Writers, Don’t You Think You Over-used Unsplash and Pexels?
Source amazing pictures & illustrations for your story for FREE from these two websites.
It was not long ago that I solely relied on Unsplash and Pexels for all the images for my articles.
It’s not that I didn’t have any other options. It’s more the comfort and ease these platforms provide in the process of image sourcing.
So, why search for alternatives???
Look, it’s totally optional. Pexels and Unsplash are great.
Just a bit over-used on Medium, I guess.
If you read Medium often then you won’t fail to notice same picture that keeps popping every now and then.
They are versatile—they fit into an array of different topics. They are relevant for many articles.
For instance, guess in how many cases “a laptop with a book and cup of coffee” image can be used? You got the point, right?
This may make your article’s first impression feel monotonous.
Clearly, having a couple of less popular sources to find images is not at all a bad idea.
Just to make it clear, pictures available on these websites are free to use (just don’t forget to cite the source; it’s a good practice).
Concerning less popular sources, I said so because I see almost never see any pictures or illustrations used in Medium articles that link to these sites.
Unsplash and Pexels are so ubiquitous that it’s worth the effort to find some less popular alternatives.
So, without any further ado, let’s get into this.
1. icons8.com
Almost a week ago, I found out about this website when I was reading submission guidelines of a publication on Medium.
First impression of this website was amazing and honestly, it’s got quite a lot to offer—pictures, illustrations, icons, and music.
They do have a premium plan but if you only use images and vectors for your blogs, you can easily get by with their free plan.
I basically use them for my illustrations need as I don’t see enough articles that have them instead of stock photos.
Nevertheless, they’ve got quite a collection of stock photos as well.
I’m pretty sure that you’ll love what this site has to offer. Just give it a go.
2. unDraw.co
It’s a totally open-source project started and run by Katerina Limpitsouni. You can find beautiful and easy-to-customise illustrations on this website.
And that too, totally for FREE.
By easy customisation I mean you can change colour of the illustrations to match your specific needs—and that too on the website itself. That’s cool, isn’t it?
Ummm...like this:
Hope you found this article interesting. If you know any other good source of CC0 (no copyright reserved) images, vectors, or illustrations, please share them in the comments below.
Look, images are just a small part of our articles. What basically determines the success of your story are your words. Not images.
So don’t obsess over that. But every now and then, don’t hesitate to experiment.
On that note, byeeeee!
