Here you will find a list of creative links and resources that I’ve found useful. These links will take you to other websites so please remember to check my Privacy Policy before clicking on anything! I am not responsible for the content other people put on their own websites and their preferences and opinions are purely their own. This is simply to show you where you can find creative resources that I’ve enjoyed, used or found inspiring.
Learning & Tutorials
Skillshare – This is my go-to site for tutorials and inspiration. There are thousands of classes covering a broad range of topics, many of them taught by prolific creative entrepreneurs. I tend to gravitate toward the art classes, but Skillshare also hosts classes on photography, video creation, marketing and more. You can get a month free trial to try it and see what you think. For me Skillshare is a top investment for my creativity and business, and allows me to expand my toolset at my own pace.
Linkedin Learning – With over 16,000 courses taught by industry professionals, Linkedin Learning also offers a free month trial so you can test it out to see if it’s for you. I’ve done a number of classes here and found them to be clear and well-paced for picking up new skills and knowledge.
Udemy – I’ve only done a couple of classes on Udemy but it has a lot of different topics, with over 155,000 courses.
YouTube – If you’re looking for something you can access for free, YouTube has tons of art and design tutorials.
Creative Market Blog – Lots of articles and tutorials about all elements of design, from fonts and type to illustration trends.
Show Me Your Drills – A free calligraphy basics course from Becca Courtice. This course is amazing if you’re a beginner to calligraphy and there are options to continue learning (paid) after you finish the initial lessons.
Digital Tools
Adobe CC – My creative bread and butter. Most would have heard about Adobe before, and while I wouldn’t say it’s cheap, you have every possible tool at your disposal when you subscribe to creative cloud.
Adobe Fresco – Also part of the Adobe family, Fresco is specific to the iPad and allows you a nice toolset for creating art and design, including vector brushes and a selection of realistic physical media brushes. Their oil and watercolour brushes are incredibly life-like.
Just to note, you can now use Illustrator on the iPad too (hooray!).
Procreate – The perfect app for drawing, sketching, digital painting, editing images and photos and so much more. Procreate does not allow you to work with vectors (not yet, anyway), but it has a huge range of tools and brushes… plus the ability to create your own brushes.
Affinity Designer for iPad – This is my absolute favourite alternative to Procreate and Fresco and actually mixes the best of both apps, allowing you to work in vectors or raster. The only thing to remember is if you plan to export your artwork to an Adobe program like Illustrator, it’s best to save .eps files so you can open them. Also, if you use any of Affinity’s custom vector brushes they will not be automatically available in Adobe programs. I tend to not use fancy brushes so it’s not a problem, but definitely worth noting if you use Affinity on the iPad and then send to Illustrator on a desktop.
Glyphs (Mac only) – A fantastic app for creating your own typefaces and fonts. This software is Mac only but there are alternatives for use on PC.
Social Media Management
Tailwind – My go-to tool for social media scheduling. Currently Tailwind supports Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest, and if you’re predominantly active on these platforms (like I am) then this is an incredibly useful tool for organising and scheduling your content. I use it to pre-build my Instagram grid and set up Pinterest posts in advance so I can get on with creating new art. It’s such a massive time saver! Tailwind also offers handy tools that help you post at optimal times and save hashtag clusters which you can easily put into your posts with just one click.
Later – Plan and schedule your Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest activity. I have used Later in the past and always found it to be a useful visual tool for planning out my feeds and posts.
Email Management
Flodesk – In my opinion the best email marketing tool for creatives. I love Flodesk so much that I wrote a blog post about it. If you’re considering starting a newsletter or thinking of switching from your current service, I highly recommend giving my post a read.
Selling & Buying
These are marketplaces where I either sell my products (*), or have bought products created by others. They are also fantastic places to gather inspiration and see what’s trending in the design community.
Digital Creative Resources
Etsy – Generally the best option for physical products, but there are also many digital design products on Etsy.
Print on Demand
Contrado* – Luxury designer products, including apparel, footwear and accessories, home decor and art prints.
Society6* – Print on demand site where you can buy art from many different designers.
Redbubble* – Print on demand site, good quality products and lots of designs to choose from.
Spoonflower – For all your surface pattern needs.
Connect with Me on Social Media
I’m very active on Instagram and Facebook so those are probably the best ways to connect with me.
I do occasionally update my Behance though it’s a little behind and it’s not my top priority at the moment. Same with Dribbble (although you can always find links to my Creative Market shop items on Dribbble).
If you want to see some of the things I’m most interested in you can also check out my Pinterest. I have many boards full of art and design inspiration.