As a freelance or small agency graphic designer, one of the most important things you need to do for your business is to increase your income. There is a lot of competition out there, so raising prices isn’t always the best solution. Another way to increase your income is to reduce costs.
One of the best ways to bring your costs down, and thereby increase your income, is to use graphic design templates. They offer a high quality starting point for your branding, social media, or client web project. In this article, we look at a number of templates to get started with.
If you're looking to brand your company or launch your client's next business project, we have you covered!
How Graphic Design Templates Save You Money
Here are just a few of the ways using graphic design templates can save freelancers money:
1. Templates Save You Time and Therefore Money
Starting from scratch takes a lot of time, and time is money. That’s time you could spend doing something else. Since the structure of a template is already in place, you save that time and are free to fulfill pursuits that actively earn you cash.
2. They Offer Affordable, Customizable, Quality Results
The basic design is already done for you. Most of them are fairly complex and detailed. You can either leave them as-is or customize them even further to suit your clients' needs. Since you choose graphic templates based on the project, customization is faster and cheaper than creating a completely custom design from scratch.
3. They Get the Design Right From the Start—The First Time
You (or your client) can choose the template as-is, so they know what they’re getting from the start of the project. This saves you the added expense and time of making changes later when they’re more expensive. If you can get the design right and/or make changes at the beginning of a project, it’s cheaper.
Web and Graphic Design Templates to Help Boost Your Freelance Income
A number of projects would benefit from a quality graphic design template. You can offer your clients a professional solution, and increase your income, with several different types of creative templates. We have a number of options available from Envato Market, these include:
1. Logo Templates
Logos come with several types of graphic files that you can modify and fully-customize for your clients. File-types include Photoshop, vector, JPEG, transparent PNG, AI Illustrator, and more. Most come in multiple colors and styles to help you get started. You can also make changes to the colors and graphical elements as needed.
Logo Template Examples
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Color Stroke Logo (Shown Above) - This file is easy to edit with well organized layers. It in resizable vector format, so can be edited in Adobe Illustrator. It’s print ready at high resolution. It includes color variations, as well as black and white and greyscale versions.This logo template can also be paired with a matching Colorful Corporate Identity Template Set.
- Hexagon Logo Template - This is a colorful multipurpose logo, which can be used for a technology company or to brand a number of creative tech fields. The design is simple, well-structured, and is easy to configure in Adobe Illustrator. It's print ready and 100% customizable.
- Endless Infinity Logo Design - This resizable vector logo features a stylized infinity symbol that can be displayed vertically or horizontally. It has several color combinations and includes grayscale and black and white. These high resolution template files are ready to use!
2. Email Templates
You can quickly develop email newsletters for yourself or your clients without having to worry about designing the look and feel every time thanks to email templates. They make your emails look consistent with each other and with your brand. Many include files for Photoshop, CSS, HTML, PHP, JavaScript, and more. They also integrate with popular email services such as MailChimp, Campaign Monitor, and AWeber.
Email Template Examples
- Aptor - HTML Email Template + Builder 2.0 (Shown Above) - This well-designed, high quality email template is a great solution for a number of types of companies. It features unlimited color variations, a responsive layout, and a Mastermail Builder. It’s tested with Litmus, and is deigned to work with MailChimp, Campaign monitor, and more. The PSD and additional files are included as well.
- Market, Responsive Newsletter with Template Builder - With 8 layouts, 24 color-variations, 28 elements, 768 embedded HTML files, and a template builder, Market has everything you need to create sharp newsletters.
- Unity - Modern Email Template + Builder 2.0 - The Unity email template has a number of modern/advanced features, such as + 26 modules, a drag and drop online builder, and graphic options to change colors, work with a WYSIWYG editor, change background images, and export to the desktop. The template builder is made with Esp compatibility so will work with major email service providers.
3. Business Cards and Stationery Templates
Designing business cards and stationary is an art form. Without a nice design, it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. Templates often include Photoshop files but some may include InDesign, depending on the designer's preferences.
Busienss Card and Stationary Template Examples
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Colorful Business Card Template (Shown Above) - With a colorful design, suitable for branding multiple creative company’s, this business card template is ready to put to use. It’s easy to add your client’s info, edit the details as needed, and is set up to print at high resolution Photoshop layered PSD files.
- Simple Corporate Business Card - This is a creative business card that’s easy to edit and customize using the included 8 PSD files. You can print on both front and back in CMYK color at 300 dpi.
- Clean & Modern Stationery, Invoice and Identity - This stationary set includes templates for letters, invoices, business cards, cover pages, envelopes, logos, and binders. It’s easy to edit and includes PSD files for designers and Microsoft Word files for non-designers.
4. Web Templates and WordPress Themes
One of the most important, time consuming, and difficult elements of a website is to create how it looks. But it's far easier and cheaper to use a template or theme than to develop the design by hand. You can get a pre-made design for practically any website under the sun. They often include files such as Photoshop, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc. There are a number of robust website templates packed with high-end features. Responsive layouts, sliders, and galleries are currently popular components as well.
Website and Wordpress Template Examples
- Avada - Use Avada to create any kind of website. It includes a drag and drop builder, intuitive tools for customization, unlimited colors, and is packed with way more than I can discuss here. It’s currently the number one selling theme on ThemeForest.
- Metronic - This is a multi-purpose template that includes over 700 pages with unlimited designs and layouts to choose from. It also has lots of plugins, several admin UI’s, eCommerce built in, and lots more.
- Canvas - This is a multi-purpose HTML5 template with over 75 homepages and 550 HTML files. It can be used to create virtually any type of site with ease.
5. Icons - Graphic Templates
You never know how much you need icons until you're scrambling around for a good set. The best icons are flat, scalable, and come bundles in large sets of matching visual concepts. They often includes Vector EPS and JPG Image files.
Icons Template Examples
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Set of Flat Design Icons - There are 270 flat design icons in this set. They are illustrated for marketing, business, finance, web development and more visual concepts. The set can be used for several purposes like: websites, promotional materials, web projects, and mobile phone applications.
- 600 Social Media Icons - This bundle includes 360 flat, 240 thin line, and online marketing and SEO flat icons. They’re easy to customize and they scale to any size.
- Modern SEO Services - This icon set includes icons that are essential for web-based services such as marketing, analytics, and web design. They include five different styles both in color and in black and white.
6. Social Media Graphic Templates
Social media graphics include covers, banners, email signatures, and templates. They often include Photoshop files. You can get your clients set up on the major social media platforms with a quality design quickly.
Social Media Template Examples
- Multipurpose Facebook Cover - Make a statement with an exciting Facebook Timeline cover. Increase the reach of your client's business and help them present themselves professionally. In this template download, you will get an editable PSD file and help files with instructions on how to change the images and assets.
- Facebook Timeline Covers | Volume 13 - This is a collection of 10 Facebook timeline covers that include nice photo collages. They are great for anyone that loves photography and come with a separate profile box.
- 200 Email Signature - This set includes 40 different email signature layouts in multiple colors. They are completely customizable. It also includes a social icon pack that lets you add social buttons to your signatures.
7. Infographic Templates
Creating an infographic from scratch, would take a great deal of time. But, you can put together a quality infographic quickly by starting with a robust infographic template. These template files come with hundreds of professional infographics, graphic elements, and pre-made layout choices.
- Simple Infographic Template Elements - This is a set of infographic element templates in flexible vector format. Great for use on any infographic work you need to do for your clients. There are hundreds of graphics here for you to use in your designs.
- Infographic Brochure Elements Bundle - This is a large pack of infographic vector elements to create your own brochures or other graphic projects. This bundle brings together a number of infographic elements sets. You’ll get a great amount of creative assets to work with.
- Infographic Elements V.1 - This is a set of infographic elements templates you can use to kickstart your next infographic project. The color scheme uses a modern and vintage type, but the infographic design can be changed to anything style client projects require.
Wrapping Up
How to make more money is on the mind of every freelance graphic designer. Using graphic design templates as a starting point for client projects is one of the best ways you can scale your graphic service offers and bring more income through the door. You can save design time, be more profitable, and deliver consistent quality results to your clients, without having to raise your prices.
Do you use graphic design templates? If so, what are your favorites? What features do you look for? Do you have anything to add? Share your thoughts on graphic design templates in the comments below.
Graphic Credit
Earnings icon designed by Gregor Črešnar from the Noun Project.
