Blog

High Quality, Free, Open Source Design Assets – 2022 Edition

High Quality, Free, Open Source Design Assets

When I first started learning web design, every type of creative software I used was proprietary. These tools often came at a cost, and there was no way to customize them beyond what was originally intended. Later, I discovered WordPress, which exposed me to the idea of open source software, and I instantly became fascinated with it. I couldn’t understand how a publishing platform this complete and robust could be available to literally everyone for free.

Open source typically refers to software designed for public access—meaning anyone can see, modify and distribute said software as they see fit. This often enables greater innovation and a level of organic community involvement that just isn’t possible with a small group in control of a project. WordPress isn’t the only platform to make its source code public and the concept isn’t limited to just software. There are tons of files, graphics, and images on various sites like Openverse which compiles and distributes resources that have a “CC0” (Creative Commons) license. Without getting too deep into the legalese, CC0 just means the creative work is intended for public domain, giving anyone the freedom to reuse and modify it for pretty much any purpose. Not only that, lately the quality of open source and CC0 design resources has gotten quite good, and it’s taking me back to that feeling I experienced when I first discovered WordPress.

Below is a recently compiled list of design resources that Christy and I compiled for our team here at Automattic, and we think you may find the list useful for your next project. Note that, although they’re free for personal or even commercial use, some of the resources below aren’t technically defined as “open source.” Be sure to check the license of any assets you plan to use to make sure they will be suitable for your project.

Enjoy!

Fonts

Font libraries

Notable singular fonts

Some favorite Google fonts

Icons

Backgrounds

Photos

Illustrations & Art

Mockups

Audio

Tools


Image attribution:

By Allan Cole

I’m an artist, a hacker, a beat-maker and an entrepreneur and I’m in love with constantly getting better at building and creating things. Usually, I’m somewhere design/developing WordPress themes or making beats.

By Christy Nyiri

Designer, developer, karaoke-er.