The value of any fashion website is directly proportionate to the number of visual materials. No matter how many beautifully crafted copywriting techniques are involved in the process of writing the articles, readers also want to feel like they are in the front row at Fashion Week. And how else can you provide them this experience if not through well-selected collective artwork for your fashion website?
However, it is next to impossible to afford a professional fashion photographer for your daily fashion columns. This pitfall can, however, be a great opportunity to enter the imaginary world of graphic arts. Thanks to the Adobe Illustrator tool, any kind of shape or design concept can be created. Here are the three simple ways to create collective artwork for your fashion website!
1. Hire A Digital Designer
The budget for artwork should be as important as any other budget. Investing in the visual aspect of your website is a sure and safe step to increasing its reach. So, have you thought of funding your creative department yet?
Hiring help will also allow you to focus only on the aspects of your website you are good at. So, it’s high time you started spreading the word about your new and exciting job position. There are many young talents out there that can bring your online magazine a fresh new angle. It’s important, though, to state from the beginning that your future colleague must have work experience in the fashion world. Fashion graphic is an independent graphic niche, and it requires a different set of basic rules.
However, hiring a graphic designer isn’t your only option. You can take advantage of online platforms that provides a connection between you and design freelancers. UpWork.com is one of such website that enables you to manage the creative activity from your office.
The steps are easy to follow: create an account as an employer, then create a gig (decide the price, set the level of difficulty, describe your expectations), and publish it on the platform. Wait a day to receive as many offers as possible, and select one of the designers based on their background, work experience and your chat with them. The best part is that you can get a refund if you are not satisfied with the result. After a while, you will end up building a list of designers you were pleased with that you can always count on.
DesignCrowd.com is another good option for you. This platform is entirely dedicated to graphic design freelancers, but it’s a little different as far as the collaboration is concerned. It offers you the opportunity to choose from a large array of designs specially created for your task. All you have to do is describe your ideal design and decide a reward. Your offer becomes public, and any designer can participate with their own creation. In the end, you pick the winner who will also be the only one to enjoy your compensation.
2. Build Your Own Fashion Collection
This option requires you to learn your way through the Adobe Illustration tool. You might have a rough start, but the benefits are plenty. You get to create your own vision for your fashion website. That way, you will have unique collective artwork for your fashion website and get to master one of the most important skills a successful Millennial should have.
You can still call this a simple way to create collective artwork since there are many free online tutorials to teach you Adobe Illustrator program. Start with getting yourself accustomed to drawing fashion figures. Fashion artwork requires different body proportions for the model than any other design area. The figure is more elongated to offer a better view of the entire outfit. Also, body positions are essential to catching the perfect angle of an outfit.
Visit websites that offer professional design courses free of charge, like PsdTUTS.com, Abduzeedo.com, or Photoshopstar.com.
3. The Internet Is Already a Step Ahead of You
Your collection of fashion artwork is already out there. You just have to find it. Lots of design websites offer freebies to support any kind of budget of their clients.
Make sure that the free artworks you gather are royalty-free. That means that you can use the graphics in your work to be seen by your readers without violating in any way the copywriting of the digital products. Go ahead and explore free sources for graphic designs like Pixabay.com, GraphicStock.com, FreePik.com or Vecteezy.com.
You can also enjoy doing some custom work on them, even though these resources are open to the public. There are some online tools that act like basic Adobe programs but are more user-friendly and intuitive towards your projects. Canva.com is a good example for this case. You can choose to create visual content for social media, presentations, posters or blog articles. Use your collective artwork for your fashion website as a background, and personalize your illustration with layouts, different kinds of elements and text to suit your website articles.
Enjoy your new artwork collection and we would very much like to see your tips & tricks in the comments bellow!
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Dustin Ford is a Colorado-based writer and a Contributing Editor at Tech Exploring. He is deeply fascinated with everything that has to do with personal branding, online marketing, technology, and gadgets.