Do you always struggle to get the right images to use on your website or for your design? You need to start using free illustrations if this is a problem you’re currently dealing with. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the benefits of using free illustrations. In fact, the studies reveal that the processing time for images is 60,000 times faster than the processing time for text.
The key thing to note is that visual contents are generally more exciting and more engaging than text, and this is why people like to use them in marketing campaigns. But marketing campaigns are not the only way you can use visual content. Other statistics revealed that social media posts with images are likely to get more clicks, likes, shares, and comments than those without images.
You might be wondering what illustrations are and how they come into play. Illustrations are basically visual stories that depict a text or an action. They are also used in conveying different messages, depending on what the story a brand wants to tell.
There are so many interesting facts about images and free illustrations. In another survey, it was discovered that humans process images at a speed of 150ms, while understanding images takes lesser than 100ms. Comparing this with texts shows how really amazing images and free illustrations are.
How to use illustrations and vector graphics
With the statistics that we have mentioned above, you might start to wonder what ways you can use these illustrations. Well, it’s simple, and you can use free illustrations in multiple ways that you didn’t even think of.
Here are some of the common ways that people use these free illustrations:
1. In UI design
If you are a UI designer, one of the crucial points that will cause you to want to use a free illustration is when you need to create a fun and easy-to-understand interface for users.
2. Backgrounds
Another way to use free illustrations is as theme images. Whether it’s a flyer, a poster, or a magazine, it’ll need to have a catchy theme. With free illustrations, you can easily emphasize more on the theme. The best way to achieve this is when you use it as the background image of your design. However, when doing this, you’ll need to ensure that the image aligns with the theme of the design.
3. SNS posts
This is the most common use of free illustrations. Most of the people who look for free illustrations actually do so to post on their social media platforms, either as a meme or to increase the engagement of their on their posts.
4. Mascots and characters
Like the use of free illustrations for hero images, you can also use free illustrations for mascots and characters. The aim of using illustrations for mascots is basically to pass goodwill or to tell a story. Therefore, the illustration that you settle for will completely depend on the story or idea that you are trying to pass across.
5. Infographics
If you have looked at an infographic before, you’ll notice that in addition to the texts included in the infographics, there are also several illustrations included. The aim is to make the text more understandable and also to increase the engagement of readers. Infographics are basically visual representations of information, and one of the elements included in infographics is illustrations.
6. Advertising Banners
Free illustrations can also be used on advertising banners, not only to beautify the banners but also to increase engagement and deliver the information appropriately. Advertising banners are used to create awareness about events, a product, or services, and when these banners are not visually appealing, the ultimate aim of the banner will not be achieved. To avoid that, it’s best to use free illustrations when designing such banners.
7. Games
This may not seem realistic, but it’s also a use of free illustrations. Using free illustrations for entertainment is common, especially in game design.
8. Images for blogs
Another impressive way to use free illustrations is on your blog articles. Most of the reasons we have mentioned above had one thing or the other to do with making content more engaging and also enhancing the content. This also applies to blog articles, but one thing that will intrigue you is the fact that using illustrations as images in blog articles is a way to improve the SEO of the blog.
However, there are certain things you need to consider when using illustrations as images on blog articles. First, you need to optimize the illustrations so that it matches your website without affecting the speed of the site. Another thing that you’ll need to ensure is that you include the correct alt text to the image. There are many other benefits of using images in blog articles, and if you haven’t been using them, you might want to consider using them.
9. Tutorials
If you check different online tutorial platforms today or blogs that give a tutorial on different topics, you’ll realize that they all have one thing in common, and that’s the fact that they all use illustrations, images, and videos when explaining different concepts. This is an effective way of stimulating students to learn and making tutorials very engaging.
10. Design cards like greeting cards, gift cards
Whether it’s for a wrapped gift box or a gift card, you’ll want to make it to look really nice and appealing. There are different instances where you’ll need to present a gift or reward to someone, and in some cases, you may be wondering how you can decorate it to make the gift look more meaningful and appreciable. This is where free illustrations will come in really handy for you. However, a very key thing to ensure when using these free illustrations is that you are not violating any license because, in many cases, they usually have a few restrictions.
11. Notifications and system messages
This is also another use of illustrations, and it’s mostly applied on mobile and computer devices. A lot of applications usually displace illustrations whenever there’s a new notification. It’s a way of drawing the attention of the user to the notification, thereby causing them to act quickly.
12. Stickers
This also applies mostly to messenger apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger. One of the features of these apps are stickers, and stickers have rapidly become an integral component used for communication through these mobile apps. Illustrations are mostly used in designing these stickers before importing them to the different social media platforms for use. If you are a UI designer, You’ll need these illustrations when for creating stickers for any of your projects.
13. Marketing Campaigns
This is a use that is mostly applied by businesses in different parts of the world today. There are so many types of illustrations, and these illustrations can perfectly fit any marketing campaign. If you plan to run a marketing campaign for your business, you should consider using illustrations to make things interesting and also to capture the attention of your viewers.
14. Posters
Another use of free illustrations is on posters. Whether the poster is to be printed and posted on a wall or whether it’s to be posted on a social media platform, you’ll need illustrations during the design of the posters. Posters are mostly used to create awareness about a product, service, or event, and the design of a poster wouldn’t be complete if it did not contain an illustration in it.
15. Storytelling
The last use of illustration on our list is for storytelling, and as the name suggests, illustrations will make it a lot easier for you to tell any story. Whether it’s for a book, a game, an article, or a blog, you can apply illustrations to any story that you are telling.
Reasons to Use Illustrations
We have provided up to 15 different uses of illustrations to show you how useful illustrations can be. However, if you’re still wondering whether you really need to use these illustrations, here are a few reasons why you should use illustrations:
1. Competitive Cost
A common thing with every project you plan to start is budget, which is why a lot of people try to find ways to cut down their expenses. When people are advised to use illustrations for their projects, they usually think it’s going to cost them a lot, however, when you use free illustrations, you can easily cut down costs. Even for illustrations that you will be paying for, it’s worth noting that you won’t spend as much as you would if you hire a photographer. Using illustrations is generally a cheaper alternative.
2. Telling a Story
Part of the use that we have mentioned above is using illustrations for storytelling. This is, in fact, the most common way that people use these illustrations. The main reason why you should consider using illustrations to tell a story is that it will make the story to be more narrative and more engaging. You wouldn’t want your readers to stop reading halfway into the story, which is why you should start using eye-catching illustrations to keep them glued to your story.
3. Display Data
One of the strategies that most organizations use today when measuring their success rate is by collecting data. They also use this strategy when thinking and planning for the future. A powerful tool that comes in handy generally when it comes to data collection is infographics, and as mentioned above, you need illustrations to make the infographics catchier.
Where to Get Free Illustrations
We have been able to cover all the uses of free illustrations as well as provide some benefits of using these illustrations to show you why you should be using illustrations for your projects. Now the big question lies in where you can get these illustrations from, as well as where you can get them for free. Today, you have so many options to choose from, and some of the places where you can get these illustrations from including Adobe Stock, Shutter Stock, Pixabay, Unsplash, and many more.
Despite the countless options available, we strongly advise users to consider using illustAC if they want constant access to all the illustrations that they need. On illustAC, you can easily get free illustrations to use for personal projects and also for commercial projects. What’s more is that the illustrations that are offered on the platform are all available for download in a different format. Locating the ideal illustration for your project is super easy on illustAC, thanks to the search feature that is included. With that, you only need to input a keyword, and you’ll be given different search results with respect to the keyword that you inputted.
You can now start using illustAC as your source with the assurance that you’ll get all the free illustrations you can apply for different projects.
