Our Favorite Resources for Brand Designers

Brand Design

Whether you’re a seasoned designer or just starting out on your branding journey, having access to the right tools, inspiration, and knowledge can make all the difference in running a successful business. In this blog, we will share a curated list of resources that every brand designer should have in their arsenal. From design software and online platforms to online courses and inspiring communities, we’ve got you covered with a wealth of valuable resources to help you create impactful and effective brands and websites.

BRANDING

  • The Noun Project – Browse icons and photos for design projects. Their community of designers from 120+ countries is building the most diverse and extensive collection of iconography ever created. All of the images are free to download and use.
  • The Logo Package – An incredible time-saving genius Illustrator extension. Create, export, and sort hundreds of logo files in under 5 minutes. Use code BETTER for 20% off

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

  • Notion – Such a versatile platform that allows for ultimate organization.
  • Honeybook – Create proposals, invoices, schedule calls and manage your projects with ease.
  • Asana – A list-oriented CRM tool that helps you manage your workload and projects.
  • Plot – (Currently in beta testing, but hopefully available soon!) Plan projects visually, cross-collaborate, and view your project capacity across your projects. We haven’t tried this, but are excited to check it out when it becomes available.

DESIGN EDUCATION

  • The Design Minimind – Jen’s (that’s me!) newest offering – an intimate group of designers crafting freedom-filled businesses—together. Combining 1:1 mentorship, a small-group environment, and a structured curriculum.
  • The Brief Collective – The ultimate online community & school for graphic designers. An online community created to support designers in their discovery of their full design potential through design challenges, resources, and our signature course, The Design Biz Academy.
  • $10K Girl Gang – What would it look like if you were enrolling high paying clients without ever having to do marketing that feels icky? Join Carli Anna’s group course, 10K Girl Gang, where she helps service providers create strategic and powerful 10k+ offerings without the overwhelm.
  • Packaging Design Master – a comprehensive packaging design course that goes far beyond simply learning what a dieline is. Join the course to learn how to source, design, work with printers, and more! Use code BETTER for $50 off
  • The Shopify Code(x) – This course is a step by step program that shows you how to create high quality custom Shopify websites while ditching the cookie cutter templates for good, without burning out! Use code BETTER for $300 off
  • Squarestylist – Learn Squarespace from design expert Rache. Her sites are able to break the Squarespace mold with beautiful and functional CSS additions.

MARKETING

  • Planoly – The app allows you to organize, rearrange, and schedule out IG posts and stories so you don’t have to be on your phone all day!
  • Flodesk – All our newsletters are sent out through Flodesk. It’s a super easy way to get the word out with a simple interface and beautiful templates.

DIGITAL ASSETS

  • Unsplash – Unsplash has a databas of over 3 million free high-resolution images brought to you by the world’s most generous community of photographers! And, it’s all free!
  • Moyo Studio – MOYO is a studio specializing in creating styled stock photography, mockups and digital templates for creative entrepreneurs.
  • Creative Market – I swear by Creative Market for fonts, mockups, and other graphic elements that make my brands (and concept presentations!) beautiful and unique.
  • Gimlet Studios (video mockups) – Stunning video mockups to showcase your best work.
  • Graphic Burger – The platform is easy to use and download mockups to make your branding look sleek and elevated.

TYPOGRAPHY

  • Typewolf -A website that curates the most recent, popular, and classic type treatments from branding and web design around the world.
  • Fontspring – Fontspring has a huge database of incredible fonts from the best foundries. You can also filter through their tags which are intricately tagged to give you the best browsing experience.

WEB DESIGN TEMPLATES

  • Tonic Site Shop – Completely customizable Showit website templates for the modern, stylish creative. You’ll use an intuitive platform called Showit to customize your template design to fit your brand… without needing to know a single line of code. Just drag & drop it like it’s hot. No tears. No code. No limits.
  • The Arcoiris Design Co -Easy to use Squarespace website templates will help your brand stand out uniquely with low upfront cost. Launch the website of your dreams with Squarespace website templates that looks custom designed without the custom price tag.
  • Northfolk – Premium Showit templates for driven creatives and ambitious entrepreneurs.