A reminder that being a designer is not about your ability to create, but your ability to put things together in order to problem solve.
Everyone loves freepik for w reason. At work its all about being fast and finishing tasks. As long as ur not infringing on any copyrights, and everything is legal, you're fine.
This. We’ve brought designers on to our team who have no knowledge of tools like freepik and envato elements. “Oh that’s cool”
Continue to create everything from scratch…
I get it. You want to be creative. However, in business I want you to produce whatever the frick a client wants as fast as possible. Especially so in 2024 when everyone wants more than anyone person could even possibly handle WITH these tools.
I’ve been on the creative side of things and totally understand why creatives may dislike these tools however, the moment I was able to put my creative needs aside for the sake of optimization was the moment I was able to blow up my career.
Clients wanting divine creativity and artistic hooha are a hot commodity. Otherwise 90% of people just want something appealing that works for whatever the need of the piece is.
To this day when I hop back into design work the very first place I go to is freepik or elements. “That could work, that could work, that could work.” Tweak. Deliver.
Nothing fraudulent about being the person that can deliver appealing solutions in a timely matter.
> ability to put things together in order to problem solve.
I sometimes say this is the difference between at artist and an artisan--as a designer, I consider myself an artisan. I'm paid to get a job done (and in a specific timeframe), not to create everything from scratch every time.
So so sooo agree with this it took me a long time to realise that this was the way to go forward especially as the only designer in my place of work. The role I'm currently in is only my 3rd job (all be it, my other two roles were cut short after 3 months as I didn't pass probation). Instead of freepik however I tend to use Adobe stock as my company bought a license for me to use, so it only makes sense I use it.
But ever since changing my approach and not trying to create every task from scratch my speed has increased and dare I say my efficiency also, but that was a game changer for me and also a learning curve. Many a lessons learnt the hard way.
I usually see some generic asset as something that can really only look so good. I’m not gonna waste time creating something that a million people have made. I use soooo much Shutterstock content in my professional work. I’ve made amazing things without having to technically create anything totally new. Work smart, not hard.
Exactly! Usually the time and budget of your client/boss will give you an idea of how to create a design. In the rare cases I have worked with more boutique places that do want unique illustrations for specific packaging or promotions and they will often have chosen an illustrator they like and will supply those designs to the designers.
Nope, everyone does it to keep time spent and costs low. At our studio we primarily use Freepik because of it's massive library (of differing quality mind you) and relatively cheap cost. Pro-tip: if you ever find a stockphoto on say Adobe or Shutterstock right-click and google it. Big chance a Freepik link pops up as a first result because the creator uploaded a small selection of that photoshoot to Freepik as well. There you can download the high resolution picture under your licensing with Freepik.
Most graphic designers don't take their own photos either. Most web developers don't produce their own video, and very few of them were involved in the initial development of coding languages.
Use the tools you need for the time and budget you have.
Youre good. You should ask your workplace to have logins for assets themselves, btw. This shouldn’t come out of your pocket unless you’re running the show. Factor something like this into cost if you’re working freelance. :)
Using stock resources is completely normal. Most tasks I do would take way longer if I had to do everything from scratch. I only do everything from scratch when I have the luxury of time. Otherwise if I’m creating a poster to promote an upcoming concert, I’m not hand vectoring 10 different types of guitars when someone’s already done the work. Developers do the same thing when they use code libraries or frameworks.
I don’t pay for any of the stuff i mentioned, my boss does. if i was paying for it, id probably be comparing and paying more attention so i could eliminate some. i really haven’t had any issues finding what i was looking for on adobe stock though, that being said…i dont have to use it OFTEN. wish i could be more help LOL
I have both Adobe stock and freepik through work and honestly I prefer freepik for vector graphics and Adobe for photos. I use freepik more than Adobe for sure.
It’s a good starting point for me, so I can find an illustration or icon I like and then I can tweak it, simplify, change the colors, pull elements and add to something that aligns with our brand. Much faster than trying to do everything from scratch or hire an illustrator to make something custom
No, we all use freepik nothing to embarrass about.
You can't do every single thing in the short amount of time given nor take every single photo yourself.
As long as you follow the licensing rights, you should be fine.
It’s a designer’s job to create visual systems by any means necessary. Even if it means hiring illustrators and photographers, or using ready-made assets. The end goal is all the same - communicate an idea the best way you can.
It really depends on where you work. In a renowned design agency working with high profile clients it's a baseline expectation to make everything bespoke. Otherwise using stock assets is probably normal in most places.
Creating original vecrors is for illustrators, and they get paid good for it. As a graphic designer I use whatever I can get my hands on. Very rare for me to actually draw something. It’ll have to be some sort of passion project, or I know exactly what I want and can’t find it elsewhere.
Freepik, Pexels, Pixabay, Envato, Creativemarket, etc… all favorited in my browser at work.
It happens that I see some ad campaign and go ”oh, it’s that vector from Freepik” haha.
Bro I wholesale borrow every available asset at my disposal. Why redo ANYTHING when I don’t have to? I get paid for knowing which ones work and how to combine them, not for creating everything from scratch.
I used to feel this way too but I rely heavily on iStock and canva especially for social media. Everyone does it. I try to customize them to be more unique when I can but honestly for social I just don’t care lol.
I also use Freepik premium on a daily basis. I’ve always felt that their name isn’t doing them any favors. Makes it sound cheap and like it only has low quality assets and resources but that is not the case (for the most part)
Had no idea what freepik was but by reading I gather it’s an asset / resource / template site and so from one designer to another I say it’s absofuckinglutelyNOT embarrassing haha. I use a similar site as well in my day to day work.
For one, social media design is such a low reward medium because you’re essentially trying to get eyeballs for the lifetime of one post before moving onto the next.
Someone else mentioned problem solving and that’s the biggest thing, in corporate settings we’re not really designers, we’re problem solvers. And whatever tools you have at your disposal it’s fair game as long as it’s legal and within certain creative ethical standards.
Client work, that’s another thing but I’m sure you know the difference between the two.
Good luck and keep crushing it!
Don't be, entire industry here in India runs on freepik. You can modify the resources to fit your needs instead of putting it as is because there is a really high chance of someone else using that exact same design elsewhere and your boss finding about it.
Designing isn't creating something all the time. Most of the time would be arranging elements that match or make sense for a requirement. So yeah best of luck.
I am a very seasoned designer/ art director. I use every trick in the book to create and generate visuals. That means using stock vector art ( which I usually modify). Part of the trick is understanding what needs extra time and custom attention and what could be turned around quickly. I had a junior designer who frequently gave me disapproving side eye because I incorporated stock art. She wanted to create everything from scratch, was extremely slow and always a nervous wreck (lots of tears) because she couldn’t meet deadlines. If she spent hours on an illustration/graphic that didn’t get used she would pout for weeks. As her supervisor I tried to push her along, help her with time management and just learn to roll with the work. She cried a lot.
As someone else pointed out, the work is about problem solving and the designer should use all the tools available. It’s important to understand when it’s time to create from scratch, plan accordingly and when to use stock.
No, downloading from Freepik or any other graphics site (of course, giving credit or having a premium account and not needing to give credit) is **completely fine**. Your job as a graphic designer is also to be **resourceful and clever** about where you put your time. It is important that you don't waste it on, for example, drawing a nice vector flower that takes you 10 minutes instead of downloading that takes 1 minute. Then use 9 minutes to create a beautiful composition = job done.
This is different if the job entails you designing a unique flower. You can still download assets, but you have to keep in mind that you will be building this flower from the assets not taking ready-made flower, plus adding your own designer skills.
Don't take the first and most basic graphic if you need something at least a little bit more unique, dig a bit deeper in Freepik and you will find some amazing pieces. There's a reason they are made by designers just like you. As a designer, your skills need to be about composition, recognizing fonts, colors, and **what** objects **should and should not be put together**. It's not always about making everything from scratch. Good luck!
Freepik is a stock image site. It's just another tool in our pack.
I subscribe to Dreamstime and a couple other stock and template sites but I'll use assets from all over the place. Hell, dafont.com and I go so far back...
As stated by others, so long as you address copyright usage and make sure you're done everything legitimately there's absolutely no reason why you should have to do every single asset from scratch.
It's good that you care enough to ask. Keep that integrity up.
I wish they taught this in school because I felt the same way coming out of school, like I had to create everything. It took me years to realize that services like free pic or shutterstock are amazing for designers. You can still get unique design results and save yourself hours, and literally no one cares as long as the project gets done and looks good.
Thank you for asking this, I was wondering the exact same thing. I always try my best to not use freepik if I can, I was always told to do everything by hand in University.
I always used Pixabay and Unsplash.
However we are hesitant to use anything with recognizable people in it for any prominent spaces. With those free stock sites, there’s not the same guarantee that usage licenses were signed by all those involved and that the stock image company will back you up or take any responsibility for legal trouble.
Meanwhile a colleague of mine had an issue with talent suing over an image they were in and Getty took care of it. No legal involvement from the agency.
Don't know if I offended you, just genuinely asking since I'm still new in the industry of graphic design (and this is my first job too). It's nice almost everyone reassured me nothing's wrong by using freepik...
man i knew a guy who made all his graphic design work in WORD.
whatever tools you use don't matter as long as the end product is what the client wants.
As long as you're using content you're legally allowed to (and i assume freepik has commercial rights to all their vectors/images etc) don't worry about it.
Those things are there to make your job easier. not every designer is an illustrator/creator. layout is an important part of graphic design.
Nothing to embarrased about unless you are using canva 😀
This is my daily well-rounded tools and saved me for during tight deadlines, Shutterstock for photos, freepik for illustrations/graphics and powerpoint presentations/motion graphics/footage/product
mockups on envato elements.
Embarrassing not right word. if you are using a copyright free source and boss understanding that they are the owners of the following nal product it's all cool. In my day the company owned my art so using an online entity especially one of the ones the company pays for canva, pexels etc.
just don't mess with stock or getty
It is absolutely not embarrassing, give yourself every Edge you can, don't think that some of the best graphic designers are not doing the same thing in some way, shape or form, don't worry about what people think, ever.
Use the tools that are available for you, because they're available for everybody, but only certain people get to be graphic designers, because it's more about their ability to know that it's going to work, as opposed to their artistic ability.
Nothing wrong with that.I use Freepik premium, Canva and iStock. Freepik Premium by the way is insane value, you get access to Flaticons, Slidesgo and their AI tool as well.
Sounds like that's the job. nothing wrong to work smart.
It's not like people make fonts from scratch everytime they type something on social media... now, just think letters as glyphs which are pictures. what you did is like the same thing. find existing, alter from existing, and submit the final product.
As long as the work doesn’t need to be trademarked or copyrighted which would be against the license agreement it’s fine you’re a designer not an illustrator. If they do then your company needs to hire an illustrator.
I really appreciate this thread. I have only been working as a graphic designer, well part time, for a handful of years, and project turn around time is so short, When I have utilized sites like Freepik, I have felt like fraudulent in a way, like I can’t really call myself a graphic designer because I didn’t create every element by hand.
I used to do graphic design for my local newspaper building ads. When I had time I’d try to be creative but I used stuff like freepik all the time. No one cares they just want results.
Any chance you can share how you got hired? Working on my portfolio now and not sure how much to invest on that or what your getting hired process was like. Sorry I know this was your post but if you have the time I’d love to hear your advice!
To be honest, I also struggled in finding a graphic design job after graduating (took me almost a year). I applied to a LOT of companies on various job application websites but most of them are looking for experienced graphic designers. Until I saw a graphic designer job posting on Indeed, it's actually a famous water themed park near where I live. I tried to apply and after a few days they emailed me for an onsite interview. I had an initial and final interview on the same day. Honestly speaking, I was very lucky because the supervisor that interviewed me likes to hire fresh graduates. After the interview he gave me a task in order to test my skills, and after a few days I was hired.
My advice that I can give you especially if you're a fresh graduate like me, is to always update your portfolio and only include designs that you're confident to share. Also, since the closest job experience I have is my internship, most of the designs in my portfolio are from my internship.
Lastly, it's really important to have a Behance account, this really helped me since most companies are asking for a link for your portfolio (note: some companies don't like the idea of linking a google drive for your portfolio).
Also, if you still have questions I am happy to answer it in this thread. Good luck!
I really appreciate this. I just landed my first full-time design job, and they frequently use Freepik. I've been struggling with conflicting feelings, questioning my abilities as a designer and feeling guilty for not creating everything from scratch as I did in school.
As someone that LOVES making vector freepik is literally my holy grail. Have a whole folder of downloaded vector assets that i use elements of nothing to be ashamed of
First thing you learn as a junior designer…. Everyone uses stock vectors/elements. I use envato elements… if you want something truly unique then give midjourney a go to create some vector graphics.
Literally no one creates their vectors from scratch unless your boss tells you to. I've done it, but only when my boss said I got so many hours artwork time and the client is looking for something unique to them. Those are the fun projects. They happen rarely.
Use whatever stock you need. You can always edit the stock vectors to suit your project, but it really doesn't matter if you don't and the vector is perfect as is. The important thing is that you get the projects finished on time and to the standard expected of a designer.
You're a graphic designer, so your job is pretty much layouts. You're not an illustrator, or a photographer. You can be those things too, but usually, you're not given the time to use those skills.
Stop feeling guilty or embarrassed.
Nope not if the client wants fast. At that point you gotta use them. Since you are using premium it’s fine since that is what it’s made for but do keep up with your own skillset during off hours to minimize that guilt.
You can also grab an ai license like mindjourney or other and learn how to generate vectors from it and you will find vectors that are closer to your needs and that are not anywhere else
A reminder that being a designer is not about your ability to create, but your ability to put things together in order to problem solve. Everyone loves freepik for w reason. At work its all about being fast and finishing tasks. As long as ur not infringing on any copyrights, and everything is legal, you're fine.
This. We’ve brought designers on to our team who have no knowledge of tools like freepik and envato elements. “Oh that’s cool” Continue to create everything from scratch… I get it. You want to be creative. However, in business I want you to produce whatever the frick a client wants as fast as possible. Especially so in 2024 when everyone wants more than anyone person could even possibly handle WITH these tools. I’ve been on the creative side of things and totally understand why creatives may dislike these tools however, the moment I was able to put my creative needs aside for the sake of optimization was the moment I was able to blow up my career. Clients wanting divine creativity and artistic hooha are a hot commodity. Otherwise 90% of people just want something appealing that works for whatever the need of the piece is. To this day when I hop back into design work the very first place I go to is freepik or elements. “That could work, that could work, that could work.” Tweak. Deliver. Nothing fraudulent about being the person that can deliver appealing solutions in a timely matter.
> ability to put things together in order to problem solve. I sometimes say this is the difference between at artist and an artisan--as a designer, I consider myself an artisan. I'm paid to get a job done (and in a specific timeframe), not to create everything from scratch every time.
👊
So so sooo agree with this it took me a long time to realise that this was the way to go forward especially as the only designer in my place of work. The role I'm currently in is only my 3rd job (all be it, my other two roles were cut short after 3 months as I didn't pass probation). Instead of freepik however I tend to use Adobe stock as my company bought a license for me to use, so it only makes sense I use it. But ever since changing my approach and not trying to create every task from scratch my speed has increased and dare I say my efficiency also, but that was a game changer for me and also a learning curve. Many a lessons learnt the hard way.
🤘
I usually see some generic asset as something that can really only look so good. I’m not gonna waste time creating something that a million people have made. I use soooo much Shutterstock content in my professional work. I’ve made amazing things without having to technically create anything totally new. Work smart, not hard.
This is the way.
Exactly! Usually the time and budget of your client/boss will give you an idea of how to create a design. In the rare cases I have worked with more boutique places that do want unique illustrations for specific packaging or promotions and they will often have chosen an illustrator they like and will supply those designs to the designers.
Everyone uses resources, dont feel bad
Nope, everyone does it to keep time spent and costs low. At our studio we primarily use Freepik because of it's massive library (of differing quality mind you) and relatively cheap cost. Pro-tip: if you ever find a stockphoto on say Adobe or Shutterstock right-click and google it. Big chance a Freepik link pops up as a first result because the creator uploaded a small selection of that photoshoot to Freepik as well. There you can download the high resolution picture under your licensing with Freepik.
I appreciate this, thank you for the tip!🫶🏼
Most graphic designers don't take their own photos either. Most web developers don't produce their own video, and very few of them were involved in the initial development of coding languages. Use the tools you need for the time and budget you have.
Are there sites for downloading videos like freepik?
I've used pexels, they have a lot of video assets!
Pixabay, storyblocks, pexels are popular
Something you'll quickly learn is everyone uses premade vectors and graphics. It's why they exist in the first place, and freepik is a good option.
I use Freepik every day. I don’t think anyone has time to create every graphic from scratch.
No it's not
Youre good. You should ask your workplace to have logins for assets themselves, btw. This shouldn’t come out of your pocket unless you’re running the show. Factor something like this into cost if you’re working freelance. :)
Using stock resources is completely normal. Most tasks I do would take way longer if I had to do everything from scratch. I only do everything from scratch when I have the luxury of time. Otherwise if I’m creating a poster to promote an upcoming concert, I’m not hand vectoring 10 different types of guitars when someone’s already done the work. Developers do the same thing when they use code libraries or frameworks.
i use bigstock, adobe stock & envado elements. 🤷🏼♀️
Adobe stock is okay? Never used it.
I don’t pay for any of the stuff i mentioned, my boss does. if i was paying for it, id probably be comparing and paying more attention so i could eliminate some. i really haven’t had any issues finding what i was looking for on adobe stock though, that being said…i dont have to use it OFTEN. wish i could be more help LOL
I have both Adobe stock and freepik through work and honestly I prefer freepik for vector graphics and Adobe for photos. I use freepik more than Adobe for sure. It’s a good starting point for me, so I can find an illustration or icon I like and then I can tweak it, simplify, change the colors, pull elements and add to something that aligns with our brand. Much faster than trying to do everything from scratch or hire an illustrator to make something custom
Nope. Let's be fair, shutterstock isn't cheap
I like freepik lmfao if I need some kind of non-central element I don't want to make, I'll just grab it off of there quick as hell
No, we all use freepik nothing to embarrass about. You can't do every single thing in the short amount of time given nor take every single photo yourself. As long as you follow the licensing rights, you should be fine.
It’s a designer’s job to create visual systems by any means necessary. Even if it means hiring illustrators and photographers, or using ready-made assets. The end goal is all the same - communicate an idea the best way you can.
It really depends on where you work. In a renowned design agency working with high profile clients it's a baseline expectation to make everything bespoke. Otherwise using stock assets is probably normal in most places.
[удалено]
Right?! They’re doing my head in with their awful ai generated garbage
Freepik is awesome! We have a premium account at work and it saves so much time.
You should use stock. It's part of the job.
Work smart not hard
yep 👍🏻
Creating original vecrors is for illustrators, and they get paid good for it. As a graphic designer I use whatever I can get my hands on. Very rare for me to actually draw something. It’ll have to be some sort of passion project, or I know exactly what I want and can’t find it elsewhere. Freepik, Pexels, Pixabay, Envato, Creativemarket, etc… all favorited in my browser at work. It happens that I see some ad campaign and go ”oh, it’s that vector from Freepik” haha.
One day to finish it means they don’t care if you use online vector
I hope your job is paying for freepik and other resource websites so your ability to work faster is not limited.
Bro I wholesale borrow every available asset at my disposal. Why redo ANYTHING when I don’t have to? I get paid for knowing which ones work and how to combine them, not for creating everything from scratch.
I used to feel this way too but I rely heavily on iStock and canva especially for social media. Everyone does it. I try to customize them to be more unique when I can but honestly for social I just don’t care lol.
I also use Freepik premium on a daily basis. I’ve always felt that their name isn’t doing them any favors. Makes it sound cheap and like it only has low quality assets and resources but that is not the case (for the most part)
using stock is fine but you need to make sure it’s properly licensed for commercial use
Had no idea what freepik was but by reading I gather it’s an asset / resource / template site and so from one designer to another I say it’s absofuckinglutelyNOT embarrassing haha. I use a similar site as well in my day to day work. For one, social media design is such a low reward medium because you’re essentially trying to get eyeballs for the lifetime of one post before moving onto the next. Someone else mentioned problem solving and that’s the biggest thing, in corporate settings we’re not really designers, we’re problem solvers. And whatever tools you have at your disposal it’s fair game as long as it’s legal and within certain creative ethical standards. Client work, that’s another thing but I’m sure you know the difference between the two. Good luck and keep crushing it!
Don't be, entire industry here in India runs on freepik. You can modify the resources to fit your needs instead of putting it as is because there is a really high chance of someone else using that exact same design elsewhere and your boss finding about it. Designing isn't creating something all the time. Most of the time would be arranging elements that match or make sense for a requirement. So yeah best of luck.
I am a very seasoned designer/ art director. I use every trick in the book to create and generate visuals. That means using stock vector art ( which I usually modify). Part of the trick is understanding what needs extra time and custom attention and what could be turned around quickly. I had a junior designer who frequently gave me disapproving side eye because I incorporated stock art. She wanted to create everything from scratch, was extremely slow and always a nervous wreck (lots of tears) because she couldn’t meet deadlines. If she spent hours on an illustration/graphic that didn’t get used she would pout for weeks. As her supervisor I tried to push her along, help her with time management and just learn to roll with the work. She cried a lot. As someone else pointed out, the work is about problem solving and the designer should use all the tools available. It’s important to understand when it’s time to create from scratch, plan accordingly and when to use stock.
me and my entire team uses freepik haha
As a graphic designer you don't just draw rectangles, you solve problems.
No, downloading from Freepik or any other graphics site (of course, giving credit or having a premium account and not needing to give credit) is **completely fine**. Your job as a graphic designer is also to be **resourceful and clever** about where you put your time. It is important that you don't waste it on, for example, drawing a nice vector flower that takes you 10 minutes instead of downloading that takes 1 minute. Then use 9 minutes to create a beautiful composition = job done. This is different if the job entails you designing a unique flower. You can still download assets, but you have to keep in mind that you will be building this flower from the assets not taking ready-made flower, plus adding your own designer skills. Don't take the first and most basic graphic if you need something at least a little bit more unique, dig a bit deeper in Freepik and you will find some amazing pieces. There's a reason they are made by designers just like you. As a designer, your skills need to be about composition, recognizing fonts, colors, and **what** objects **should and should not be put together**. It's not always about making everything from scratch. Good luck!
no and i dont have a premium account
Freepik is a stock image site. It's just another tool in our pack. I subscribe to Dreamstime and a couple other stock and template sites but I'll use assets from all over the place. Hell, dafont.com and I go so far back... As stated by others, so long as you address copyright usage and make sure you're done everything legitimately there's absolutely no reason why you should have to do every single asset from scratch. It's good that you care enough to ask. Keep that integrity up.
Thanks for daring to ask this question. Ive been thinking om not a real designer over this.
I wish they taught this in school because I felt the same way coming out of school, like I had to create everything. It took me years to realize that services like free pic or shutterstock are amazing for designers. You can still get unique design results and save yourself hours, and literally no one cares as long as the project gets done and looks good.
Thank you for asking this, I was wondering the exact same thing. I always try my best to not use freepik if I can, I was always told to do everything by hand in University.
I always used Pixabay and Unsplash. However we are hesitant to use anything with recognizable people in it for any prominent spaces. With those free stock sites, there’s not the same guarantee that usage licenses were signed by all those involved and that the stock image company will back you up or take any responsibility for legal trouble. Meanwhile a colleague of mine had an issue with talent suing over an image they were in and Getty took care of it. No legal involvement from the agency.
You joking? Freepik is great, I'm not looking to design every icon or asset I might need, especially backgrounds.
Don't know if I offended you, just genuinely asking since I'm still new in the industry of graphic design (and this is my first job too). It's nice almost everyone reassured me nothing's wrong by using freepik...
Oh no offense at all just a figure of words! Have a nice day
I use it all the time
man i knew a guy who made all his graphic design work in WORD. whatever tools you use don't matter as long as the end product is what the client wants. As long as you're using content you're legally allowed to (and i assume freepik has commercial rights to all their vectors/images etc) don't worry about it. Those things are there to make your job easier. not every designer is an illustrator/creator. layout is an important part of graphic design.
Nothing to embarrased about unless you are using canva 😀 This is my daily well-rounded tools and saved me for during tight deadlines, Shutterstock for photos, freepik for illustrations/graphics and powerpoint presentations/motion graphics/footage/product mockups on envato elements.
You can get them to buy you Crella and Envato too.
Embarrassing not right word. if you are using a copyright free source and boss understanding that they are the owners of the following nal product it's all cool. In my day the company owned my art so using an online entity especially one of the ones the company pays for canva, pexels etc. just don't mess with stock or getty
It is absolutely not embarrassing, give yourself every Edge you can, don't think that some of the best graphic designers are not doing the same thing in some way, shape or form, don't worry about what people think, ever.
Use the tools that are available for you, because they're available for everybody, but only certain people get to be graphic designers, because it's more about their ability to know that it's going to work, as opposed to their artistic ability.
You are good to go brother
Not at all.
Nothing wrong with that.I use Freepik premium, Canva and iStock. Freepik Premium by the way is insane value, you get access to Flaticons, Slidesgo and their AI tool as well.
Sounds like that's the job. nothing wrong to work smart. It's not like people make fonts from scratch everytime they type something on social media... now, just think letters as glyphs which are pictures. what you did is like the same thing. find existing, alter from existing, and submit the final product.
I felt like this about assets and templates once, until I realised everybody uses them. They’re really useful!
As long as the work doesn’t need to be trademarked or copyrighted which would be against the license agreement it’s fine you’re a designer not an illustrator. If they do then your company needs to hire an illustrator.
I use freepik, in my own time and at work, they have solid mock ups! And is super easy to sort through with the filters
I really appreciate this thread. I have only been working as a graphic designer, well part time, for a handful of years, and project turn around time is so short, When I have utilized sites like Freepik, I have felt like fraudulent in a way, like I can’t really call myself a graphic designer because I didn’t create every element by hand.
I used to do graphic design for my local newspaper building ads. When I had time I’d try to be creative but I used stuff like freepik all the time. No one cares they just want results.
Any chance you can share how you got hired? Working on my portfolio now and not sure how much to invest on that or what your getting hired process was like. Sorry I know this was your post but if you have the time I’d love to hear your advice!
To be honest, I also struggled in finding a graphic design job after graduating (took me almost a year). I applied to a LOT of companies on various job application websites but most of them are looking for experienced graphic designers. Until I saw a graphic designer job posting on Indeed, it's actually a famous water themed park near where I live. I tried to apply and after a few days they emailed me for an onsite interview. I had an initial and final interview on the same day. Honestly speaking, I was very lucky because the supervisor that interviewed me likes to hire fresh graduates. After the interview he gave me a task in order to test my skills, and after a few days I was hired. My advice that I can give you especially if you're a fresh graduate like me, is to always update your portfolio and only include designs that you're confident to share. Also, since the closest job experience I have is my internship, most of the designs in my portfolio are from my internship. Lastly, it's really important to have a Behance account, this really helped me since most companies are asking for a link for your portfolio (note: some companies don't like the idea of linking a google drive for your portfolio). Also, if you still have questions I am happy to answer it in this thread. Good luck!
I really appreciate this. I just landed my first full-time design job, and they frequently use Freepik. I've been struggling with conflicting feelings, questioning my abilities as a designer and feeling guilty for not creating everything from scratch as I did in school.
As someone that LOVES making vector freepik is literally my holy grail. Have a whole folder of downloaded vector assets that i use elements of nothing to be ashamed of
Not at all. Pexels, vecteezy, freepik are my go to when there is limited time which is most of the time. Lol! Sometimes searching is half the battle.
First thing you learn as a junior designer…. Everyone uses stock vectors/elements. I use envato elements… if you want something truly unique then give midjourney a go to create some vector graphics.
Literally no one creates their vectors from scratch unless your boss tells you to. I've done it, but only when my boss said I got so many hours artwork time and the client is looking for something unique to them. Those are the fun projects. They happen rarely. Use whatever stock you need. You can always edit the stock vectors to suit your project, but it really doesn't matter if you don't and the vector is perfect as is. The important thing is that you get the projects finished on time and to the standard expected of a designer. You're a graphic designer, so your job is pretty much layouts. You're not an illustrator, or a photographer. You can be those things too, but usually, you're not given the time to use those skills. Stop feeling guilty or embarrassed.
Nope not if the client wants fast. At that point you gotta use them. Since you are using premium it’s fine since that is what it’s made for but do keep up with your own skillset during off hours to minimize that guilt.
Whatever gets the job done
That’s what the majority of designers do. You’re not employed as an illustrator, there’s no need to create everything from scratch.
Is Freepic better than Vecteezy?
I like Vectezzy, I have had a subscription with them for years now.
I don’t know why they get so much hate. I’ve used them for years, as well, and if I need a gradient swirl I don’t have time to make, they have it.
You're good bro, I generate mockup images using stable diffusion. Remember, work smart not work hard.
You can also grab an ai license like mindjourney or other and learn how to generate vectors from it and you will find vectors that are closer to your needs and that are not anywhere else
Thank you for this! I appreciate the tip, I'm still learning and this will really help me.🫶🏼