As a startup founder, budgets are tight, so you should always be on the lookout for free content, from video and photos and animations, to copywriting tools and mockups. Here are a couple we use at Creative Motion almost daily.
1. Unsplash
This platform is the go-to for anyone looking for high-quality, free-to-use photos on the internet. Even we used it in the creation of our own website and we use it daily for article headings, social media posts and other assets. Don’t forget to credit the author however, that’s the deal you strike when you download anything from unsplash. We tend to keep the name of the artist in the photo file so when you hover over it you could see the ownership, but artists will surely appreciate a shout-out to their profiles as well.
2. Copy.ai
For anyone having trouble with copywriting, copy.ai offers a very simple solution. Either writes the needed text itself based on a couple of your prompts, or it gives you the titles to work on that sound right for your use-case. Either way, this is a very complex tool with a lot of layers, but once you get to master it, it will be part of your daily routine. Use it to write email texts, blog articles, social media posts and many, many more.
3. Mixkit
This platform is similar to Unsplash, but for video content and assets. Stock footage and short movies free to use for your new ad, categorised in a very neat way. Where Mixkit sets itself apart is in the free Premiere Pro, After Effects and Final Cut assets that it provides. Really high-quality, easy-to-use with a few tutorials on youtube and a real game changer in the way you present your products/services.
4. Ouch!
Ouch! is part of a larger ecosystem of platforms and tools for creatives and startup founders called icons8. Ouch! however stands apart thanks to its huge variety of styles and graphics. It’s got both a free tier and a paid tier where you unlock more options, but with a bit of creativity you could edit the PNG files that you download directly since they are a good enough quality for post-processing. Watch out to not mix graphic styles however, as that will lead to some really weird UI.
5. Smart Mockups
Smart Mockups was recently bought by Canva and you can also find it as a plugin inside their design tool, but we find it easier to work directly through their website. Offering simple, fast mockup creation without any Photoshop skills required, this is a tool to add to your belt. You can even upload your design at the beginning and see it displayed on all of their mockups as you scroll. They might look a bit generic, but they do the trick in a pinch.
6. Archetype
Now here is something we overlook most of the time when creating our brands/websites/platforms/apps. Typography plays a major part in how your users interact with you, and archetype provides a very useful and detailed process to set your headings, pick your fonts and define their sizes. This is one essential tool especially in the beginning when you work on your brand identity and it keeps things clean and organized, in addition to a huge library of free fonts to use.
7. Speak Human
Although this is the smallest tool of the bunch, it makes a big difference. Generating microcopy for micro-moments, Speak Human focuses on those small interactions that have big impacts, like asking for an email adress to discuss further, CTA’s for ecommerce pages and memorable thank you messages. Use this to stand-out from others in your sales process.
