Professional resources for designers

This global directory of professional creatives (illustrators, photographers, designers, art directors, etc.) is part of DesignTAXI, an international multidisciplinary design website for the entire global creative industry.

Platform and online community that showcases the work of international designers from around the world as a way to help them generate clients and creative inspiration.

The Asociación de Directores de Arte y Diseñadores Gráficos (ADG – Association of Art Directors and Graphic Designers), is a non-profit organization and member of Fomento de las Artes y del Diseño (FAD – Fostering Arts and Design). Since 1964 it has been organizing the Laus awards for graphic design, advertising and visual communication.

This is a festival held in Barcelona’s Museu del Disseny, consisting of a range of activities including conferences, masterclasses and activities related to design and professional creativity.

Annual independent design festival held in the town of Portbou, Girona.

Digital platform on the world of branding that provides information on the creative work of professionals from Spain and different Latin American countries. It publishes articles on visual identity, corporate redesign and rebranding.

This is a group of professionals connected through a website that aims to offer information and generate debate around typography, its history and its application in professional and personal spheres.

Blog created by Emilio Gil and TAU Diseño, which acts as a visual archive on the history of Spanish graphic design by compiling and disseminating information.

Publication that brings together different resources and articles dedicated to visual communication, graphic design and other fields. It’s edited by Fernando Suárez Carballo, graphic designer and professor in the Faculty of Communication at the Pontifical University of Salamanca (UPSA).

Blog dedicated to publishing design and typography in all its forms and formats.

Online community for photographers from around the world. It includes a directory of companies and professionals and acts as a showcase for creative photography.

Platform that acts as an online photographic art gallery. All the photos are selected by a team of curators from professional galleries.

Instagram profile with a wide variety of historical images.

North American online art community that exhibits all kinds of graphic, video and photo art. The work on display is organized into different categories based on the various creative disciplines.

This is an online community of Japanese artists. It mainly consists of Japanese illustrators and animators, although it also includes international artists from other fields. The illustrations are classified using tags.

Online platform that allows artists – mainly in the fields of 3D and concept art – to display their portfolios.

Magazine and blog, in both print and digital formats, that looks at a range of topics related to creativity, innovation, digital culture, sociology and urban anthropology.

Online noticeboard featuring a selection of news items, interviews and projects centred around motion graphics and prominent motion designers.

Creative online platform on a mission to give the packaging community support and exposure. It regularly posts articles related to the top designers, brands and agencies in the world of packaging design.

As a packaging design blog, POTW publishes articles about professional and student projects and creators from around the world.

French information website for professionals in fashion, luxury goods and beauty. It publishes new articles daily to remain the chosen source of information for fashion professionals worldwide.

Online community for fashion designers, stylists and influencers. It explores the latest fashion, beauty and lifestyle trends.

Magazine and information resource for industrial designers, from students to seasoned professionals. It publishes articles, discussion forums and an events calendar. It also offers a database of design firms, schools, suppliers and services.

Website for designers and creatives that publishes news about design, events, competitions and resources.

Online magazine covering international product design.

Monthly English publication centred on design, architecture, fashion, travel, art and lifestyle.

Multiplatform online networking community active on Twitter and Instagram. It publishes articles and news about interior design.

US magazine founded in 1932. Today, it is a multiplatform publication offering and promoting a range of activities that serve interior design, architectural and facility management audiences.

Bimonthly design, graphic creativity and communication design. Its object of attention is visual communication and graphic design but it also dabbles in other disciplines such as photography, illustration, audiovisual production, advertising and art in general.

A printed bimonthly magazine and website specialized in the business spheres of creativity, such as design, advertising, photography, branding, digital products, cinema and gaming. With access to the online journal and podcast content.

Platform and e-magazine focused on the world of graphic and industrial design, architecture, technology and visual communication in Spain.

International art magazine that shines a spotlight on up-and-coming artists, designers and photographers. A printed version is also released every three months.

The archive of the bimonthly Austrian journal specialized in the advertising industry and advertisement creation. Founded in 1984, it has an archive of advertisements, posters and television commercials from around the world. To view the entire collection, free registration is required.

Architecture and design magazine that features articles, interviews, new building reviews and analyses of the latest design trends.

French magazine geared towards graphic designers and visual communication professionals. It explores the trends, practices and various fields of application of graphic and creative design.

Quarterly magazine published in Tokyo, Japan, that focuses on graphic design and typography.

International bimonthly magazine that operates as an online community for designers, paying special attention to new trends in Asia and the Pacific.

Printed and online magazine that promotes contemporary art and documentary photography and features creative work with a strong visual impact.

Canadian non-profit organization that describes itself as "a global network of artists and activists" that challenge consumerism and capitalism.

International journal covering all aspects of design. The journal turns out six issues a year and provides a forum for design scholars, practitioners, educators and managers worldwide.

Publication that provides a world-class source of information on a broad range of interrelated disciplines, such as still and moving images; graphic design and typography; visual phenomena such as fashion, professional vision, posture and interaction; the built and landscaped environment; the role of the visual in relation to language, music, sound and action.

Journal that invites papers on a wide range of topics, including the sociocultural aspects of design; globalization and localization approaches to design; design strategy and management; ergonomics and perceptions in design; design theories and methodologies, and computer applications in design.

Peer-reviewed journal devoted to the intersection of the creative arts, design and digital technology.

Journal specialized in scientific papers about graphic design and other adoptable perspectives and advances.

Printed quarterly journal on graphic design and visual culture.

Online catalogue offered by the New York Public Library. Containing over 900,000 digitized items, visitors can browse through prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video and much more.

Interactive visual website featuring some of the items on display in this English museum for product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design.

Website where visitors can view the digitized catalogue of various Danish design, architecture, furniture and poster collections.

Database that visitors can use to search the digital collections of Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), in order to conduct scientific or private research. Users of the search engine can retrieve basic details and visual information on around 230,000 items.

Collection put together by New York's Museum of Modern Art containing over 90,000 pieces that visitors can view online.

Created by the General Association of Advertising Companies (AGEP) and the Cervantes Institute to foster knowledge of the art embedded in advertising: graphic design, photography, illustration, cinema, radio, music and narration.

Swiss museum for industrial design, visual communication, architecture and craftwork with two sites in Zurich. It has collections on posters, graphic art, design and applied art.

Art and design museum located in Milan, Italy. It hosts various exhibitions on contemporary Italian design and other applied arts. A catalogue of almost 20,000 pieces can be viewed online.

Founded in London in 1963 as Icograda, ico-D is the world body for professional graphic design and visual communication. ico-D network members include professional associations, design promotion bodies, design media and design education institutions. Design media are affiliated through the International Design Media Network.

Founded in 1914 as the American Institute of Graphic Arts, AIGA is now known simply as “AIGA, the professional association for design”. It is the profession’s oldest and largest professional membership organization for design – with 70 chapters and more than 25,000 members. It works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines on business, society and the collective future.

GDC is a Canada’s national certification body for graphic and communication design and, since 1956, has established standards for design professionals, educators, and leaders. It advocates for the advancement of the design profession and it is a member-based organization of design professionals: designers, educators, administrators, students and affiliates in communications, marketing, media and design-related fields.

JAGDA was established in 1978 under the strong leadership of the late Yusaku Kamekura, who built the foundation for post-war graphic design in Japan with such masterpieces as the posters for the Tokyo Olympics. Through such activities, JAGDA has been contributing to the development of graphic design in Japan, and in the future aims to support the dynamic work of designers with even more broadened horizons.

ALADI, the Latin American Association of Design, was founded in 1980 in Bogotá, when a group of visionary designers took the first steps to give Latin America a presence in design at a world level.

It promotes national and international agreements, research projects, conferences, and so on, and is also interested in all activities related to design and production.

Spanish non-profit organization of international scope constituted to coordinate and integrate the national community of designers. The different READ member associations of designers share the objectives of disseminating the culture of design, promoting the sector's activity and making it more visible, strengthening the status of design professionals and contributing to the transformation of the business sector.

The Catalan Association of Graphic Designers is an organization advocating the interests of people working in this profession. The Association provides an excellent opportunity for the graphic design industry to effectively organize professional practice and everything related to the world of graphic communication.

Private, independent and non-profit association whose objective is to promote design and architecture in Catalan cultural and economic life. Founded in 1903, FAD has become the centre of reference of design and architecture in Catalonia and Spain thanks to its constant work for the promotion of creative culture through exhibitions, professional talks, awards and events.

The Barcelona Design Centre (BCD) promotes design as a strategic element for business excellence and as a key factor for innovation as well as a discipline that can improve people's quality of life. Legally established as a private not-for-profit foundation in 1973, it is a promotion and information centre devoted to all aspects of design in business.

Multidisciplinary, nation-wide, non-profit organization of designers founded in Barcelona in 1978. One of its missions is to champion the interests of design professionals.

European not-for-profit organization headquartered in Brussels. It boasts 47 members from some 25 European countries who represent designers in every discipline of work.

The Asociación de Directores de Arte y Diseñadores Gráficos (ADG – Association of Art Directors and Graphic Designers), is a non-profit organization and member of Fomento de las Artes y del Diseño (FAD – Fostering Arts and Design). Since 1964 it has been organizing the Laus awards for graphic design, advertising and visual communication.

Trade association that brings together illustrators interested in the common defence of their professional rights. It currently boasts the support of over 500 illustrators from every branch of applied visual creation.

Barcelona's leading public facility for highlighting and promoting design and the creative industries in the city.

Community for buying and selling creative tools and assets, such as graphic templates, website themes, photos, video and even audio.

Website (with no search engine) where visitors can browse through free stock content from other websites, including photos, videos and graphics.

Website that offers resources for Android and iOS programming and website design, including different templates for Figma, Sketch, JavaScript and other tools that are compatible with Adobe software.

Website that works as an image library, containing more than 300 million images as well as video clips, music tracks, vector graphics and illustrations.

Online community of artists and other creatives who share royalty-free images, videos and music.

Database that provides high-quality, cost-free stock photos under the platform's own licence. All the photos are tagged to streamline searches.

Database containing over 335 million free stock photos. It is especially geared towards people looking for images of products or interiors.

Website devoted to sharing stock photos under the so-called Unsplash licence.

Website featuring a massive database of photos depicting panoramas, landscapes and realistic-looking settings. Also of interest is its section of tutorials on matte painting in Nuke, Photoshop and Blender.

Website that offers digital images of all sorts of materials, including fabrics, wood, metal, brick and plastic. These images are called textures and can be used for any artistic discipline.

Website for downloading and using textures at no cost, run by Ewa Sajdak and Paweł Woźniak.

Website initiative by Jeshu John, who provides free photographs that he has taken himself.

Website of free photos, created in 2013 by designer and photographer Viktor Hanacek.

Website that, although best-known for its immense catalogue of icons for design and web development, also offers a sizeable photo collection.

Diverse and extensive collection of iconography built by designers from 120 plus countries.

Database of free vector icons available in multiple formats, including PNG, SVG, EPS, PSD and BASE64.

Online Danish platform that provides high-quality icons and brings together creative professionals and icon designers from around the world.

Database of icons in more than 30 styles. Most of the icons are vector and pixel perfect and are grouped into themed sets.

Website that offers icons and icon sets, vector graphics and web templates, all under the platform's special-use free licence.

Website containing vector graphics for graphic designers. It works like an image bank, so visitors can browse and find vector art, illustrations, icons, PSD and photos.

Online platform that allows users to download vector art, photos and videos.

A collection of free downloadable vector art, graphics and illustrations.

Base de dades de gràfics vectorials gratuïts. Mitjançant el motor de cerca es pot accedir a una col·lecció de més de 150.000 vectors.

Free library for mixing and matching illustrations of people. These images can be customized to create settings and all sorts of people.

Catalogue of free samples from the online platform-community Dribble.

Website featuring free resources for any kind of graphic project. Most of the resources come in PSD format, but there are also some for Illustrator. Free fonts and code stuff are also available.

Online service that offers designers and web developers free access to hundreds of ready-to-use mock-ups and Photoshopped images.

Online service that offers graphic designers, web designers and web developers free access to hundreds of ready-to-use PSD mock-ups.

Website that allows users to test out mock-ups online without the need for graphic design software.

Page on this online platform featuring hundreds of free mock-ups for graphic designers.

Online collection boasting thousands of mock-ups for any project need. Visitors can browse through mock-ups of T-shirts, coffee mugs, books and much more. Some are even animated.

Music licensing platform offering royalty-free music or low-cost music without the hassle of royalties.

Website offering free sound clips for download in multiple formats, such as WAV or MP3. The collection features all sorts of sound effects.

Sound bank with tracks lasting as long as 18 minutes, a useful tool for any sound production project.

Sound, photo, video, illustration and animation search engine. Sound files can be downloaded in WAV, MP3 and OGG format.

Collaborative database of sounds under a Creative Commons licence allowing reuse. All sorts of audio clips, samples, recordings and bleeps are available for download. Brainchild of Pompeu Fabra University's Music Technology Group, dating back to 2005.

Website created in 2000 by Rodolphe Milan that offers a wide variety of fonts for download on both Mac and Windows devices. It respects copyright and regularly removes copyrighted font copies from its selection.

Online repository of free, hand-picked, high-resolution typefaces that are licensed for commercial use.

Collection of open source fonts that are optimized for page design.

Website offering a robust collection of downloadable fonts. Before using a font, carefully review the licence governing its commercial use.

Website featuring a wide selection of fonts that will make any creative's visions pop on screen or in print. Before using a font, carefully review the licence governing its commercial use.

Formerly known as Typekit, this repository offers fonts that can be freely used for work on a computer or for web design. Users must create a free account before being able to download fonts.

Web application that allows creative professionals to explore, create and share colour themes.

System that provides a universal colour language, a control standard, that allows brands, manufacturers and designers to make colour decisions at all stages of the workflow.

Tool that allows users to check how compliant colours chosen for a graphic design are with certain criteria.

Online colour scheme generator. By blocking one or multiple colours, the tool comes up with new colour combinations.

Multiplatform web application for generating colour palettes, either from colours snapped from images or those chosen using the colour picker.

Website that allows users to generate colour palettes and gradients.