Let’s tackle a subject that is dear to me—design asset libraries. As a designer, I understand how exasperating the creative process is. You sit down, prepared to design, but the blank canvas is peering back at you like a daunting wall. This is when design asset libraries should be used.
A design asset library is a collection of resources that you can use whenever you need an inspiration or a hand. Libraries contain images, illustrations, templates, fonts and even more goods, all within your reach. And the greatest bonus? These libraries can help improve your creative efficiency Boost your creativity massively.
I had a project to finish a few years ago and was faced with a tight deadline. While working on my campaign I was supposed to come up with eye catching graphics for my social media, to which I drew a blank. It was in this moment that I discovered a library that contained design templates and other essential graphics. My first impression of the library was that it consisted mostly of stock pictures. However, once I started looking through it I understood how many high-definition assets I could use.
I was able to finalize two or three quick changes that encapsulated the whole idea of the project which let me both finish the project and succeed in it! But this experience also got me rethinking how I go about my daily tasks and since, I have included the use of asset libraries as a key part of my work. Not only does it assist, it also makes the designing and creative side much easier.
What Are Design Asset Libraries?
Definition and Purpose
So, how do we answer, what are design asset libraries? As a start, these are stores of marketing materials which designers can utilize to augment their portfolio. Consider them stores containing an array of resources. The main aim of these libraries is to simplify the building process by enabling easy access to certain materials that might activate creativity and make one achieve their idea quicker.
Consider an instance where you want to make an advert for an occasion that is to take place in the near future. Rather than looking for the best images or creating graphics for a few hours, you select from a library that contains thousands of them. This not only saves time but also enables you to concentrate on the most important thing, which is realizing the idea you had in mind.
Types of Assets Available
There is a clear understanding of what design asset libraries are, let’s now discuss the kinds of assets that you will be able to find in practice. Their provisions are not limited to the following only but can be broader in scope, including:
Graphics: These include picture graphics and graphical icons that form illustrations. Whether you are looking for graphics that are distinct and of great tradition or brightening, there is usually a touch to suit your taste.
Post n’ Posts: Social Media and Design Asset Libraries
Asset libraries can streamline your design process by providing access to essential assets that are both affordable and versatile. Here are a few of the strong points for using asset libraries.
Mary Murphy considers Design Asset Libraries to be a boon for social media and saving time, “They allow you to cut short the time that you would otherwise spend on doing research or searching for materials.”
Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits of incorporating a design asset library for your social media marketing strategy.
Fonts: Typographics is an integral aspect of design. Most repositories provide a broad selection of fonts from antiquated serif to contemporary sans serif styles that can help give your work a unique touch.
Templates: These are pre designed templates which can be altered to meet your preferences. Templates are a great option for saving you hours of designing, whether it be for a presentation, a social media post, a social media page or a pamphlet.
Stock Photos: Pictures tell a story, adding stock photos typically makes your project more professional, and a majority of the asset libraries in the designing space have an ample supply of themed photos on a wide repo of themes.
Advantages:
– You may wonder,” How exactly do I put asset libraries to use?”; don’t worry we will address this question in detail.
– They encourage innovation for starters and are easily rentable as well. After all the best ideas come at random and what might one day inspire you the next day can appear to be mundane; all that really matters is what contents click and the asset library has it all. A color scheme or an illustration might just surprise you and this would allow you to easily alter your social media projects.
– In addition they are time efficient, the world of design is moving at an unprecedented speed and competition is at its peak so time becomes of essence, with access to a wide plethora of resources time spent searching for assets decreases drastically.
In the long run, a design asset library not only allows you to save costs but also improves the quality of your work. Some libraries do have assets made by professionals so that you do not have to compromise on quality when working within a budget.
Why is Efficiency Important in Design?
The Creative Process
Now, let us think about the creative process. At times it can be quite complex but has certain stages to it. These stages include: ideation, sketching, prototyping, and refining. All of these stages can benefit from efficiency. With the right tools and resources, you can transition seamlessly from one stage of the process to the next with no downtime.
For instance, when trying to come up with ideas and concepts during the ideation stage, using graphics and images can make things much easier. You will be able to come up with multiple templates which would allow you to try out multiple ideas without wasting time.
Creativity and efficiency in harmony
While it is important to be efficient, it is equally important to not be too reliant on any templates or stock assets as it may lead to your work being less creative and too similar to your past work. There tends to be a fine line that one needs to walk, where on one end it is important to be efficient and on the other hand it is essential to be creative.
The challenge is to use these resources as a starting point rather than as a support. Consider disassembling the assets you select instead of just fitting them into a predefined structure. In this way, you may guarantee that your designs are authentic and match your audience without sacrificing the pleasure of using design asset libraries to save time.
Picking Out a Suitable Design Asset Library
Determining Library Options
There are various asset libraries available, and choosing the right one can be compounded with the volume of resources. With so many options for your asset library, how can you be certain which asset library will satisfy your needs? But worry not! Here are a few strategies I’ve collected in the field that might assist you in evaluating different asset libraries.
Pricing
Let’s begin by looking at the pricing. Some libraries charge on a subscription basis while other charge on the basis of the assets used. Always keep your budget in mind and consider how frequently you may be using a specific library before making a purchase. A few platforms might offer website free trials or tiered pricing so you can test the tools before making any payments. Don’t overlook these opportunities!
Selection
Now assess the selection of the assets. Does the library have sufficient graphics, templates and fonts that suit your flair? For me, I have to be able to locate at least one library that not only contains quality assets but also a variety of them which can cater to different projects. I recall when I first started looking through asset libraries I came across a few that were excellent for social media graphic but bad for print designs and that limited my creating factors. Make sure you choose a library that contains assets that will suit your specific design needs.
User Interface
Don’t forget about the user interface of the library. Such kind of interface makes it so much easier to locate what you need at the urge of the moment. It is such a pain in the neck for me when I have a target to meet and I have to head over a disorganized library. Try to find libraries which offer you ease in filtering and searching for assets, this way you will save your time and will remain in the zone of creativity.
Case Study: A Library That Works
Talking about working libraries, let me tell you in detail the actual use case of design asset library that helped me significantly. I came across Envato Elements a couple of months ago. Was I excited to try this new service? Not really, it was another subscription service and in my mind there was an excessive number already, but my colleagues’ positive comments made me thrilled to test it out.
I must say that I came across the mother lode of premium products. The variety was huge from gorgeous stock photography to great graphics and templates. Most especially, I appreciated the capability to bulk download an entire package of resources for a single topic, which proved invaluable for my latest project.
In one of my projects, I was required to prepare various promotional materials for an art fair. Through the LinkedIn content generator, I had instant access to creative fonts as well as high-quality images. There was ample time to work on the great creative design with my client, and he was quite pleased with it too.
This experience hammered home the recognition that a kidnapping design assets library must always be selected; else the working with the design would not entail good. It is not only the efficiency that is improved but also the work produced which is greatly enhances.
Design Asset Libraries: Make The Most Of It
Getting The Best Out Of The Library
Now that you’ve decided on a library, let’s determine how to use it. Organizing Your Assets is what we will talk about now. A logical and well-structured organization saves time and reduces the effort involved in completing tasks by improving efficiency.
Structure Folders By The Nature Of The Job
Another useful approach is to structure folders according to the nature of jobs. For example, you could create folders for use in social media, print design, and web design. You eliminate the need to rummage through a clutter to find the assets you need.
Tag Naming and Tags
Tagging is another strategy through the use of consistent naming conventions for your files, as an illustration, when saving downloaded assets, use appropriate words such as nature or abstract in the file names, this is useful because later on you will be looking for specific assets and it is helpful to have appropriate tags/conventions in place.
How To Incorporate Assets Into Your Workflow
Now that your assets are organized, think about how to utilize them within your workflow. Here are a few strategies I’ve found helpful:
Use templates
When constructing any working materials, if the chosen design asset library has any templates, make use of those templates as guidance in your working materials. This is beneficial as it allows you to focus on designing without thinking too much about how to go about it.
Experiment with different assets
Do not be shy to mix different assets as a means of originality. For instance, you could borrow the background from one template, then bring in some graphics from a different template, then flavor the hues to fit your theme. Mixing and matching templates is an enjoyable way out of designing consecutively repetitive templates.
**Design Asset Libraries: Trends and Future Predictions**
Thenew Technologies
In looking at the future of asset libraries, it is pertinent to look at how the new technologies are shaping the environment as well. One of the trends is development of AI powered tools which improve search and personalization of the asset libraries and greatly enhance the efficiency. I know some of you may roll your eyes at the urge to avoid buzzwords, but it is hard to ignore how technology has increasingly become useful in easing our lives. Think about how useful it is to simply type in a concept or a mood and have the library present you with assets tailored purely for that – it is like having a design assistant of one’s own!
Life in the Community and Design Asset Libraries
For over the next several years, I remain firmly convinced that design asset libraries will maintain their trend of increasing amounts of customisation, and eventually decrease the amount of restriction. It is quite possible that there will be a point when we begin noticing an influx of community-built sites where designers could upload assets they made in order to establish collaborative and creative work among their contemporaries.
As libraries begin to include animated graphics and eventually 3D models in their existing offerings, the scope of the design world will be astounding. Not only will the improvement in tools and assets assist us in our creative endeavors, but they will also help in shaping new concepts of design.
FAQs
What’s a design asset library?
In simple terms, a design asset library is a place, where designers stock resources such as images, graphics, templates, stock photos, font, and any other tools. It’s like your toolbox that is full of elements that can be utilized as they are, thus cutting down your time and assisting with better ideas.
The first time I saw a design asset library, I felt like I was a kid going into a candy shop! I had every conceivable type of imagery at my disposal, neatly sorted and easily searchable to do whatever I needed to with them. Most significantly, though, they made my images a lot simpler to find and concentrate on, rather than attempting to create something if I could not find it.
How do I decide which library is the best for my needs?
Deciding which library to proceed with is a bit scary, however, here are few pointers that can help you make a proper decision:
Assess Your Style and Needs:
Think about the type of work that you normally do. Are you doing more of digital illustrations, print designs or perhaps even web graphics? You have to ensure that the resource library that you go with relates to your brand along with providing the right tools that you require.
Make Use of Free Trials
You can consider free trials or sample collections as an opportunity to gain experience while navigating through the libraries selection of assets that they have to offer. Commentary from designers as always pays heed on how effortless site navigation is.
Ask for Recommendations:
Or without any hesitation further consult other designers related as communities on the web are quite handy in showing which libraries are trustworthy enough in terms of buying.
Following through the points mentioned above, you are able to be on the lookout for a design asset library that does inspire you to put your creativity to use and complements your workflow.
Is there a possibility where I can create my own design asset library?
Well, yes without a single doubt, design asset library building practice I would consider highly rewarding and helpful as well.
Tools:
With the availability of cloud storage through reliable websites, constructing your own library has become easier than ever before, we can build a portfolio of assets that best resonate with us.
Why is in-house library important:
Many projects often require pre-built products, requirement templates, prototypes or services and having your own library of those assets can definitely speed things up. It also adds a bit of ownership to the designs since the designers have custom assets on hand. You will know where everything is and can set up your own management structure. Besides, it is a great way to accumulate an arsenal of ideas for later use.
You can feel new projects better by creating your own library and having everything on hand.
Benefits
What are the advantages of designing assets library? In this post we are going to discuss about designing assets libraries and its advantages in easing your creativity.
Here we have seen, these libraries are full of complementary resources some of which are ready-made and invaluable for steering your work in practice.
Considering thoroughly the available options, you will be able to find a library that fits your requirements exactly. And do not forget: developing your own assets library is also a useful item of your design toolbox.
As you venture on the first steps of the design asset libraries, I always ask, how I benefits others by providing this service? What libraries I found to be the most useful? And how they enhance the change in creativity? Such thoughts may help my fellow multimedia designers in the community!
