My last article was on creating graphics for websites. Life and my personal Covid-19 bout have conspired to mean that this month’s article is on a closely related subject: web illustrations.

The difference between graphics and illustrations is arguably a subjective one and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. In my opinion, though, illustrations tend to be a bit more “arty” and have a more bespoke, individualistic feel. While stock or custom photos and custom graphics might come in handy sometimes, there’s nothing quite like a custom illustration to add style and personality to your homepage or landing page. The other feature with custom illustrations is that many sources deliver illustrations as modular components that can be put together by the user to suit their particular requirements, using a graphics editor like Photoshop or Figma, or a specific web tool. This may not be as easy as it sounds. These resources will definitely require some experience to use effectively. Experience starts somewhere, so check these options out.

Dribbble – a blog for web designers - rounded up a list of resources that offer a variety of stock illustrations in different styles, each in line with the current web design trends. All design resources below have free download options, though in some cases you’ll have to purchase the original vector files for more custom edits. Have fun scrolling through and get inspired to create beautifully illustrated websites! NB I have nothing to do with the names of these services!

1. Stubborn

Stubborn is a customizable illustration generator created by Craftwork. With their tool, you can create custom characters and scenes using their ready-made elements to mix and match. It’s easy to get creative and quickly illustrate the perfect scene for your web page.

• Free: A generous selection of vector graphics to combine and customize as required.
• For purchase: Unlimited access to thousands of vector illustrations.

2. Ouch!

Icons8 created Ouch! which offers beautiful product illustrations to spice up your designs. Grouped by different illustration styles, you can pick and choose the exact look you’re trying to achieve for your website design.

• Free: PNG files for personal and commercial use. Attribution required.
• For purchase: Original vector source files for all illustrations.

3. Absurd

Absurd is a project launched by designer Diana Valeanu. Her illustrations are great if you’re on the hunt for a hand-drawn, black and white look. The illustrations are also fairly abstract which means they can be interpreted and used for a variety of messages you want to visually communicate.

• Free: 11 illustrations in PNG format. Attribution required.
• For purchase: Unlimited vector illustrations (SVG format) for personal and commercial use. No attribution required. Includes coloured versions.

4. Blush

Blush is a platform that lets you create and customize stunning illustrations with collections made by artists across the globe. Simply choose an illustration style, play around with the variations until you get your desired look, and download your illustration to use in any digital project you want to bring to life. Blush was created by Pablo Stanley and offers both a free and a paid plan.

• Free: Free with the Doodler Plan. This includes unlimited PNG downloads.
• For purchase: For subscribers, get unlimited PNG and SVG downloads, access to over 10,000 illustrations, and advanced customization tools.

5. Charco Illustrations

Bangalore-based designer Karthik Srinivas generously created Charco, a set of free illustrations for your web projects. His set of graphics includes themes for 404 pages, failed connection, no service and under-construction pages to name a few.

• Free: A set of 16 illustrations in PNG file format. Free for personal and commercial use.
• For purchase: Photoshop (PSD files) so you can customize the illustrations.

6. Humaaans

Humaaans is a free illustration library created by Pablo Stanley. But unlike most illustration libraries, it specifically offers illustrations of fully customizable humans! There are tons of components to mix and match so you can create just about any human you’re envisioning. Designers have full control over the illustrations by combining different body parts, positions, colours, clothing, hairstyles and even a few background scenes.

• Licence: This resource is free for personal and commercial use. Attribution required.

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years’ experience with technology systems. We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles. These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz. We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we can use technology in churches, located at www.dct.org.nz.