When I design, I need to rely on other’s people work to make something usable for my clients.
In order to do so, I often navigate between different types of licensing, depending on the project.
There are licenses that are fully free (like public domain [CC0] for images), some that sit in a grey area, and others that are paid.
In this post, I’m sharing my go-to resources that are almost entirely free and open source.
1. Photography
- wordpress.org/photos (CC0)
- www.cosmos.so/public-work (CC0)
- openverse.org (CC0 and other)
- www.pexels.com (custom license – free)
- unsplash.com (custom license – free)
- digitalcollections.nypl.org (CC0 and other)
Note: CC0 licenses are public domain (read more). You can use them without any limitations. Other licenses may change over time, as providers reserve the right to update terms.
2. Typography (fonts)
- fonts.google.com (SIL)
- open-foundry.com (SIL)
- fonts.adobe.com/foundries/open-source (SIL and other)
- www.are.na/frederic-brodbeck/open-source-typefaces (SIL and other)
- www.collletttivo.it (SIL)
SIL is an open font license (read more). You can use these in your work without limitation.
3. Icons
- fonts.google.com/icons (open source)
- mageicons.com (open source)
- iconsvg.xyz/# (MIT)
These are open source and free to use in your work without limitation. The MIT license is generally permissive and allows free use in almost all contexts.
In another post, I’ll share libraries that are less open source, require attribution, or are paid.