By Melissa Scroggins
What could be better than striking gold? How about a huge list of Adobe Illustrator resources? For many designers, a list of resources to help finish those design projects in a quick and easy fashion is like finding gold on the Web.
In this article, there are over 200 (mostly) free resources for Adobe Illustrator. Since many designers have made these resources free for others, please take the time to check out he license agreements before using any resources for projects.
Finally, have fun stockpiling all the brushes, patterns,, symbols, vectors, swatches, and fun additions to the Adobe Illustrator presets. After all, among these resources, there’s sure to be a few gold nuggets just waiting to be found.
1. Brushes
There are a multitude of brush sets that can add volumes of creativity to design projects. So many effects can be achieved by stylizing the appearance of paths with brushes. Check out the following brush sets which offer a variety of styles ranging from sketchy to abstract and everything in between.
17 brushes for Illustrator
28 Free Illustrator Brushes for making Swooshes and Swirls
33 More Paint Brush Style Illustrator Brushes
20 Free Illustrator Art Brushes: Ink Sketch Lines
57 Exclusive Illustrator Multi-Colored Paint Brushes
Free-Dot Dash Illustrator Pattern Brushes
10 Arrowhead Brushes for Illustrator
Free Illustrator Brushes: Ink/Watercolor
The Hairbrush Kit
Free Illustrator Brushes and Vectors: Foliage
Illustrator Art Brushes
35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes
Illustrator Brushes, Series 3
Illustrator Brushes, Series 4
Sketchy Illustrator brushes pack (16 brushes)
Vector Art: “Imperial Leaf” Seamless Pattern Brush for Adobe Illustrator CS4
30 Illustrator Pattern Brushes for Making Flowers and Circular Designs
Thorny vine brushes by *Shurakai-Zero
illustrator brush set 1 by ~nrmb
57 Multi-Colored Illustrator Paint Brushes
AI Custom Drawing Brushes 1 by ~maniacresources
illustrator brush set 3 by ~nrmb
Crosshatch brushes by *Shurakai-Zero
85 Illustrator Paint Brushes
Celtic Border brush v2 by *Shurakai-Zero
Exclusive Illustrator Watercolor Brushes
illustrator brush set 2 by ~nrmb
Autorama Brush Illustrator by ~lucasribeiro
Vector Chains by ~pica-stock
Rope Brush by ~lucasribeiro
Victorian vector brush pack by ~sergeypoluse
Illustrator Light Banner Brush by ~lucasribeiro
Candy Cane Brush by *pica-stock
Hydronix — vector splash pack by =r2010
100 Wonderful Water Color Illustrator Brushes
construx by =r2010
smoke – illustrator brush pack by =r2010
technix brush pack by =r2010
Retro Circle AI Brushes by ~debh945
Chalk Illustrator brushes by ~melemel
Technix v.2 by =r2010
Beads and Gems by ~Korat-Nibelan
illustrator brush pack01 by ~joyologo
Further Resources For Brushes:
30+ High Quality Adobe Illustrator Brush Sets
45 Excellent Sets of Adobe Illustrator Brushes
30 Sets of High-Quality Adobe Illustrator Brushes
45 Excellent Sets of Adobe Illustrator Brushes
Adobe Illustrator Brushes downloads section
A Huge Compilation of 60 Free Illustrator Brushes – Vectortuts+
2. Gradients, Swatches, and Patterns
Gradients
Gradients allow a designer to apply a graduated blend of colors. In doing so, the artwork can change dramatically with even a subtle color change. Here are just a few samples of gradient resources.
Illustrator Metal Gradients by ~TrabzonSport
Adobe Gradient Pack by ~magnet14
130 gradients for Adobe Illustrator
Swatches
25 Woven Plaid Swatches
Illustrator Swatches
12 Most Cute & adorable color & pattern swatches – What little boys are made of!
55 Seamless Line & Crosshatch Swatches
Free Illustrator Colors
Patterns
Patterns are a great resource for a designer. Whether applied to a background or as an added detail on a character, the addition of just the right style pattern can make all the difference.
Vector Art: 10 Amazing Baroque Style Patterns for Adobe Illustrator
new pattern by ~grunii
Paisley Seamless Pattern by ~jilbert
textures_poluse by ~sergeypoluse
pop art vector texture by ~sergeypoluse
Eyes of Miice by ~jilbert
Batik is Beautiful – Free Vector Swatches UPDATED « ClickPopMedia
10 Seamless Vector Patterns
Kaleidoscope Dreams by ~jilbert
15 Seamless Animal Print Patterns
5 Free Seamless Vector Patterns
Free Seamless Patterns – Paisley
125 Vector Japanese Patterns
20 Seamless Plaid Patterns for Illustrator
MonochromeGeometric
Further Resources For Patterns:
450+ Abobe Illustrator Patterns
Huge Collection of High Quality Patterns
Kaliber10000 { The Pixel Patterns Collection }
Vector Art – A Digital Illustration Blog
3. Symbols
The use of symbols in a project can save time and file size. Check out some samples of quality symbol sets which are sure to be useful resources for a variety of design projects.
Drips and splatters Vector Symbols Library
Simbolos3 by ~Cherryflip
14 Glossy boxes by ~Anya82
Bugs Vector Pack by ~formatdelete
Illustrator Christmas Symbols by ~bcre80v
Further Resources For Symbols:
Top 10 Free Adobe Illustrator Symbols Resource Sites
Symbols for Illustrator ® CS4 CS3 CS2 CS1 10, royalty-free: 1000s of stunning designs
4. Vectors
The range of styles in the following vector resources are just a sample of the huge amount of free vectors a designer can find on the internet. Not only is the artwork superb, but imagine the time saved by not having to create each design element.
21 Amazing Splats for Illustrator
Tattered Banners « ClickPopMedia
Vector grunge style package
Vector package of hearts
Exclusive Freebie: VectorLab Sample Pack
30 vectors of cities
Silhouettes of business people
Geometric Abstract Vectors Pack 2
Birds in Flight
Free Vector Doodles – Women’s Clothing & Fashion
10 Free Grungy Spray Vectors
Free Keep Fit Vectors – Give Your Designs a Workout!
Vectors and dogs
Vector Splats
Winter Cabin
40+ Free Vector Stickers
Flying Birds
Vector Vitruvian Man
90’s Technology
Vector Design 3
Snowflake Vectors
5 Floral Ornaments
Floral Colorful Illustration
Hummer
Green Cityscape Art
Free Vector Pack 15 Sampler
Alfred Doodle Set 6
Korean Vector Flowers
Colorful Pattern Background Vector
Colorful Backgrounds
41 Animals
Pink Cherry Blossom Tree
Vietnam Airplanes
Floral Ornaments
Paint Brush Vector
Modern Mouse
Free Twitter Drops
School Mega Pack
Orange Landscape
Further Resources For Vectors:
46 Excellent Free Vectors by vectorvaco
49 Amazing Resources for Free Vector Graphics
The Ultimate Collection Of Free Vector Packs
Vector Art: 10 Stunning Vector Pattern Sets for Adobe Illustrator
Conclusion
There are always more Adobe Illustrator resources popping up every week. Keep an eye out at the sites for their weekly freebies, giveaways, and “free” sections. In doing so, one might just find pure vector-based gold!
Further Resources
- Great Adobe Illustrator Resources
A Good Selection of vectors and other resources. - 80 Best-Of Adobe Illustrator Tutorials, Brushes, .EPSs and Resources – Noupe
Collection of Patterns, Brushes, Vector Packs, and Vector Sources. - Adobe Illustrator Toolbox
Articles, Brushes, Vectors, and other resources. - Free Downloads for Adobe Illustrator – brushes actions clip art more
Free Illustrator downloads of brushes, actions, symbols, etc.. - 80 of the Best Vector and Illustrator Free Resources
Collection of brushes, symbols, plug-ins, vectors, and more.
Send Comment:
61 Comments:
More than a year ago
thanks for sharing - emoji for thank you
More than a year ago
Wow, this is an awesome list, thanks for sharing!
More than a year ago
Thanks for essential information about illustrator !!!!!
More than a year ago
Incredible post!!!
Really awesome....thanks to share..
More than a year ago
Thanks!!!!!!
More than a year ago
Amazing collections of illustrator patterns and brushes you've got here. Beautiful!
More than a year ago
really helpfyl & awesome stuff
More than a year ago
An amazing collection! Thank you!
More than a year ago
Very good design,
i like thish
More than a year ago
Thanks a lot :)
More than a year ago
Nice! Great article! Thank you.
More than a year ago
Simply Awesome Collection !
Thanks a lott for sharing !
More than a year ago
Incredible list, thank you! (:
More than a year ago
This is a great page, I downloaded heaps of things from these links. The Japanese Prints is a dud page: just full of adds, no download of Japanese prints.
More than a year ago
Excelente nota. Muy interesante lo que dices, adios!
More than a year ago
Thanks for the great collection of resources!
More than a year ago
Hi I was digging for trustworthy knowledge on inks for grand format printers. Your site was listed on Alta Vista in this category, you have an informative site.
More than a year ago
Thanks for the resources :)
More than a year ago
Thanks! bookmarked.
More than a year ago
hyped!
More than a year ago
Ta muy bueno esto!!!!1Mil gracias
More than a year ago
Mil gracias ta muy bueno esto!!!!:)
More than a year ago
You Rock, period. Thanks again for all the great resources.
More than a year ago
Thank you for including some of my vector patterns ...
~jilbert
More than a year ago
I love Illustrator and when I stumbled upon this I was so excited. Thanks for the resources!
More than a year ago
very nice :-)
More than a year ago
------these are the catalyst to get me back to
---projects .....
More than a year ago
Muchas gracias por la recopilación de recursos para illustrator !!!!
Great collection !!! Big thanks for your work in this post !!
More than a year ago
You are a Star! Great content and worth adding to Favourites ;)
More than a year ago
A big thanks for that big collection from Hamburg
More than a year ago
Possibly the best resource of all time!!!
More than a year ago
Fantástico. Una gran recopilación. Muy buen trabajo.
Muchas gracias.
More than a year ago
wow is great for working
More than a year ago
Woooooooow, no words!
More than a year ago
great collection, thanks a lot... ;)
More than a year ago
Gooooooooooood Collection............
More than a year ago
Really is a gold mine of Illustrator resources! Thanks for putting all of them together. Definitely enough to be keeping me busy.
More than a year ago
Fantastic collection! Much needed in the time of the PSD
More than a year ago
Good list, but too big
More than a year ago
Wow. Thanks for sharing.
More than a year ago
Thank-you for all the positive feedback! :-)
More than a year ago
Wow marvellous collection. Thx for sharing
More than a year ago
Awesome Collection. -Thanks!
More than a year ago
Great! Awesome collection
More than a year ago
awesome collection. it is definitely a gold mine...
More than a year ago
This is awesome! Thank you.
More than a year ago
Superb!
Thank you very much.
More than a year ago
Excelent! Great Post!
More than a year ago
Wow! These are awesome. Thank you, thank you, thank you :)
More than a year ago
-phew- I never thought I'd reach the end! Great list!
More than a year ago
Wow, this is sweet collection - great future resource for our designer!
More than a year ago
Wow~~ These are really helpful resources. Thank you!!
More than a year ago
Amazing collection, thanks a lot! :)
More than a year ago
excellent list of illustration resources and really like to share with my mates for better inspirations. thanks
More than a year ago
Great resources. Thanks share!
More than a year ago
Wow, what an collection.. "thumbs up"
Really appriciate you shared, and this will help alot of people with their search of improving their skills in mostly everything..
A giant golden star for you!!
Regards
M.T
More than a year ago
Well this post was certainly the end of the rainbow! Thanks for taking the time to put this list together. Always on the lookout for new tools to give website designs that extra little something special. Definitely bookmarking this page.
More than a year ago
Thanks guys! It is like an early x-mas gift.
More than a year ago
Thanks for including my dot dash brush set :) Such a huge collection, my head is spinning! Loads of good stuff
More than a year ago
Its awesome collections. Its difficult to collect such a huge collection.
More than a year ago
Definitely bookmarking this huge gold mind of adobe illustrator :) excellent post