use a freebie, we share how to use them to your advantage as a designer and when to avoid them. We also celebrate recording the 200th episode of the podcast!
Design is about problem solving, making decisions, coming up with a strong rationale and building good experiences. How you get there is up to you, once you’re making good decisions along the way. If your journey towards a final design involves a freebie, use it as a starting point for your own ideas.
You can give someone all of the tools and all of the right elements to make something great but if they don’t have the skills, taste, knowledge and experience of a designer, the end product will not be well designed. Just by choosing which freebie to use, you are using design skills because you are choosing the best one for your project. The final design is in your hands. Remember very few designs are made completely from scratch.
Use free assets as an aid, don’t try to pass them off as your own work. Don’t get too lazy. Keep your skills up to date so that you could design whatever element you need from scratch if you had to.
01.10 – Using freebies in your work
05.40 – Our thoughts on freebies
08.50 – Design tools
11.30 – Don’t lose sight of your own skills
18.50 – When to use freebies and when to avoid them
23.12 – Follow licensing rules and guidelines
Steal like an Artist - Austin Kleon
Thanks to Webflow for sponsoring this episode! Webflow gives designers the power of code in a visual interface, and both of your Design Life hosts love using it for their personal sites.
Get 10% off any new annual Webflow plan using the code “designlife” at http://wfl.io/designlife
