How To Use Texture in Graphic Design

There are some very nice ways that you can use textures to create some spectacular designs. As a Chicago graphic designer, I love to use texture and create designs that are not seen everywhere you look.

Here, we have 5 ways that you can use texture in your next graphic design jobs and create exceptional designs that will be loved and feature pieces in your portfolio.

1. Use nature. Don't be afraid to be inspired by texture you see in nature. See things like gravel, bark on trees, bricks, pine cones, etc. If it is in nature, then chances are that it has a great texture that you can be inspired by to create art. Nature is full of texture, don't ignore it or risk ignoring a source chock full of inspiration. How can you capture these textures? Well, you can either photograph them or perhaps draw them. 
2. Use paint and make your own. If you have any paint brushes and paint, go ahead and make your own textures. Just use the brushes until you create something you like. 
3. Use a pencil and draw your own. Make some scribbles and doodles and see what you come up with. Once you create something you like, you can scan it and play around with it in Photoshop. 
4. Find stuff online (that's free). You can have a huge file full of textures you like by doing a simple Google search for free textures. Plenty of these are high quality and resolution that you can download. From there, you can adjust the texture to make it more your own. 
5. Use stock images. Stock images can have some great designs in them. You can play around with them on Photoshop and create something beautiful. There are plenty of images you can find for free or if you have to pay for them, then you can do that also. Pick a piece of the image and use it. 

Creating something great for your next graphic design object does not have to be incredibly difficult. Once you find a groove to create great art, you can keep it in a file and use it like a "graphic design bank account" and take from it when you need some art. As a graphic design studio in Chicago, we at Integraphix are all about creating designs that push beyond convention. 

25 Creative, FREE Social Media Icon Sets For Graphic Designers

Have you ever noticed the creative icons that link to social media pages on web pages? Website icons and social media icons are designed to make your viewers intrigued to look more in depth in your webpage. As a marketing company, we always add social media icons to our websites and our client websites. Whether you own a 15 page website or only a blog, utilizing social media icons will definitely help drive traffic to your different web pages. You even have the option to add social media icons to your blog template websites such as blogger.

As a Chicago Web Design Company and a Chicago Graphic Design company, we like to be able to utilize all of our skills in single projects. As a creative agency we are always intrigued by projects that allow our designers in Chicago to let their creativity flow, and creating custom social media icons is definitely one of them. From simple black and white icons to detailed 3 dimentional social media icons, there are many options and styles for creating an appealing icon on your page. If you are creating your own social media icons, approach the project as if it were a logo. Create the icons in illustrator and use them as vector files. This file format will be beneficial to you in the long run if you are looking to use these images in the future. For more information on creating logos and custom icons, visit our logo design blog that features posts specifically on logos.

Some social media web pages you may want to consider when creating social media buttons are: Facebook of course, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, Pinterest and Youtube.

There are also many websites that provide free or commercial social media icons for free. Of course, these icons won’t be custom to your website, but still have a very big impact on the traffic of your webpage. If you are looking for social media icons for your own website design, below are a few sets of our designers in Chicago’s favorites.  Check them out, and let us know your favorite!

3D Vector Social Media Icons

Circular Stamp Social Media Icons

Classic Gray Social Media Icons 

Ice Icons

Social Media Bubbles

Bottle Cap Social Media Icons

Burnt Wood Social Media Set

Blueprint Social Icon Set

Social Media Balloons

Social Media Stars

Social Media Hearts

Dark Social Media Circles

Social Media Icons - Stained

Origami Social Media Icons

Retro Social Media Icon Set

Handycon Social Media Icons

Sleek Social Media Icons

Social Buzz Buttons

Paint Splattered Social Media Icons

Scribble Social Icon Set

Glossy Social Icons

Pagepeel Social Icon Set

Hand Drawn Social Media Icons

Social Media Stamps

Colorful Social Network Icon Set