Design Tools

You don't need to be a designer or fork out on expensive design software like photoshop to create stunning graphics. There is a host of free online tools available that can cater to your needs. Whether you are looking to create graphics for your social media handles, blog posts, website banners, brochures or portfolio, each of the tools below make it super easy to do so, saving you a tonne of money and time. 
Great resource that couldn't be made simpler if they tried. Huge selection of modern icons, illustrations, fonts and infographic icons that can be tweaked. Everything on the site is fully customisable with a choice of colours, text, size you name it! Great place to get some fantastically made flat illustrations. Get 20% off their monthly subscription package by using promo code 'WeLoveNoCode'.
Free online tutorials available with step to step videos helping you every step of the way. It's very easy to get carried away on this site just creating things for the sake of it! Simple drag and drop design with a huge variety of pre-made themes. Great for presentations, business cards, social media graphics, email headers etc.  
Ridiculously simple image creation for social media marketers, bloggers and small businesses. Stencil provides it all. Incredible collection of stock images, filters, icons, fonts and pre-set templates at your disposal. Automatic image sizing for all major social media sites at the click of a button. Stencil is also fully integrated with Buffer. 
Beautiful online image editing platform. Okay, so it's not Photoshop, but sometimes you just want a quick and fun way to enhance your photos, add some neat effects and maybe create a collage or two. Fotos is a free photo editor with an intuitive, modern interface. It's fast, visual and has virtually no learning curve.
Desygner is a free online image editor (as of this writing) that allows you to create and modify graphics for virtually any project under the sun. Simple, intuitive interface and extremely easy to get to grips with. This ambitious, free online image editor is a one-stop shop to create all kinds of visual art for your blog, social media pages and any other business – online and offline.
BeFunky allows user to create professional-caliber graphic designs with simple modern templates using drag and drop tools. Go from idea to finished product in minutes, its that easy. BeFunky has hundreds of filters and templates to choose from. Notably, BeFunky is a multipurpose photo editor also offering collage maker and designer platforms.  
Snappa provides hundreds of ready made templates built for a variety of uses, including social media, ad campaigns, blog posts and newsletters. All templates are pre-sized to fit all types of social media. If templates aren't for you and your looking to create a unique graphic, Snappa provides a great library of stock images and fonts so you can create some very unique graphics yourself.    

Only slight issues are the restrictions to the free service per month. Personally the lack of transparent backgrounds in the free membership is an issue for me. 
Pixlr’s free online image editor allows you to edit your photos with over 600 overlays, effects and borders. It’s available as an application on iOS and Android. It’s popular with Instagram users and photography buffs who haven’t quite levelled up to using pricey photo editing software.
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You’ll get the most out of this tool if you enjoy editing photos before you share them, but it isn’t the most powerful option if you’re building shareable graphics.
Pablo is the child of Buffer and is a really simple graphical content editor for all your social media needs. It's easy to use interface allows you to select images from a library of over 600+ free stock images (or add your own). Then just add your text, shapes, colours or logo and finally select where you will be posting your graphic and bingo its all automatically resized. You can manually resize your graphic or select from Facebook, twitter, Instagram and Pinterest sizes. 
If you use paid adds on social media AdCat is the tool for you! AdCat is a tool for getting the right-sized social media ad images. it prides itself on it's ability to post your graphical adds fast! with one click. It also allows you to quickly preview your post before it goes live which is extremely helpful. Only slight downside is the free version is limited compared to some of its competitors. Again, very easy to use with no prior experience required. Plenty of stock images, font, colour pallets and shapes to play with. 
Plain Pattern is a simple SVG pattern creator tool made by Kenneth Cachia. Plain Pattern provides you with various tools to craft and customise your unique graphic. Choose from a small selection of patterns or upload your own. Great for creating a website background images and social media graphics. 
DesignBold gives you every tool necessary to turn your ideas into stunning visual content for Web or Print, without special skills or technical expertise required. Design a professional Facebook Cover, YouTube Channel Art, or Marketing Materials in no time. DesignBold is a simple drag and drop interface and only take seconds  to get the hang of. DesignBold is also a great photo editing tool allowing you to add filters and adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, and etc. 
Vectr is a free graphics software used to create vector graphics easily and intuitively. It's a simple yet powerful web and desktop cross-platform tool to bring your designs into reality. Get started immediately without the massive learning curve. Vectr’s intuitive tools let you focus on what truly matters - creating beautiful graphic designs. Send anyone a Vectr document for real-time collaboration without the wait. Others can watch you create and edit designs live, whether you’re in the web app or desktop version.
PixTeller improves and simplifies the design process from start to end. Pixteller Can be used by any marketer from the digital industry, blogger or website owner and anyone who needs engaging images for personal use or business projects. No design skills or technical knowledge required. Easily customize any template: replace anything from images, shapes, text and colors, save and BAM! Your design is ready to download, print or share. Design in the cloud with no software installation required and it's available on any web browser. The free version keeps a small watermark your design, but for general markting purposes (and lack of budget) I don't see any harm in this. ​