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APPS, SOFTWARE, AND HIRING STAFF FOR IMAGE DESIGN/DESIGNER

APPS FOR CONTENT CREATION

Here are my go-to-apps I use daily.

FOR PHONE WORK:

FOR LAP TOP WORK:

There are many different software programs that can do this ranging from free to rather expensive.  That being said, unless you have a good feel for design, I would recommend you hire a graphic designer on upwork to do this for you.  They are worth spending some money on.  That being said, if you want to try it yourself, here are some of the more popular ones here:

PAID:

  • Adobe Photoshop: The original and the best.  There is a steep learning curve here, but there are many tutorials on youtube to help you through nearly anything you can think of
  • Adobe Illustrator: More for graphic design and laying out pages.  This is again an industry standard software.  Adobe does offer a free 30 day trial of all their software.
  • Pixelmator: If you have a mac, this is a relatively inexpensive alternative to photoshop.
  • Behance and Dribble: These aren’t a freelance job site per se. These kinds of sites help designers showcase their work and you can hire designers directly from these sites.

FREE OPTIONS:

The internet is a great thing, and there are some free options that will let you do some cool things:

  • Canva - Online tool for creating graphics with simplicity.  There are templates built-in to help you get started for common things like facebook ads, social media headers and lots more.

  • PicMonkey - Another option for creating images

  • GIMP - An acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program, this one is a free alternative to Photoshop.  It has a large active online community to help, and can be very powerful in the right hands.  Can be a steep learning curve.

HIRE SOMEBODY

Upwork.com may be my preferred place to find people to do my contract work, but there are also options just for designers.

  • Fiverr.com - fiver is another great place to get graphic design done at a reasonable price

  • 99 Designs - Great option for custom graphic design.  Have multiple designers compete to win you over.  You may end up with multiple designers creating designs for you, and you only pay for the one you like best.

  • Awesomeweb - Another place for access to great graphic designers, programmers and developers.

  • 20dollarbanners - Affordable custom designed banners.