When I first started working in the marketing industry after graduating from college, I couldn’t help but notice all the amazing graphics that most companies were posting along with their content. I automatically assumed that they had a graphic designer on their team or that their marketing coordinator was a pro at Photoshop.

The truth is, I am not either of those; I’m a novice in Photoshop and don’t know where to even begin with graphic designing. I try to improve my skills in my free time. Meanwhile, I’ve been utilizing a handful of awesome websites to help me with uncomplicated image creation.

Unsplash

Oftentimes it’s difficult to find a simple image to use (especially sans watermark) but Unsplash makes this process easier. It has the most beautiful, high-resolution images from photographers around the world. Ten new photos are added every ten days and they are free to download by anyone who is interested. This is one of the first sites I peruse when looking for generic images because I can always count on Unsplash to have amazing photos to choose from.

Unsplash (Click image to enlarge)

PlaceIT

This site is especially useful for mockups and demos. With PlaceIt, you can effortlessly put together an example of how a website would look on any platform – iPhone, Android, Macbook, PC, and many more. One of the best parts about it is that it virtually takes no time or skills to use! You simply enter in the website you’d like to display, and it will generate that page onto the platform that you choose. PlaceIt negates the time it would take to create an illustration in Photoshop or a similar program, which is one of the reasons it is so helpful.

Pablo

Sometimes you just need a little eye candy to break up a text-rich blog post, or add a unique image to a tweet; that’s when Pablo by Buffer comes in handy. It is a super easy way to put text on top of an image and make it stand out. Pablo provides you with background images and text options or you can even upload your own. It’s a great way to showcase quotes or important information and only takes about 30 seconds to create.

Pablo (Click image to enlarge)

Venngage

It’s pretty obvious that infographics have skyrocketed this year as an educational and marketing tool. They are enticing, popping up everywhere and look incredibly time consuming to produce. Luckily, there are free infographic makers like Venngage that provide you with templates and the availability to customize them to meet your objective. You’re able to move icons and add new ones, change colors and edit all the text boxes as you wish.

Canva

For me personally, Canva is one of the gems in the image creation world. Depending on what you are planning to design, this one can take a bit more prowess than simply dragging and dropping a few items. Fortunately, they offer free templates like the one listed below (that has been tweaked just a bit), but you also have the option to completely design something from scratch with the various tools they provide. There is so much freedom with Canva which is why it is one of my favorites.

Canva (Click image to enlarge)

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Adding images to your social content and blog posts is valuable because people remember 80 percent of what they see and do, compared to only 20 percent of what they read. So even though your audience may not completely comprehend what they are reading, it’s likely that they will remember the images associated with it!

About Stacy Farrington
Stacy is the Marketing & Community Coordinator at Creatuity, a Magento Silver Solutions Partner. Creatuity propels fast-growing eCommerce brands with exceptional Magento stores. Follow @Creatuity on Twitter for eCommerce tips and Magento news.